6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,¹ that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be ^zpuffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? ^aWhat do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become ^brich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, ^clike men sentenced to death, because we have ^dbecome a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are ^efools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. ^fWe are ^gweak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour ^hwe hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we ⁱlabor, working with our own hands. ^jWhen reviled, ^kwe bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless¹ guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. ^lFor I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 ^mI urge you, then, ⁿbe imitators of me. 17 That is why ^oI sent² you Timothy, my beloved and faithful ^pchild in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,³ as I teach them ^qeverywhere in every church. 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But ^rI 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 the kingdom of God ^sdoes not consist in ^ttalk but ^uin power. 21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love ^vin a spirit of gentleness?