“For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own…
“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men,…
“Just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a…
“You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers” (1 Thessalonians 2:10) You are witnesses. You are the ones who have…
“For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel…
“But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart…
“For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is witness – nor did we seek glory from men, either from…
“For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel,…
“For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had…