'Severely' in the Bible

But if someone has caused [all this] sorrow, he has caused it not to me, but in some degree—not to put it too severely—[he has distressed and grieved] all of you.

Because of this, I am writing these [things] [although I] am absent, in order that [when I] am present I may not have to act severely according to the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.