² I beg of you ^(A)that when I am present I may not have to show ^(B)boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.

¹⁰ For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come ^(A)I may not have to be ^(B)severe in my use of ^(C)the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

^2 (A)I warned ^(B)those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that ^(C)if I come again I will not spare them—

Keep in Step with the Spirit

¹⁶ But I say, ^(A)walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify ^(B)the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For ^(C)the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, ^(D)to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸ But if you are ^(E)led by the Spirit, ^(F)you are not under the law. ¹⁹ Now ^(G)the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, ^(H)divisions, ²¹ envy,^[a] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that ^(I)those who do^[b] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But ^(J)the fruit of the Spirit is ^(K)love, joy, peace, patience, ^(L)kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ^23 (M)gentleness, ^(N)self-control; ^(O)against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus ^(P)have crucified the flesh with its ^(Q)passions and desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, ^(R)let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

^2 (A)in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following ^(B)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ^(C)the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in ^(D)the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body^[a] and the mind, and ^(E)were by nature ^(F)children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^[b]

¹³ For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that ^(A)I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴ Here ^(B)for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for ^(C)I seek not what is yours but you. For ^(D)children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but ^(E)parents for their children. ^15 (F)I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If ^(G)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But granting that ^(H)I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you ^(I)through any of those whom I sent to you? ^18 (J)I urged Titus to go, and sent ^(K)the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

¹⁹ Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is ^(L)in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and ^(M)all for your upbuilding, beloved. ²⁰ For I fear that perhaps ^(N)when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.

¹⁸ Some are ^(A)arrogant, ^(B)as though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But ^(C)I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. ²⁰ For ^(D)the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. ²¹ What do you wish? ^(E)Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

⁹ And when I was with you and was ^(A)in need, ^(B)I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia ^(C)supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain ^(D)from burdening you in any way. ^10 (E)As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine ^(F)will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ And why? ^(G)Because I do not love you? ^(H)God knows I do!

¹² And what I am doing I will continue to do, ^(I)in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. ¹³ For such men are ^(J)false apostles, ^(K)deceitful workmen, ^(L)disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

⁵ For ^(A)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on ^(B)the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ^(C)the things of the Spirit.