as men condemned to death; for we have come to be a spectacle
to all creation--alike to angels and to men.
004:010 We, for Christ's sake, are labeled as "foolish"; you, as Christians,
are men of shrewd intelligence. We are mere weaklings:
you are strong. You are in high repute: we are outcasts.
004:011 To this very moment we endure both hunger and thirst,
with scanty clothing and many a blow.
004:012 Homes we have none. Wearily we toil, working with our own hands.
When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we bear it patiently;
004:013 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.
004:014 I am not writing all this to shame you, but I am offering you
advice as my dearly-loved children.
004:015 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.
004:016 I entreat you therefore to become like me.
004:017 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.
004:018 But some of you have been puffed up through getting the idea
that I am not coming to Corinth.
004:019 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.
004:020 For Apostolic authority is not a thing of words, but of power.
004:021 Which shall it be? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in a