⁷ Although we could have insisted on our own importance^[a][b] as apostles of Christ, yet we became infants in your midst, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children. ⁸ Longing for you in this way, we determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you had become dear to us.

⁹ For you remember, brothers, our labor and hardship: working by night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.