JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books, and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how-to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This week the focus is on the  50th Anniversary Edition of Carla Emery’s The Encyclopedia of Country Living. (See the Books section.)

Books:

In case haven’t yet obtained a copy of the new edition that was released in December 2019: The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 50th Anniversary Edition: The Original Manual for Living off the Land & Doing It Yourself

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The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor

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Ugly’s Electrical References, 2020 Edition

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Pocket Medicine: The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Internal Medicine

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The Owner Builder’s Guide to Stone Masonry

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 21, 2020

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July 21st is the birthday of novelist Ernest Hemingway. He was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. He committed suicide in July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho, after being diagnosed with haemochromatosis, and after electroshock treatments failed to lift him from chronic alcoholic depression. He lived a sad life but was a great writer.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 89 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 89 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Adventures in Central Texas Gardening – Part 1, by Lisa

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As a child growing up in North Texas, my family was of the Depression era. We raised beef for the freezer, milked our cow for milk, raised chickens for both meat and eggs, raised a hog occasionally but always had a huge garden. I can’t tell you how many times I spent a summer day picking green beans on what seemed like the endless rows of the ½ acre garden. Of course, as I grew older, being the typical teen, I couldn’t wait to leave the country and move up in the world to the big city, which I did.

Fast forward to the 21st century – now as a more mature woman, I yearn for all the forgotten wisdom that was passed down to me. I’m not sure now if it was lack of attention on my part or if it has just faded away with a lot of other memories from that time, or maybe a little of both. However, in the early 2000s, I began to realize that to really take care of my family, I really needed to start growing my own garden for fresh vegetables and to can, freeze and dehydrate as much as I could for long term storage. This is the story of how I began the journey to attempt to return to my roots and the adventures and lessons learned along the way.

Mental Preparation

I began by researching vegetable gardening. I had moved from North Texas to where I currently reside in Central Texas. I was amazed at the difference in gardening lore and planting between the two areas. Identifying your USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Planting zone based on their Plant Hardiness Map is an important part of planning a garden. I was originally in zone 8A but now am in 8B (really on the border of zone 9). The planting times are much earlier, the range of plants that can be planted are greatly expanded and with care, gardening can be done year-round, as opposed to the traditional spring/fall garden.

While I remembered the basics, I needed to determine watering, lighting, the plants that would produce the most, best times to plant, etc. If possible, reach out to your older family members or become acquainted with older members of your community who garden. They will have a wealth of knowledge and will appreciate your interest in gathering their wisdom! In addition to speaking with experienced people, research on the Internet for vegetable gardening. A tip: Be very careful about video sites. While I used this method before, I have found it is best to stick with reputable sources and not necessarily individuals, especially when they post “ideas that are short cuts”, “no work gardening” or seemingly “too good to be true” methods (which they normally are).Continue reading“Adventures in Central Texas Gardening – Part 1, by Lisa”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on Montana gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte. (See the Montana section.)

Region-Wide

‘Move Oregon’s Border’ petitioner files federal lawsuit in hopes of moving 17 counties to ‘Greater Idaho’

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Aviation company denies negligence in fatal Wyoming accident

Idaho

The latest from the Good Simple Living vlogging family in North Idaho: The Truth About Us — What We Haven’t Shown You.  JWR’s Comment: I highly recommend subscribing to their channel. Let’s help get them to 150,000 subscribers!

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Idaho county sues state over coronavirus rescue money

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9-year-old girl dies after being struck by falling tree at Hayden Lake

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Crews remove body of final plane crash victim, portion of Cessna from Lake Coeur d’Alene

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 20, 2020

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Today is the 87th birthday of novelist Cormac McCarthy (born, 1933.) He is the author of the survivalist novel The Road, which later became a popular movie with the same title.

On July 20th, 1969, At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, spoke these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon.

—

I just heard that Grant Imahara (of Mythbusters fame) passed away at age 49. He will be missed.

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Today we present a review written by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

Zero Tolerance 0223, by Pat Cascio

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I’m a real sucker, for a well-made, and stout knife, especially when it comes to folders. I carry two folders in my front cargo pants pockets each day. And when out hiking, I’ll carry a fixed blade knife, as a rule. However, folders get used every single day for some chores around our small homestead. I’ve written about this before, but for who might have missed it, I prefer an Everyday Carry folder, with a blade between 3.5-inches and 4- inches long, and I like a blade right around 3.75-inches long – just seems to balance better in my hand and it does everything I ask of it.

I don’t like “junk” knives, and we all know one when we see or handle one. They look pretty, however, they are made out of junk steel, and more often than not, the steel isn’t even heat-treated. Most of those knives come dull, and just won’t take an edge, and if you manage to get some kind of an edge on it, it won’t last long at all. And, be sure to never apply too much pressure on the locking mechanism, because it will surely fail on you and you might lose a couple of fingers.

Simply put, if a knife isn’t well-made and has high-quality materials in it, then I have zero interest in owning one or even testing one. Over the years, I’ve flat out sent knives like that back to whoever sent them to me for testing. I won’t waste my time, or our reader’s time on testing junk – period!

Zero Tolerance is a division of the KAI Corporation, and KAI owns Kershaw Knives. The Zero Tolerance line of products is made in the Kershaw factory right here in Oregon – my home state. However, keep in mind that the ZT line is manufactured using only the best of the best materials, and the prices reflect that, too. Look, there is nothing wrong with the Kershaw line. They have some outstanding knives out there, and I can be seen carrying a Kershaw folder quite often. They are a great bargain if you ask me. Some of them are made overseas, and some made in the USA – and I can’t tell the difference – high-quality and care in each folder – no matter where it comes from. And, to be sure, those knives made overseas are not made in slave labor prison factories.

However, I do love products made in the good ol’ United States of America, and that’s where the Zero Tolerance line comes into play. All ZT knives are made in the USA – don’t forget that. And, the time and materials involved in producing these knives cost a lot more than you think. The ZT line of knives comes from the minds of some of our best custom knife makers and they have to be compensated for their work, too. I’ve been on-board ever since I saw the first few Zero Tolerance prototypes during a visit to the Kershaw plant. I’ve tested and written about a variety of the ZT knives, and never had any problems with any of them. They are custom-quality in all respects. Also, when compared to many custom-made folders, the ZT line-up is actually better made than those from custom knife makers. Of course, you get them at a fraction of the price, that one would cost from a custom knifemaker.

Zero Tolerance 0223Today we’re looking at the Zero Tolerance Model 0223, and this one is a bit different than some of the other folders I’ve tested from ZT. First of all, it resembles a Soviet-style bayonet, of course it is not that big, but at first glance, it looks like it could go on the end of an AK-47. This folder was designed by Tim Galyean, and if you don’t know who he is, then do a web search on his name. He is quite the knife designer. This folder has a deep clip point blade – making it ideal for a lot of different chores, one that comes to mind is as a hunting knife, used for dressing out big game – that clip point blade will get the job done in short order. There is also heavy “jimping” on the spine of the blade – friction grooves, if you will. There are also some decorative holes drilled in the ricasso echo on the jimping.Continue reading“Zero Tolerance 0223, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Candied Citrus Peels

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The following recipe for candied citrus peels is from The New Butterick Cook Book, by Flora Rose, co-head of the School of Home Economics at Cornell University. It was published in 1924. A professional scan of that 724-page out-of-copyright book will be one of the bonus items in the next edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. This 15th Anniversary Edition USB stick should be available for sale in the third week of January, 2021.

Ingredients
  • Citrus Peels (Oranges, Lemons or Grapefruit)
  • Salt
  • Water
  • White Sugar
Directions
  1. Cut the peel of oranges, lemons or grapefruit into halves, quarters, or narrow strips, depending on your preference and intended use.
  2. Let them stand overnight in salted water (one tablespoon salt to one quart of water).
  3. Drain and wash thoroughly.
  4. Cook the peels in a pot of boiling water, changing the water repeatedly until it loses its bitter flavor. (You can skip changing the water if you like your candied peels extra tangy. But beware that this might leave some bitterness.)
  5. When peels are tender, drain.
  6. Make a syrup of equal measures of water and sugar.
  7. Boil for five minutes
  8. Cut the peel pieces into strips or leave it whole.
  9. Add the peels to the syrup and cook in a large saucepan until the peel becomes transparent.
  10. If necessary, a small amount of boiling water may be added.
  11. Drain on a platter or plates.  Let the peel dry for 30 minutes.
  12. Roll in granulated sugar.
SERVING

Serve as a dessert topping, or as a candy dish, in its own right.

STORAGE

These will store well for weeks in a dry canning jar, if they’ve been dried sufficiently.

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we examine the very troubled airline industry, internationally. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold prices back off 9-year highs, bulls still strong

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Update: Spot silver went over $19.80 USD per Troy ounce this morning. I can foresee both futures and spot silver surpassing $20, shortly.

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Gold to Platinum Ratio for the Last 5 Years. JWR’s Comment:  As I’ve mentioned before, this is a good time to ratio trade some of your physical gold for physical platinum. Ideally, you should buy either U.S. Mint Platinum Liberty coins or Platinum Canadian Maple Leaf coins. The most successful traders are the observant few who catch the ends of the pendulum swings.

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: The IRS Is Paying Out 3% To 5% Compounded Daily Interest On Almost All Refunds Issued After April 15 This Year

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Reader H.L. suggested this piece: The “Biblical” Default Wave Arrives: Here Is The Avalanche Of Bankruptcies Unleashed By Coronavirus

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At Wolf Street: These Airlines, Financial Black Holes for Years, Now Face the Pandemic

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Delta’s Passenger Revenue -94%. How it Plans to Stay Alive till “Demand Returns.” Confirms United’s Warning About Newly Waning Demand

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Greyerz – Get Ready For 2021 And “The Great Reset”Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Poor, wretched, and stupid peoples, nations determined on your own misfortune and blind to your own good! You let yourselves be deprived before your own eyes of the best part of your revenues; your fields are plundered, your homes robbed, your family heirlooms taken away. You live in such a way that you cannot claim a single thing as your own; and it would seem that you consider yourselves lucky to be loaned your property, your families, and your very lives. All this havoc, this misfortune, this ruin, descends upon you not from alien foes, but from the one enemy whom you yourselves render as powerful as he is, for whom you go bravely to war, for whose greatness you do not refuse to offer your own bodies unto death. He who thus domineers over you has only two eyes, only two hands, only one body, no more than is possessed by the least man among the infinite numbers dwelling in your cities; he has indeed nothing more than the power that you confer upon him to destroy you. Where has he acquired enough eyes to spy upon you, if you do not provide them yourselves? How can he have so many arms to beat you with, if he does not borrow them from you? The feet that trample down your cities, where does he get them if they are not your own? How does he have any power over you except through you? How would he dare assail you if he had no cooperation from you? What could he do to you if you yourselves did not connive with the thief who plunders you, if you were not accomplices of the murderer who kills you, if you were not traitors to yourselves? You sow your crops in order that he may ravage them, you install and furnish your homes to give him goods to pillage; you rear your daughters that he may gratify his lust; you bring up your children in order that he may confer upon them the greatest privilege he knows — to be led into his battles, to be delivered to butchery, to be made the servants of his greed and the instruments of his vengeance; you yield your bodies unto hard labor in order that he may indulge in his delights and wallow in his filthy pleasures; you weaken yourselves in order to make him the stronger and the mightier to hold you in check. From all these indignities, such as the very beasts of the field would not endure, you can deliver yourselves if you try, not by taking action, but merely by willing to be free. Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.” – Étienne de la Boétie, Discours de la servitude volontaire (The Politics of Obedience)

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — July 19, 2020

In honor of the birthday weekend of both Samuel Colt and Gaston Glock (both born July 19th), I am running a special sale at Elk Creek Company. Most of my antique gun prices have been reduced, and I’m including the bonus of an autographed hardback copy of my novel Expatriates with the first 20 orders received. The sale will end at 9 PM Pacific Time tonight — Sunday, July 19th, 2020.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 89 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 89 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Be Ready to Repair Your Rifles, by O.T.D.

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There is nothing like the joy of acquiring another firearm and more ammo. Once you are approaching that magic number of firearms and ammo you think you need, what could go wrong? You have taken each firearm to the range and have run it through the paces. You can shoot straight, quickly, and are having a great old time. Your ammo stocks are enough to support at least a squad of infantry.

As I shoot more and use different firearms I have a better feeling of which rifles run better as far as ease of use, and are less prone to failure. The more you shoot the more you will see failures of equipment and mistakes in reloading the firearm. These can put you right out of business at least for that range trip or worse in a dire situation kill you. I will first go through what I feel is the best rifle for those who will only have one, and then some of the problems I have had over the last couple of years. I am probably not unique. It is good to recognize some of these common gunsmithing problems.

Selecting a rifle

If you can only have one semi-automatic rifle then it should be the simplest to run and be in a common caliber. I am not talking about pistol caliber rifles here. The common calibers are .223/.556 (.22 bore diameter) and 7.62×39 (.30 bore diameter) a Russian caliber, both being widely available, reasonably inexpensive. I know there are many other larger calibers but they tend to be quite a bit more expensive and in most cases the recoil is heavy.

I have rifles in both calibers and tend to gravitate towards the 7.62×39 as it is relatively more inexpensive to shoot. Some AR-15s, most AK47s, and all SKSes can shoot this round so which rifle to choose comes down to how much they cost, how reliable are they, the availability of parts, and how easy are they to run.Continue reading“Be Ready to Repair Your Rifles, by O.T.D.”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:

But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.

For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:

Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

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

So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:

As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,

That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:

Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.

Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

For ye are our glory and joy.” – 1 Thessalonians 2 (KJV)