⁵Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the believers. You are faithful even though they are strangers to you. ⁶They have told the church about your love. Please help them by sending them on their way in a manner that honors God.

⁷They started on their journey to serve Jesus Christ. They didn’t receive any help from those who aren’t believers. ⁸So we should welcome people like them. We should work together with them for the truth.

⁹I wrote to the church. But Diotrephes won’t have anything to do with us. He loves to be the first in everything. ¹⁰So if I come, I will point out what he is doing. He is saying evil things about us to others. Even that doesn’t satisfy him. He refuses to welcome other believers. He also keeps others from welcoming them. In fact, he throws them out of the church.

¹¹Dear friend, don’t be like those who do evil. Be like those who do good. Anyone who does what is good belongs to God. Anyone who does what is evil hasn’t really seen or known God.

¹²Everyone says good things about Demetrius. He lives in keeping with the truth. We also say good things about him. And you know that our witness is true.

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