2COR C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13

UST 2COR Chapter 13

13 The scripture says: “At least two or three witnesses must say the same thing about someone before we can believe that it is true.” Be aware that the next time that I visit you will be the third time that I will be a witness to what you are doing. 2 When I visited you the second time, I warned all of you that I was going to punish everyone among you who had been sinning. And now I am warning you again while I am still away from you. When I visit you this third time, I will punish everyone who has been sinning. 3 I tell you this because you have demanded that I prove to you that the Messiah is speaking to you when I speak to you. You will know this when he disciplines you. He will not be weak with you; instead, he will work powerfully among you. 4 You see, as a man, the Messiah allowed himself to be weak when people nailed him to a cross. But God is powerful, and he has made him alive again. We, too, are weak human beings, as he was. But God also works powerfully in us to make us live as the Messiah does, so we will work powerfully among you.

5 Each of you should ask yourself: “Do I trust the Messiah and live as he directs me?” Each of you should test yourself in this way. Then you will know that you truly live as one with Jesus the Messiah. That is true unless, of course, you fail this test. 6 As for us, I am certain that you will understand that we have passed the test. 7 We pray to God that you may not be doing any bad things. We pray for this, not because we want people to consider that we have been successful in disciplining you, but so that you would be doing good things. We want this for you even if it means that people consider that we have failed because you did not need us. 8 We want you to do good things even if then we cannot discipline you and appear to be powerful because we must obey God’s true message. We cannot do anything that contradicts God’s true message. 9 We are happy when people think that we are weak, because you are strong in obeying God without needing discipline from us. This is the very thing that we pray for, that you may decide to trust and obey God completely. 10 It is because I want you to trust and obey God completely that I am writing to you about these things while I am apart from you. Then when I come to you, I will not have to discipline you severely. The Lord has empowered me to represent him, but he did that so that I could encourage and help you to trust God more, not so that I could discourage you from trusting God.

11 Here are the last things that I want to say to you, my fellow believers. Be joyful! Live in the way that God wants you to live. Let the things that I have said to you encourage you to trust God more. Agree with each other about the important things. Live peacefully with each other. If you do these things, God will be with you. He is the one who enables you to love and to be peaceful with others. 12 Greet each other affectionately in a way that is appropriate for those who are members of God’s family. All of God’s people here send greetings to you. 13 May the Lord Jesus the Messiah act kindly toward you, may God love you, and may the Holy Spirit be with you and join you all together.

2COR C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13