This is the third time I am coming to you. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”
Parallel translations
- KJV This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
- BSB This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
- NKJV This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.”
- NASB This is the third time that I am coming to you. On the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter shall be confirmed.
- NLT This is the third time I am coming to visit you (and as the Scriptures say, “The facts of every case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”).
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
Announcing his third visit, Paul invokes the biblical rule that every charge must be established by two or three witnesses. It matters because his coming discipline will be just and orderly, not arbitrary.
Overview
Paul cites Deuteronomy 19:15, applying its standard of fair evidence to church discipline. His three visits may themselves stand as the 'witnesses' confirming his repeated warnings. This grounds his authority in Scripture and assures the Corinthians of due process rather than personal vendetta.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 18:16But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
- Deut 19:15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
- Deut 17:6At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
- John 8:17–18It’s also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid.
- Num 35:30“‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die.
- 2 Cor 12:14Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not your possessions, but you. For the children ought not to save up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
- Heb 10:28–29A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.
- 1 Kgs 21:10Set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then carry him out, and stone him to death.”
- Matt 26:60–61and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward,
- 1 Kgs 21:13The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him. The base fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king!” Then they carried him out of the city and stoned him to death with stones.
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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 13:1 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
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