⁴ in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church.^[a] I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus.

³ I will give you all the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak when he deals with you; he is powerful among you.

²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

An Exhortation to Proper Living

⁶ And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers^[a] who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received^[b] from us.

¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

¹⁰ I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down.

¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid^[a] on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit^[b] on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

²⁰ And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹ I wrote to you as I did to test you and see if you would fully comply with my instructions. ¹⁰ When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit,

¹⁸ This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.