2 Corinthians 13

₁This is the 3rd time that I am coming to you. And you know it is written in the Old_Testament:

You know that God has warned you enough times to live in the right way. ₂I warned you when I was with you the 2nd time and I am warning you again while I am not with you. I am saying this to the people who made problems some time ago and I am saying it to all the other people: When I come to you, I will not be friendly to the people who make problems. ₃You want me to show that Christ is using me to speak to you. If you want to see that this is true, look at Christ who has shown you that He is not weak. He has shown you that He has a lot of power. ₄Yes, it seemed as if Christ was weak when He was crucified, but now He lives with the power of God. That is why it seems as if the people who work for Christ and I are weak, but we live with Christ because God gave us his power. You will see this when we come back to you.

₅Look carefully at yourselves. You must make sure that you really believe in Christ, so test yourselves. You know that Jesus Christ is in your hearts. But beware, because if you do not pass the test, then He is not in your hearts. ₆I hope that you will see that the people working with me and I have passed the test. ₇We pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. It is not important to us to say that we were right, but it is important to us that you must pass the test. It is not important if we look like people who do not pass the test.

₈But you must know: We can not do anything that is against the truth. We can do only things that are true. ₉That is why we are happy when we are weak and when you are strong. Yes, we pray that you will live as God wants you to live in everything that you do. ₁₀This is why I write these things while I am not with you. Then I will not be angry or hard on you or punish you when I come to you again. I do it because the Lord said I may be angry and hard on you so that I can build the congregations, and not break the believers down.

₁₁My friends, I want to tell you one more thing. Be happy, live as God wants you to live, listen when we tell you what is right, work together and live in peace with one another. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. ₁₂You must greet each other with a kiss that shows that you all belong to Christ. ₁₃All the believers send greetings to you.

₁₄I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be gracious to you all and that all of you will love each other as God loves you. I also pray that the Holy_Spirit will be with you so that you will all belong to one another.