Now whoever has caused the pain has not so much pained me, as he has, to some extent--not to be too severe--pained every one of you.

So that now you must take the opposite course, and forgive and encourage him, or else he may be overwhelmed by the intensity of his pain.

For we know that if our tent--that earthly body which is now our home--is taken down, we have a house of God's building, a home not made by hands, imperishable, in Heaven.

For ourselves, then, from this time forward, we refuse to regard any one from the world's standpoint. Even if we once thought of Christ from the standpoint of the world, yet now we do so no longer.

For he says--'At the time for acceptance I listened to thee, And on the day of deliverance I helped thee.' Now is the time for acceptance! Now is the day of deliverance!

I am glad now; not because of the sorrow it caused you, but because your sorrow brought you to repentance. For it was God's will that you should feel sorrow, in order that you should not suffer loss in any way at our hands.

And now I want you to complete the work, so that its completion may correspond with your willing readiness--in proportion, of course, to your means.

We are also sending with them another of our Brothers, whose earnestness we have many a time proved in many ways, and whom we now find made even more earnest by his great confidence in you.

Now, I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ--I who, "in your presence, am humble in my bearing towards you, but, when absent, am bold in my language to you"--

What I am doing now I shall continue to do, that I may cut away the ground from under those who are wishing for some ground for attacking me, so that as regards the thing of which they boast they may appear in their true characters, just as we do.

This is my reason for writing as I am now doing, while I am away from you, so that, when I am with you, I may not act harshly in the exercise of the authority which the Lord gave me--and gave me for building up and not for pulling down.

And now, brothers, good-bye. Aim at perfection; take courage; agree together; live in peace. And then God, the source of all love and peace, will be with you.