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To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
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And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;
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being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.
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I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.
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For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
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Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
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For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.
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Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.
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But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.
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For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.
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What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?