9-12 You remember us in those days, friends, working our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so you wouldn’t have the burden of supporting us while we proclaimed God’s Message to you. You saw with your own eyes how discreet and courteous we were among you, with keen sensitivity to you as fellow believers. And God knows we weren’t freeloaders! You experienced it all firsthand. With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life.

13 And now we look back on all this and thank God, a geyser of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!

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11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,(A) 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy(B) of God, who calls(C) you into his kingdom and glory.

13 And we also thank God continually(D) because, when you received the word of God,(E) which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

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