“Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.”
King James Version (KJV)
1:23 I call God for a record upon my soul - Was not St. Paul now speaking by the Spirit? And can a more solemn oath be conceived? Who then can imagine that Christ ever designed to forbid all swearing? That to spare you I came not yet to Corinth - Lest I should be obliged to use severity. He says elegantly to Corinth, not to you, when be is intimating his power to punish.
2Co 1:23 To spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. He delayed coming in order to give time for his First Epistle to have effect and bring repentance. Had he come before they repented, his coming must have been in severity.