For this reason also I wrote you: ¹  to test you to see ²  if you are obedient in everything.

as it is written: “The one who gathered ¹  much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.” ² 

For it is not necessary ¹  for me to write you about this service ²  to the saints,

Just as it is written, “He ¹  has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.” ² 

For we do not write you anything other than what ¹  you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely ² 

But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in ¹  what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,” ²  we also believe, therefore we also speak.

And I wrote this very thing to you, ¹  so that when I came ²  I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours.

For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you. ¹ 

So then, even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong, or on account of the one who was wronged, but to reveal to you your eagerness on our behalf ¹  before God.

Because of this I am writing these things while absent, so that when I arrive ¹  I may not have to deal harshly with you ²  by using my authority – the Lord gave it to me for building up, not for tearing down!