7 Instead, we were like young children among you.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,

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

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

7 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.

7 even though as apostles of Christ we could have used our authority over you.

But we were very gentle with you, like a mother caring for her little children.

7 But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth her own children:

7 but have been gentle in the midst of you, as a nurse would cherish her own children.

7 although as apostles of Christ we had the right to do this. 

Instead, we were gentle when we were with you, like a mother taking care of her children.

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

7 though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.

7 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.

7 But we were gentle among you. We were like a mother caring for her little children.

7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.