Second Letter to the Corinthians 13

¹ This will be the third time I have come to you. The evidence of three, or at least two, witnesses is necessary to sustain the charge.[*a]

² I gave warning when I was with you the second time and I give warning now, too, before I come, to those who sinned before and to any others, that when I come again, I shall have no mercy.

³ You want proof, you say, that it is Christ speaking in me: you have known him not as a weakling, but as a power among you?

⁴ Yes, but he was crucified through weakness, and still he lives now through the power of God. So then, we are weak, as he was, but we shall live with him, through the power of God, for your benefit.

⁵ Examine yourselves to make sure you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you acknowledge that Jesus Christ is really in you? If not, you have failed the test,

⁶ but we, as I hope you will come to see, have not failed it.

⁷ We pray to God that you will do nothing wrong: not that we want to appear as the ones who have been successful – we would rather that you did well even though we failed.

⁸ We have no power to resist the truth; only to further it.

⁹ We are only too glad to be weak provided you are strong. What we ask in our prayers is for you to be made perfect.

¹⁰ That is why I am writing this from a distance, so that when I am with you I shall not need to be strict, with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for destroying.

¹¹ In the meantime, brothers, we wish you happiness; try to grow perfect; help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

¹² Greet one another with the holy kiss. All the saints send you greetings.

¹³ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.