9. Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
10. He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again,
11. as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many.
12. For our reason for confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives and sincerity which are from God – not by human wisdom but by the grace of God – we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more toward you.
13. For we do not write you anything other than what you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely
14. just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15. And with this confidence I intended to come to you first so that you would get a second opportunity to see us,
16. and through your help to go on into Macedonia and then from Macedonia to come back to you and be helped on our way into Judea by you.
17. Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? Or do I make my plans according to mere human standards so that I would be saying both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?