Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹² This is what we boast of, you see; this is what our conscience is telling us: that our conduct in the world, and in particular in relation to you, has been marked by holiness and godly sincerity, not in merely human wisdom but in God’s grace. ¹³ We are not writing anything to you, after all, except what you can read and understand. And I hope you will go on understanding right through to the end, ¹⁴ just as you have understood us already—well, partly, at least! We are your pride and joy, just as you are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus.

Paul’s plans and God’s “Yes”

¹⁵ I was quite sure of this. That’s why I wanted to come to you again, so that you could have a double blessing. ¹⁶ I intended to go on to Macedonia by way of you, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judaea. ¹⁷ Was I just fooling around when I was making plans like this? Was I concocting schemes in a merely human way, prepared to say “Yes, yes,” and “No, no,” at the same moment? ¹⁸ God can bear me faithful witness that our word to you was not a mixture of Yes and No. ¹⁹ The son of God, Jesus the Messiah, who was proclaimed among you by Silvanus, Timothy and myself, wasn’t a Yes-and-No person; in him it’s always Yes!