13. We write to you only what you can read and understand. And I hope you will fully understand,
14. just as you already understand many things about us. I hope you will understand that you can be proud of us, just as we will be proud of you on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
15. I was very sure of all this. That is why I made plans to visit you first. Then you could be blessed twice.
16. I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and again on my way back. I wanted to get help from you for my trip to Judea.
17. Do you think that I made these plans without really thinking? Or maybe you think I make plans as the world does, saying yes and no at the same time.
18. But if you can believe God, then you can believe that what we tell you is never both yes and no.
19. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one that Silas, Timothy, and I told you about was not yes and no. In Christ it has always been yes.
20. The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen” through Christ to the glory of God.
21. And God is the one who makes you and us strong in Christ. God is also the one who chose us for his work.
22. He put his mark on us to show that we are his. Yes, he put his Spirit in our hearts as the first payment that guarantees all that he will give us.
23. I tell you this, and I ask God to be my witness that this is true: The reason I did not come back to Corinth was that I did not want to punish or hurt you.
24. I don’t mean that we are trying to control your faith. You are strong in faith. But we are workers with you for your own happiness.