2 ¹ So I made up my mind not to make another visit that causes you grief.^(A)

²³ But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.^(A)

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)

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) 21} I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you and that I may have to mourn over many who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery that they have practiced.^(B)

⁴ For I wrote you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you grief but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

²¹ What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick or with love in a spirit of gentleness?^(A)

Final Messages and Benediction

¹² When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.^(A)

⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within.^{(A) 6} But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus,^{(B) 7} and not only by his arrival but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸ For although I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it (for^[a] I see that that letter caused you grief, though only briefly),

¹⁵ Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor;^{[a](A) 16} I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea.^{(B) 17} Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards,^[b] ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?

³ For I, though absent in body, am present in spirit, and as if present I have already pronounced judgment