Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 13:7

"Now we pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that ye may do that which is honorable, though we be as reprobate." — 2 Corinthians 13:7 (ASV)

Now I pray to God that ye do no evil.—The better manuscripts give, we pray. The words that follow involve a subtle play of thought and feeling on the two forms of the trial or scrutiny of which he has just spoken.

“We pray,” he says, “that you may be kept from doing evil. Our purpose in that prayer is not that we may gain a reputation as successful workers in your eyes or those of others, but that you may do that which is nobly good (may advance from a negative to a positive form of holiness), even though the result of that may be that we no longer put our apostolic supernatural powers into play, and so seem to fail in the trial to which you challenge us.”

This gives, it is believed, the true underlying thought of the words, and, though the paraphrase is somewhat full, it could hardly be expressed more concisely.