Paul, a shalach of Yeshuwah haMashiyach through the will of 'Elohiym, and the brother Timothy, to the congregation of 'Elohiym living in Corinth, together with all the qadoshiym living throughout Greece:
Grace to you and shalom from 'Elohiym, our Father, and the Lord Yeshuwah, haMashiyach.
To be praised is the 'Elohiym and Father of our Lord, Yeshuwah haMashiyach, the Father of mercy and the 'Elohiym of all-encompassing comfort, our Comforter in all our persecutions, who enables us to comfort those in all persecution through the comfort by which we ourselves are comforted, from ha'Elohiym. For just as the sufferings of the Messiah overflow in us, so also through the Messiah our comfort overflows. If we are distressed over your comfort and salvation being worked out by the same sufferings we suffer, we are also comforted by your comfort and salvation. And our hope for you is firm, knowing that just as you share in the sufferings, so also you share in the comfort.
We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about the persecutions we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not trust in ourselves but in 'Elohiym, who resurrects the dead. For He has delivered, and does indeed deliver us from so great a death. In Him we have set our expectation that He will continue to deliver us, as you work together with us in prayer, that rabiym will share in the gift granted us in answer to the thanksgiving of rabiym for us.
Now this is our claim: Our conscience testifies that in the simplicity and purity of 'Elohiym, not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of 'Elohiym, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and more abundantly in our relations with you. For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can rejoice because of us just as we will rejoice because of you in the day of our Lord and yours, Yeshuwah.
Because I was confident of this, I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Yhuwdah. When I planned this, I did not do it lightly. Nor do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, "Yes, yes" and "No, no."
But ha'Elohiym is trustworthy, so that our message to you did not become "Yes" and "No." For the Son of 'Elohiym, Yeshuwah haMashiyach, who was preached among you by us, through me and Silvanus and Timothy, did not become "Yes" and "No," but in Him it has always been "Yes." For as many as are the promises of 'Elohiym, the "Yes" is in the Messiah. And in Him is the "Amen," from ha'Elohiym to Kabowd through us. Now it is 'Elohiym who confirms us in the Messiah, along with you, and 'Elohiym anoints us. He set His seal on us, having given the `arabown of haRuach in our hearts.
I call ha'Elohiym as witness, on my nephesh that it was in order to spare you that I never returned to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your 'emuwnah, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by 'emuwnah you stand firm.
So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? I wrote as I did so that when I came I should not be distressed by those who ought to make me rejoice, trusting in all of you, that you are all my joy. For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
If anyone has caused distress, he has not distressed me as he has distressed all of you, to some extent – not to put it too severely. The censure by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive grief. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your checed to him. The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. For indeed if there was anything to forgive I have forgiven in the person of the Messiah, in order that haSatan might not gain advantage over us, for we are not unaware of his schemes.
Now when I went to Troas to preach the Gospel of the Messiah, the Lord had opened a door for me, but I still had no shalom in my nephesh, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
But thanks to 'Elohiym, who always leads us in triumph in the Messiah, the fragrance of His da`ath is revealed through us in every place. For we are an aroma of the Messiah to 'Elohiym among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of Maveth, far more exceeding actual death; to the other, the fragrance of Chay, far more exceeding actual life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of 'Elohiym for profit. On the contrary, in the Messiah we speak as those of 'Elohiym, with sincerity, as in the Presence of 'Elohiym.
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all men. You show that you are a letter from the Messiah, the result of our service, written not with ink but with haRuach of 'El Chay, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
We have such confidence as this toward ha'Elohiym through the Messiah. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything comes out of ourselves, but our competence comes from ha'Elohiym, who has made us competent as servants of a Briyth Chadashah – not of the letter but of haRuach; for the letter kills outright, but haRuach gives life.
Now if the office of death, which was in letters engraved in stone, came through Kabowd, so that the children of Yisra'el could not look steadily at the face of Mosheh because of his Presence in Kabowd, is rendered useless, will not the office of haRuach be much more in Kabowd? For if the office that condemns men is of Kabowd, the office of Tsaddiyq found in Kabowd abounds much more! For what was of Kabowd then is not honorable now in comparison with the surpassing of Kabowd. And if what was fading away came through Kabowd, how much greater is what remains in Kabowd!
Therefore, since we have such expectation, we are very bold, not like Mosheh, who would put a veil over his face to keep the children of Yisra'el from gazing at what was being rendered useless. But their thinking was hardened, for to this day the same veil remains when the old Briyth is read, if it is not being revealed that in the Messiah it is rendered useless. Even to this day when Mosheh is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is haRuach, and where Ruach YHWH is, there is freedom. But we, who have had the face of the Kabowd of YHWH revealed, beholding as in a mirror the same image, are being metamorphosed, from self-glorification to Kabowd, exactly, as from Ruach YHWH.
Therefore, we have this service, even as we have mercy, and we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use trickery, nor do we distort the Word of 'Elohiym. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's intuition in the sight of 'Elohiym. And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the Kabowd, the Messiah, who is the Representative of 'Elohiym. For we do not preach ourselves, but Yeshuwah haMashiyach as YHWH, and ourselves as your servants for the sake of Yeshuwah. For ha'Elohiym, who said, "Light will shine out of darkness," has shined in our hearts toward the illumination of the da`ath of the Kabowd of 'Elohiym in the Person of the Messiah.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from 'Elohiym and not from us. We are crowded on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the dying of Yeshuwah Himself, that haChay – Yeshuwah – will also be revealed in our body. For we who are chayiym are always being given over to dying for the sake of Yeshuwah, that His life may be revealed in our mortal bodies. So then, in dying we work, and haChay is in you.
But having the same nephesh, by 'emuwnah, I believed and therefore I spoke. We believed, therefore we speak, knowing that He who resurrected the Lord, Yeshuwah, will also resurrect us with Yeshuwah and present us with you. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace will overflow through the majority that thanksgiving will overflow to the Kabowd of 'Elohiym.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Although our outward self is decaying, yet the inward self is being renewed day by day. For the present lightness of our persecution is abated, the purpose of which is to exalt the authority of `Owlam, Kabowd, over all others. So we fix our attention not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Now we know that even if our earthly Bayith of the Mishkan is destroyed, we have a building from 'Elohiym, a house not built by human hands – `Owlam in Shamayim. For this we silently pray, indeed longing to be clothed with our Bayith from out of Shamayim, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For, indeed, being in the Mishkan, we silently pray, being burdened because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed, that what is mortal will be swallowed up by haChay. Now having worked in us for this very purpose, it is 'Elohiym who has given us the `arabown of haRuach.
Therefore we are always courageous, knowing that being at home in the body we are away from being at home in the Lord. We live by 'emuwnah, not by appearance. We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all be revealed before the Kaporet of the Messiah, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Knowing, then, what it is to revere YHWH, we persuade men to 'Elohiym by what we are, and I hope it is also plain to your intuition. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to rejoice in us, so that you can answer those who rejoice in what is seen, rather than in what is in the heart. For whether we are crazy, for the sake of 'Elohiym, or if we are in our right mind, it is all for you, because the checed of Messiah holds us together, being convinced that if One died for all, then all died. And He died for all, that those chayiym would no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was resurrected.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded the Messiah in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Behold, the original thing has abruptly ended, it has become reborn! All this is out of 'Elohiym, having reconciled us to Himself through the Messiah and having bestowed upon us the relief of Kaphar, by which 'Elohiym was reconciling the world to Himself in the Messiah, not reckoning their chatta'ah to them. And He has committed to us the message of Kaphar. We are therefore the Messiah's ambassadors, as though 'Elohiym were making His appeal through us. We beg you, on behalf of the Messiah, be reconciled to 'Elohiym! For the One who was not known to be a chatta', for our sake, He made a chatta', so that we could become the tsaddiyqiym of 'Elohiym through Him.
And also, working together, we urge you not to receive the grace of 'Elohiym unworthily. For He says, "In the time of acceptance I heard you, and in the day of deliverance I have helped you." Behold, now is the time of acceptance, and now is the day of deliverance!
We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our service will not be blamed. Rather, as servants of 'Elohiym we commend ourselves in everything – in great endurance, persecutions, times of need, pressures, beatings, imprisonments, riots, tortures, sleep deprivation, hunger, purity, da`ath, patience, moral excellence in the Ruach haQodesh, sincere checed in truthful speech, and in the power of 'Elohiym, with weapons of tsdaqah on the right side and the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; regarded as dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; regarded as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; regarded as poor, yet enriching many; regarded as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange – I speak as to children – open wide your hearts also.
Do not associate discordantly with unbelievers! For what do tsdaqah and risha` have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony does the Messiah have with Bliya`al? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What unity is there between a Bayith of 'Elohiym and an idol? For we are a Bayith of 'El Chay. As 'Elohiym has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their 'Elohiym, and they will be My people."
"Therefore come out from them and be qadoshiym,” says YHWH. “Touch nothing tame', and I will accept you."
"I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters,” says YHWH Tsba'owt.
Having these promises, dear friends, we must purge ourselves from everything that is tame' of flesh and of nephesh, perfecting piety out of reverence for 'Elohiym.
Make room for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. Great is my bluntness toward you; I rejoice greatly in you. I am satiated with comfort. In all our persecutions my joy overflows.
For indeed since we came into Macedonia, our bodies have had no rest, and we were tested at every turn – conflicts on the outside, fears within. But the Comforter of the `ebyowniym, ha'Elohiym, comforted us by the coming of Titus. And not only by his presence but also by the comfort with which he was comforted over you. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my rejoicing is greater than ever.
Even if I caused you sorrow by the letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it – I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful with regard to 'Elohiym and so were not harmed in any way by us. Sorrow with regard to 'Elohiym brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but sorrow with regard to the world accomplishes death. See, this sorrow with regard to 'Elohiym has accomplished in you earnestness, as opposed to defensiveness, indignation, fear, lust, arrogance, and a desire for vengeance. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this area. So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong or of the injured party, but rather that you could see for yourselves how devoted we are to you, on your behalf before 'Elohiym.
For this reason we are comforted over your own comfort, and we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his nephesh has been refreshed by all of you. I had rejoiced to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our rejoicing about Titus has proved to be true as well. And his affection for you is all the greater as he remembers the entirety of your obedience, accepting him with fear and trembling. I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.
And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace of 'Elohiym being given among the Macedonian congregations. Out of much testing of persecution, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability entirely on their own. They urgently pleaded with us for the grace of sharing in this service to the qadoshiym. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us through the will of 'Elohiym. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part, that just as you excel in everything – in 'emuwnah, in the Word, in da`ath, in complete earnestness and in your checed for us – you will also excel in this grace.
I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your checed by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Yeshuwah haMashiyach, that though He was `Ashar, yet for your sakes He became `Aniy, so that you, through His `anah, could become `ashariym.
And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the willingness to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, even as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."
But, thank ha'Elohiym, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you, because he not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the congregations for his service to the Gospel. What is more, he was chosen by the congregations to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor Kabowd, Himself of the Lord, and to show your eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this bounty. For we are taking pains to do what is fair, not only in the eyes of YHWH, but also in the eyes of men.
In addition, we sent with them our brother who we have often proved to ourselves in many ways is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, my partner, and your fellow worker, as of our brothers, they are shlachiym of the congregations of Kabowd, the Messiah. Therefore show these men the proof of your checed and the reason for our rejoicing in you in the presence of the congregations.
There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the qadoshiym. For I know your eagerness, and I have been rejoicing about it in Macedonia, telling them that since last year you in Greece were ready; and your zeal has stirred most of them. And I am sending the brothers in order that our rejoicing about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we – not to say anything about you – would be ashamed of having been so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the blessing you have promised. Then it will be ready as a blessing, not as extortion.
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows a blessing will also reap a blessing. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart, not sorrowfully or under compulsion, for ha'Elohiym loves a cheerful giver. And ha'Elohiym is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will superabound in every act of goodness. As it is written: "He scatters; He gives His tsdaqah to the 'ebyowniym, He who endures forever."
Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your seed and will increase the fruit of your tsdaqah. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to 'Elohiym.
This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the qadoshiym, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to 'Elohiym. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise ha'Elohiym for the subordination that accompanies your confession of the Gospel of the Messiah, and the generosity of the fellowship toward them and everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace of 'Elohiym exhibited in you. Thanks be to 'Elohiym for His indescribable blessing!
I exhort you – I, Paul, through the humility and gentleness of the Messiah – who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live according to the flesh. For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war as the flesh does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the flesh. On the contrary, they are the power of ha'Elohiym to demolish strongholds. We demolish human reasoning and every pretense that sets itself up against the da`ath of 'Elohiym, and we bring into captivity every thought and purpose into compliance with the Messiah. And we will be ready to retaliate against all inattention, once your attentive listening is supplied.
You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to the Messiah, he should consider again that we belong to the Messiah just as much as he. For even if we rejoice somewhat freely about our authority, the Lord gave it to us for building you up rather than pulling you down, and I will not be ashamed of it, even though I seem to be trying to frighten you with the letter. For some say, "Sure, his letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speech stuttering." Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not discerning. We, however, will not rejoice beyond the limitations, but according to the measure of the standard the 'Elohiym of that limitation has assigned to us, that is to reach as far as you. We are not going too far, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the Gospel of the Messiah. Neither do we go beyond our limits by rejoicing of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your 'emuwnah continues to grow, our limits among you will greatly expand to overflowing, so that we can preach the Gospel beyond you. For we do not want to rejoice about work already done in another. But, "Let him who rejoices rejoice in YHWH." For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom YHWH commends.
I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; please, bear with me. I am jealous of you for 'Elohiym. I promised you to one Husband, as a chaste virgin, to present you to the Messiah. But I am afraid that just as the Nachash seduced Chavvah by his trickery, your thoughts may somehow be led astray from the sincere devotion to the Messiah. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Yeshuwah we have not preached, or if you receive a strange spirit which you did not receive, or a different Gospel from what you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. I respect nothing that falls short of the very great teaching of the shlachiym. I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have da`ath, having made this perfectly clear to you in every way.
Or is it chatta'ah for me to humble myself in order to exalt you? Because I preached the Gospel of 'Elohiym to you free of charge, I stripped other congregations by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself, instead of being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. The truth of the Messiah is in me, and nobody in the regions of Greece will stop this rejoicing in me. Why? Because I do not love you? Ha'Elohiym sees I do! And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about.
For such men are false shlachiym, deceitful teachers, masquerading as shlachiym of the Messiah. And no wonder, for haSatan himself masquerades as a mal'ak of `Owr. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of Tsaddiyq. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
I repeat: Let no one think me foolish. But if you do, then receive me as if I were foolish, so that I may definitely do a little rejoicing. What I speak, I am not speaking according to YHWH, but as in foolishness, in the boldness of boasting. Since many are boasting in the way of the flesh, I too will boast that way. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or approves of you to your face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!
What anyone else dares – I speak as in foolishness – I also dare. Are they 'Ibriyiym? So am I. Are they children of Yisra'el? So am I. Are they descendants of 'Avraham? So am I. Are they servants of the Messiah? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death many times. Five times I received from the Yhuwdim the forty minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own race, in danger from gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the desert, in danger at sea; and in danger among false brothers. I have labored and undergone hardship and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often fasted; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything physical, I face conspiracies against me daily, and concern for all the congregations. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is tempted, and I do not inwardly burn?
If rejoicing is right, I will rejoice of the things that prove my weakness. The 'Elohiym and Father of the Lord Yeshuwah, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damaseq the governor under king Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded, wanting to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through their hands.
Indeed, there is nothing to be gained in boasting, so I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in the Messiah who fourteen years ago – whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know – 'Elohiym knows he was caught up to the third part, Shamayim. And I know that this man – whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know – but 'Elohiym knows -- he was caught up to Paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will rejoice about a man like that, but I will not rejoice about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be foolish, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
By an overflow of chazown, to keep me from becoming conceited, there was given me an annoyance in my flesh, a mal'ak of haSatan, to torment me, so that I would not exalt myself. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for miraculous power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will rejoice all the more about my weaknesses, so that the Messiah's power will rest upon me. Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of the Messiah. For when I am weak, then I am filled with power.
I have become foolish, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I lack nothing of the very great teaching of the shlachiym, even if I am no one. Indeed, the indication of the shlachiym was worked out among you in all patience by signs, wonders and miraculous powers. How were you inferior to the other congregations, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions, but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. So I will very gladly spend everything I have and expend myself as well for your nephesh. I love you more, but you love me less. Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent you? I urged Titus to go to you and I sent the brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not act in the same Ruach and follow the same course?
Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We speak in the sight of 'Elohiym, in the Messiah; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I am afraid that when I come again my 'Elohiym will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have been chata'iym earlier and have not repented of the impurity, pornography and debauchery in which they have indulged.
This will be my third visit to you. "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not be lenient with those who have been chata'iym earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that the Messiah is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For even though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of 'Elohiym. Likewise, we are weak in Him, yet by the power of 'Elohiym we will live with Him to serve you.
Discipline yourselves if you are in the Ne'eman; use discernment on yourselves. Do you not realize that Yeshuwah haMashiyach is in you – unless you are rejected ones? And I expect that you will discover that we are not rejected ones. Now I pray to ha'Elohiym not to punish you, none of you. Not that we will appear to be approved, but that you will do what is good. And we know who the rejected ones are, for we can do nothing against ha'Emeth, but only for ha'Emeth. We rejoice when we are weak and you are full of power; and our prayer is for your maturation. This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority, which the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.
For the rest of the brothers, rejoice, aim for maturity, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in shalom, and the 'Elohiym of checed and shalom will be with you.
Greet one another with the kiss of Qadowsh. All the qadoshiym send their greetings.
The grace of the Lord, Yeshuwah haMashiyach, and the checed of 'Elohiym, and the fellowship of the Ruach haQodesh is with you all.
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