15. I planned with this confidence to come to you first, so you could have a double benefit,
16. and to go on to Macedonia with your help, then come to you again from Macedonia and be given a start by you on my journey to Judea.
17. So when I planned this, was I irresponsible? Or what I plan, do I plan in a purely human way so that I say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” simultaneously?
18. As God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes and no.”
19. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us — by me and Silvanus and Timothy — did not become “Yes and no”; on the contrary, a final “Yes” has come in Him.
20. For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen” is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory.
21. Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed us.
22. He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts.
23. I call on God as a witness, on my life, that it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth.
24. I do not mean that we have control of your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand by faith.