¹¹ Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent we will also do when present.

¹⁰ So I write these things while I am away from you, so that when I come I may not have to be severe in using the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.^(A)

² I warned those who sinned previously and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not be lenient— ³ since you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is powerful in you.^(A)

²⁰ For I fear that when I come I may find you not as I wish and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.^(A)

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.^{(A) 20} For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power.