1 Corinthians 4:14-21
Expanded Bible
14 I am not writing this to make you feel ashamed, but to ·warn [admonish; correct] you as my own ·dear [beloved] children. 15 For though you may have ten thousand ·teachers [guardians; tutors] in Christ, you do not have many fathers. [L For; Because] Through the ·Good News [Gospel] I became your father in Christ Jesus, 16 so I ·beg [urge; encourage; exhort] you, ·please follow my example [L be imitators of me]. 17 That is why I am sending to you Timothy, my ·dear [beloved] and faithful son in the Lord. He will ·help you remember [remind you about] my way of life in Christ Jesus, just as I teach it in all the churches everywhere.
18 Some of you have become ·proud [arrogant; puffed up], thinking that I will not come to you again. 19 But I will come to you very soon if the Lord ·wishes [wills; allows]. Then I will ·know [find out; learn] ·what the proud ones do, not what they say [L not just the talk/word of these arrogant people, but also their power], 20 because the kingdom of God ·is present [or consists] not in talk but in power. 21 Which do you want: that I come to you with ·punishment [L a rod] or with love and ·gentleness [or a gentle spirit]?
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1 Corinthians 4:14-21
Amplified Bible
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to warn and advise you as my beloved children. 15 For even if you were to have ten thousand teachers [to guide you] in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers [who led you to Christ and assumed responsibility for you], for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the good news [of salvation]. 16 So I urge you, be imitators of me [just as a child imitates his father]. 17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my way of life in Christ [my conduct and my precepts for godly living], just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some of you have become arrogant and pretentious, as though I were not coming to see you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord is willing, and I will find out not just the talk of these arrogant people, but [evaluate] their [spiritual] power [whether they live up to their own claims]. 20 For the kingdom of God is not based on talk but on power. 21 Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod [of discipline and correction], or with love and a gentle spirit?
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