I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:

I have said beforehand, and I do say beforehand, as when I was present the second time, so now, being absent, to them that have sinned heretofore, and to all the rest, that, if I come again, I will not spare;

I have told before, and foretell, as present, and now absent, to them that sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare.

I have declared beforehand, and I say beforehand as present the second time, and now absent, to those that have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare.

I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them who heretofore have sinned, and to all others, that, if I come again, I will not spare;

I have said before, and I say it before, as being present, the second time, and being absent, now, do I write to those having sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare,

Those who cling to their old sins, and indeed all of you, I have forewarned and still forewarn (as I did on my second visit when present, so I do now, though absent)

I said before, and still say it before I come, as being present for the second time, though I am still away from you, to those who have done wrong before, and to all the others, that if I come again I will not have pity;

I have preached when present, and I will preach now while absent, to those who sinned before, and to all the others, because, when I arrive again, I will not be lenient with you.

I have said it, and I say it again before I come, just as if I were with you on my second visit, though for the moment absent, I say to those who have been long sinning, as well as to all others – that if I come again, I will spare no one.

I told you before, and foretell you. The friendly and agreeable admonitions, that he had addressed to them so frequently, had been of no advantage. He, accordingly, betakes himself to a more severe remedy, with which he had previously threatened them in words when present with them. When we see him act with so much strictness, we need have no doubt, that they were surprisingly ungovernable and obstinate; for it appears from his writings, what mildness, and what unwearied patience he was otherwise prepared to manifest. As, however, it is the part of a good parent to forgive and bear with many things, so it is the part of a foolish parent, and one that has no proper regard for the welfare of his children, to neglect to use severity, when there is occasion for it, and to mingle strictness with mildness. We are well aware, that nothing is more hurtful than excessive indulgence [1] Let us, therefore, use mildness, when we can safely do so, and that too, dignified and properly regulated: let us act with greater severity, when necessity requires. It is asked, however, why it was, that the Apostle allowed himself to expose the particular faults of individuals in so open a manner, as in a manner to point his finger at the very persons? I answer, that he would never have done so, if the sins had been hid, but as they were manifest to all, and matter of notoriety, so as to furnish a pernicious example, it was necessary that he should not spare the authors of a public scandal. [2] It is asked, secondly, what kind of chastisement he threatens to inflict upon them, as he could scarcely chastise them more severely in words. I have no doubt that he means, that he will inflict punishment upon them by excommunication. For what is more to be dreaded, than being cut off from the body of Christ, expelled from the kingdom of God, and delivered over to Satan for destruction, (1-Corinthians 5:5,) unless you repent?

Footnotes

1 - "Vn abandon desmesure, et douceur trop grande;" -- "Excessive indulgence, and too great sweetness."

2 - It might almost seem as if Baxter must have had this passage of Calvin in his eye, when penning his celebrated apology for animadverting so freely on the faults of the ministers of religion in his times. "If it should be objected, that I should not have spoken so plainly and sharply against the sins of the ministry, or that I should not have published it to the view of the world, or, at least, that I should have done it in another tongue, and not in the ears of the vulgar. When the sin is open in the sight of the world, it is in vain to attempt to hide it; and when the sin is public, the confession should also be public. If the ministers of England had sinned only in Latin, I would have made shift to have admonished them in Latin, or else should have said nothing to them. But if they will sin in English, they must hear of it in English." -- Baxter's Reformed Pastor, (Glasgow, 1829,) pp. 60, 61. -- Ed.

I told you before - That I would not spare offenders; that I would certainly punish them. He had intimated this before in the First Epistle 1-Corinthians 4:21; 1-Corinthians 5:1-13.
And foretell you - Now apprise you of my fixed determination to punish every offender as he deserves.
As if I were present, the second time - The mention of the second time here proves that Paul had been with them but once before. He had formed the resolution to go to them, but had been disappointed. The time when he had been with them is recorded in Acts 18:1 ff. He now uses the same language to them which he says he would use if he were with them, as he had expected to be, the second time. See the remarks of Paley on this passage, referred to above.
And being absent - see the note on 1-Corinthians 5:3.
To them which have heretofore sinned - To all the offenders in the church. They had supposed that he would not come to them 1-Corinthians 4:18, or that if he came he would not dare to inflict punishment, 2 Cor. 9-11. They had, therefore, given themselves greater liberty, and had pursued their own course, regardless of his authority and commands.
I will not spare - I will punish them. They shall not escape.

I told you before, etc. - As Calmet maintains that Paul had already been twice at Corinth, it is well to hear his reasons: "St. Paul came to Corinth the latter end of the year of our Lord 52, and remained there eighteen months, Acts 18:1, etc. He came there a second time in the year 55, but stayed only a short time, as he had to return speedily to Ephesus, 1-Corinthians 16:7; hence it is that St. Luke makes no mention of this second journey in the Acts. Finally he determined to visit them a third time; as in effect he did about the year 57. Of his second voyage to Corinth, which is not mentioned in the Acts, he speaks expressly in this verse." I do not see sufficient evidence to induce me to subscribe to this opinion of Calmet. I believe the apostle had been but once before at Corinth; and this matter is set in a clear point of view by Dr. Paley. See the Introduction, Section 11.
I will not spare - I will inflict the proper punishment on every incorrigible offender. It does appear, from all the apostle's threatenings, that he was possessed of a miraculous power, by which he could inflict punishment on offenders; that he could deliver the body to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, 1-Corinthians 4:21; 1-Corinthians 5:5. What he says he told them before probably relates to 1-Corinthians 4:21 : Shall I come with a rod, etc.

I told you before, and foretell you as if I were present a second time,.... He means, that he had in his former epistle faithfully told them of their evils, and admonished them for them; and now he sends to them a second time before his coming, and again admonishes them, as if he was upon the spot with them; so that they had, as before, three witnesses, also a first and second admonition; which, should they be without success, he must proceed further:
and being absent now, I write to them which heretofore have sinned; before he wrote his first epistle, of which he had information, and had faithfully reproved and admonished them; see 2-Corinthians 12:21.
And to all other; that might since be drawn into a compliance with sinful practices, through their example; or as the Arabic version renders it, "to the rest of the congregation"; who would be witnesses for him, and against them, that he had admonished them a first, and a second time: and by his present writing declares,
that if I come again; for, not knowing what might fall out to prevent him, though he was bent upon coming, and ready for it, nor what was the will of God about it, he does not choose to be positive in the matter; and therefore writes conditionally, and with a guard, and no doubt with a submission to the divine will:
I will not spare; this was the reason why as yet he had not been at Corinth, because he was willing to spare them; see 2-Corinthians 1:23 being loath to come to severities, if gentler methods would take effect; but now having used all proper means, he is at a point, aud determined not to spare, but to use his apostolical rod, or that power which the Lord had given him in an extraordinary way, as an extraordinary officer, to punish incorrigible offenders, in such manner as the incestuous person, and Hymenaeus and Philetus had been used by him.

Rather, "I have already said (at my second visit), and tell you (now) beforehand, AS (I did) WHEN I WAS PRESENT THE SECOND TIME, SO also NOW in my absence (the oldest manuscripts omit the 'I write,' which here wrongly follows in English Version Greek text) to them which heretofore have sinned (namely, before my second visit, 2-Corinthians 12:21), and to all others (who have sinned since my second visit, or are in danger of sinning)." The English Version, "as if I were present the second time," namely, this next time, is quite inconsistent with 2-Corinthians 13:1, "this is the third time I am coming to you," as Paul could not have called the same journey at once "the second" and "the third time" of his coming. The antithesis between "the second time" and "now" is palpable.
if I come again, &c.--that is, whensoever I come again (Acts 20:2). These were probably the very words of his former threat which he now repeats again.

All the rest - Who have since then sinned in any of these kinds. I will not spare - I will severely punish them.