⁷even though as apostles of Christ we could have made demands on you. But we were gentle when we were with you, like a mother^a taking care of her children.

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Footnotes

awe were gentle when we were with you, like a mother; some manuscripts have we were like children when we were with you; we were like a mother.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Instead, we were like young children among you.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children.

NLTNew Living Translation

As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Although we could have insisted on our own importance as apostles of Christ, yet we became infants in your midst, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children.

KJV 1900King James Version

But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

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