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11 To this very moment we endure both hunger and thirst, with scanty clothing and many a blow. 12 Homes we have none. Wearily we toil, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we bear it patiently; 13 when slandered, we try to conciliate. We have come to be regarded as the mere dirt and filth of the world--the refuse of the universe, even to this hour. 14 I am not writing all this to shame you, but I am offering you advice as my dearly-loved children. 15 For even if you were to have ten thousand spiritual instructors--for all that you could not have several fathers. It is I who in Christ Jesus became your father through the Good News. 16 I entreat you therefore to become like me. 17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you. Spiritually he is my dearly-loved and faithful child. He will remind you of my habits as a Christian teacher--the manner in which I teach everywhere in every Church. 18 But some of you have been puffed up through getting the idea that I am not coming to Corinth. 19 But, if the Lord is willing, I shall come to you without delay; and then I shall know not the fine speeches of these conceited people, but their power. 20 For Apostolic authority is not a thing of words, but of power. 21 Which shall it be? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in a loving and tender spirit? 1 Corinthians 4:11-21, Weymouth New Testament. Public domain.
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