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1 Corinthians 4:14-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 Corinthians 4:14-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Fatherly Admonition
14 I am not writing this to make you ashamed but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel.(A) 16 I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me.(B) 17 For this reason I sent[a] you Timothy, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become arrogant. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.(C) 20 For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power. 21 What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick or with love in a spirit of gentleness?(D)
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1 Corinthians 4:14-21
New International Version
1 Corinthians 4:14-21
New International Version
Paul’s Appeal and Warning
14 I am writing this not to shame you(A) but to warn you as my dear children.(B) 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father(C) through the gospel.(D) 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.(E) 17 For this reason I have sent to you(F) Timothy,(G) my son(H) whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.(I)
18 Some of you have become arrogant,(J) as if I were not coming to you.(K) 19 But I will come to you very soon,(L) if the Lord is willing,(M) and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of(N) talk but of power.(O) 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline,(P) or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
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