¹⁰ So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

^2 (A)I warned ^(B)those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that ^(C)if I come again I will not spare them—

³⁴ They answered him, ^(A)“You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they ^(B)cast him out.

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in ^(C)the Son of Man?”^[a]

²² “Blessed are you when ^(A)people hate you and when they ^(B)exclude you and revile you and ^(C)spurn your name as evil, ^(D)on account of the Son of Man!

Support and Opposition

⁵ Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for ^(A)these brothers, ^(B)strangers as they are,

Paul Defends His Ministry

10 ^(A)I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the ^(B)meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— ² I beg of you ^(C)that when I am present I may not have to show ^(D)boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the ^(E)weapons of ^(F)our warfare are not of the flesh but have ^(G)divine power ^(H)to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and ^(I)every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to ^(J)obey Christ, ^6 (K)being ready to punish every disobedience, ^(L)when your obedience is complete.

^7 (M)Look at what is before your eyes. ^(N)If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as ^(O)he is Christ's, ^(P)so also are we. ⁸ For even if I boast a little too much of ^(Q)our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. ⁹ I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. ¹⁰ For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ^(R)his bodily presence is weak, and ^(S)his speech of no account.” ¹¹ Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.