¹⁴ For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news^[a] of Christ.^(A)

¹⁵ For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel.^(A)

¹¹ that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.

⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel^(A)

There Is No Other Gospel

⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷ not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.^{(A) 8} But even if we or an angel^[a] from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!^(B)

⁴ In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing clearly the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.^(A)

Ministers of the New Covenant

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?^{(A) 2} You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all, ³ and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are human hearts.^[a](B)

Paul’s Anxiety in Troas

¹² When I came to Troas to proclaim the good news^[a] of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord,^(A)

The Rights of an Apostle

9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?^{(A) 2} If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.^(B)

¹⁰ According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Let each builder choose with care how to build on it.^(A)