1 Thessalonians 2:5-9

Expanded Bible

⁵ You know that we never ·tried to influence you by saying nice things about you [^Lcame with words of flattery]. ·We were not trying to get your money; we had no selfishness to hide from you [^L…nor with hidden motives of greed]. God ·knows that this is true [^Lis (our) witness]. ⁶ We were not looking for human ·praise [glory], from you or anyone else, ⁷ even though as apostles of Christ we could have ·used our authority over you [thrown our weight around; exercised our prerogatives].

But we were very gentle with you,^[a] like a ·mother [nurse; nursing mother] caring for her [^Lown] little children. ⁸ Because we ·loved [had such affection for/devotion to] you, we were ·happy [pleased; delighted] to share not only God’s ·Good News [Gospel] with you, but ·even [also] our own lives. You had become so ·dear [beloved] to us! ⁹ Brothers and sisters, ·I know [surely] you remember our hard work and ·difficulties [hardship; labor]. We worked night and day so we would not burden any of you while we preached God’s ·Good News [Gospel] to you.