Therefore write I these things being absent, lest when I am present I should use sharpness according to the power which the Lord hath given me, to edify, and not to destroy.
I beseech you that I need not to be bold when I am present (with that same confidence, wherewith I am supposed to be bold) against some which repute us as though we walked carnally.
And though I should boast myself somewhat more of our authority which the Lord hath given us to edify and not to destroy you, it should not be to my shame.
I told you before, and tell you before, as I said when I was present with you the second time, so write I now being absent to them which in time past have sinned, and to all other: If I come again, I will not spare
And I wrote this same pistel unto you, lest if I came, I should take heaviness of them, of whom I ought to rejoice. Certainly this confidence have I in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.