4:1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, 1 we do not become discouraged. 2 4:2 But we have rejected 3 shameful hidden deeds, 4 not behaving 5 with deceptiveness 6 or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.
1 tn Grk “just as we have been shown mercy”; ἠλεήθημεν (hlehqhmen) has been translated as a “divine passive” which is a circumlocution for God as the active agent. For clarity this was converted to an active construction with God as subject in the translation.
2 tn Or “we do not lose heart.”
3 tn L&N 13.156; the word can also mean “to assert opposition to,” thus here “we have denounced” (L&N 33.220).
4 tn Grk “the hidden things [deeds] of shame”; here αἰσχύνης (aiscunh") has been translated as an attributive genitive.
5 tn Or “not conducting ourselves”; Grk “not walking” (a common NT idiom for conduct, way of life, or behavior).
6 tn Or “craftiness.”