For this reason I write this in my absence, so that, being present I should not use sharpness, according to the authority which the Master has given me for upbuilding and not for overthrowing.
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 shall not spare,
So if I come, I shall call to mind his works which he does, babbling against us with wicked words. And not satisfied with that, he himself does not receive the brothers, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the assembly.