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1 Thessalonians 3:1–6

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing dto be left behind at Athens alone, and we esent Timothy, four brother and God’s coworker1 in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that gwe are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, hjust as it has come to pass, and just as you know. For this reason, iwhen I could bear it no longer, iI sent to learn about your faith, jfor fear that somehow kthe tempter had tempted you and lour labor would be in vain.

Timothy’s Encouraging Report

But mnow that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of nyour faith and love and reported othat you always remember us kindly and plong to see us, as we long to see you—

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1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — The New International Version (NIV)

So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.

But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know. For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain. But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God’s co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles. Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come—and they did, as you well know. That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.

But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you—

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — New Century Version (NCV)

When we could not wait any longer, we decided it was best to stay in Athens alone and send Timothy to you. Timothy, our brother, works with us for God and helps us tell people the Good News about Christ. We sent him to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so none of you would be upset by these troubles. You yourselves know that we must face these troubles. Even when we were with you, we told you we all would have to suffer, and you know it has happened. Because of this, when I could wait no longer, I sent Timothy to you so I could learn about your faith. I was afraid the devil had tempted you, and perhaps our hard work would have been wasted.

But Timothy now has come back to us from you and has brought us good news about your faith and love. He told us that you always remember us in a good way and that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — American Standard Version (ASV)

Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone; and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s minister in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith; that no man be moved by these afflictions; for yourselves know that hereunto we are appointed. For verily, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction; even as it came to pass, and ye know. For this cause I also, when I could no longer forbear, sent that I might know your faith, lest by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor should be in vain. But when Timothy came even now unto us from you, and brought us glad tidings of your faith and love, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, longing to see us, even as we also to see you;

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

Wherefore, being no longer able to refrain ourselves, we thought good to be left alone in Athens, and sent Timotheus, our brother and fellow-workman under God in the glad tidings of Christ, to confirm you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one might be moved by these afflictions. (For yourselves know that we are set for this; for also, when we were with you, we told you beforehand we are about to be in tribulation, even as also it came to pass, and ye know.) For this reason I also, no longer able to refrain myself, sent to know your faith, lest perhaps the tempter had tempted you and our labour should be come to nothing.

But Timotheus having just come to us from you, and brought to us the glad tidings of your faith and love, and that ye have always good remembrance of us, desiring much to see us, even as we also you;

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

We thought it best to remain in Athens by ourselves. But, because we couldn’t wait any longer ⸤for news about you⸥, we sent our brother Timothy to you. He serves God by spreading the Good News about Christ. His mission was to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that these troubles don’t disturb any of you. You know that we’re destined to suffer persecution. In fact, when we were with you, we told you ahead of time that we were going to suffer persecution. And as you know, that’s what happened. But when I couldn’t wait any longer, I sent ⸤Timothy⸥ to find out about your faith. I wanted to see whether the tempter had in some way tempted you, making our work meaningless. 

But Timothy has just now come back to us from you and has told us the good news about your faith and love. He also told us that you always have fond memories of us and want to see us, as we want to see you.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Therefore, when we could no longer stand it, we thought it was better to be left alone in Athens. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, so that no one will be shaken by these persecutions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. In fact, when we were with you, we told you previously that we were going to suffer persecution, and as you know, it happened. For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.

But now Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news about your faith and love and reported that you always have good memories of us, wanting to see us, as we also want to see you.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for. In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.

But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us—just as we long to see you.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we determined to be left behind in Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, in order to strengthen and to encourage you about your faith, so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed for this, for indeed when we were with you we told you beforehand that we were about to be afflicted, just as indeed it happened, and you know. Because of this, I also, when I could endure it no longer, sent in order to know your faith, lest somehow the tempter tempted you and our labor should be in vain.

But now, because Timothy has come to us from you and has brought good news to us of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, desiring to see us just as also we desire to see you,

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

We couldn’t wait any longer. So we thought it was best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent our brother Timothy to give you strength and hope in your faith. He works together with God in spreading the good news about Christ. We sent him so that no one would be upset by times of testing.

You know very well that we have to go through them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that our enemies would make us suffer. As you know very well, it has turned out that way.

That’s the reason I sent someone to find out about your faith. I couldn’t wait any longer. I was afraid that Satan might have tempted you in some way. Then our efforts would have been useless.

But Timothy has come to us from you just now. He has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have happy memories of us. He has also said that you long to see us, just as we long to see you.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–6 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone,

and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith,

so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.

For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know.

For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you,


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