1 Corinthians 4:12-19 New King James Version (NKJV)

12. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

13. being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

14. I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.

15. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

16. Therefore I urge you, imitate me.

17. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

18. Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.

19. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.

1 Corinthians 4