1 Thessalonians 2:3-8
New Living Translation
3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.
4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. 5 Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money! 6 As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.
7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children[a] among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children. 8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2:7 Some manuscripts read we were gentle.
1 Thessalonians 2:3-8
New International Version
3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives,(A) nor are we trying to trick you.(B) 4 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.(C) We are not trying to please people(D) but God, who tests our hearts.(E) 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed(F)—God is our witness.(G) 6 We were not looking for praise from people,(H) not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles(I) of Christ we could have asserted our authority.(J) 7 Instead, we were like young children[a] among you.
Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,(K) 8 so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God(L) but our lives as well.(M)
Footnotes
- 1 Thessalonians 2:7 Some manuscripts were gentle
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