New American Standard Bible NAS
New International Version NIV
16 Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.
16
Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord , and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
17
For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
18 Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
18
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.
19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power.
19
But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.
20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.
20
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
21 What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
21
What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.