¹⁵ Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing by visiting you twice—

¹⁹ But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power.

¹¹ For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.

²⁹ And I am sure that when I come, Christ will richly bless our time together.

²⁵ Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. ²⁶ And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

6 As God’s partners,^[a] we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.

³⁴ If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.