5 I don't want to be hard on you. But if one of you has made someone feel bad, I am not really the one who has been made to feel bad. Some of you are the ones.
6 Most of you have already pointed out the wrong that person did, and that is punishment enough for what was done.
7 When people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won't give up in despair.
8 You should make them sure of your love for them.
9 I also wrote because I wanted to test you and find out if you would follow my instructions.
10 I will forgive anyone you forgive. Yes, for your sake and with Christ as my witness, I have forgiven whatever needed to be forgiven.
11 I have done this to keep Satan from getting the better of us. We all know what goes on in his mind.