for our gospel came to you not with mere words but also with power and with the holy Spirit, with ample conviction on our part (you know what we were to you, for your own good),

no, we behaved gently when we were among you, like a nursing mother cherishing her own children,

Brothers, when we were bereft of you for a little while (out of sight, not out of mind), we were the more eager to see you. We had a keen longing for you.

for we told you beforehand, when we were with you, that "we Christians are to have trouble" ??and, as you know, it has been so.)