And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.
Parallel translations
- WEB and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.
- KJV And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
- NKJV and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
- NASB and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.
- NLT And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.
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 stands ready to discipline persistent disobedience once the obedience of the faithful majority is complete. He distinguishes between the loyal and the rebellious.
Overview
Paul is prepared to deal with stubborn rebels, but only after the obedient have been fully restored. His priority is the church's repentance; judgment on the unrepentant is a last resort. This reflects ordered pastoral care that seeks restoration first and confronts hardened opposition with appropriate firmness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Cor 2:9My purpose in writing you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
- Num 16:26–30And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
- 2 Cor 7:15And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling.
- 2 Cor 13:2I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone,
- 1 Cor 5:3–5Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
- Acts 5:3–11Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
- Acts 13:10–11and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
- 2 Cor 13:10This is why I write these things while absent, so that when I am present I will not need to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.
- 3 Jn 1:10So if I come, I will call attention to his malicious slander against us. And unsatisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and forbids those who want to do so, even putting them out of the church.
- 1 Tim 1:20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
- 1 Cor 4:21Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 10:6 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.