For I am afraid, lest perhaps when I come, I will not find you as I desire, and that I will be found by you as you do not desire; lest perhaps there [be] contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, disputes, slanders, gossipings, pride, disorders;

I have previously said, and I say beforehand, as being present the second [time], and now being absent I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare [you],

since you are seeking proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but strong in you.

Because of this I write these things being absent, in order that when I am present I may not deal sharply with you, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for edification and not for destruction.

But I will come to you quickly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are arrogant, but the power.

For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.