1
I was deeply grieved concerning Valens, who was once an elder among you, because he so badly misunderstood the office entrusted to him.
2
Therefore I warn you to abstain from greed and to remain pure and truthful.
3
Keep yourselves from every evil.
4
The one who cannot govern himself in these matters cannot teach another.
5
If someone does not abstain from greed, that person becomes polluted by idolatry and is judged as though among the nations who do not know the judgment of the Master.
6
Do we not know that the set-apart ones will judge the world, as Paulos teaches?
7
I have neither observed nor heard such a thing among you, among whom the blessed Paulos labored and whom he praises at the beginning of his letter.
8
He boasts concerning you among the assemblies that then knew Elohim, while we had not yet known Him.
9
Therefore I grieve deeply for Valens and his wife.
10
May the Master grant them true repentance.
11
Be moderate in dealing with this matter.
12
Do not count them as enemies.
13
Call them back as suffering and wandering members so that you may restore the whole body.
14
By acting this way you build up yourselves. Witness note. This chapter is preserved principally in the ancient Latin version because the continuous Greek manuscripts are defective after Chapter 9; Syriac fragments additionally witness …