Therefore I write these things being absent, so that being present I need not use severity, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification, and not for destruction.
But I plead with you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence with which I think to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
For even if I boasted somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord has given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I would not be ashamed:
I told you before, and tell you beforehand, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to those who previously have sinned, and to all others, that, if I come again, I will not spare:
And I wrote this same to you, so that, when I came, I would not have sorrow from those for whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.