Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present.
- BSB Such people should consider that what we are in our letters when absent, we will be in our actions when present.
- NKJV Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.
- NASB Have such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.
- NLT Those people should realize that our actions when we arrive in person will be as forceful as what we say in our letters from far away.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul warns such critics that he will be the same in person as he is in his letters. There is no gap between his words and his deeds.
Overview
Paul answers the accusation of inconsistency: what he writes when absent, he will carry out when present. His firmness is not mere bravado. This integrity, the alignment of word and action, marks genuine apostolic authority and stands in contrast to those who boast emptily.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 2 Cor 12:20For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:
- 2 Cor 13:10Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.
- 2 Cor 13:2–3I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:
- 1 Cor 4:19–20But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
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Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 10:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.