1 Thessalonians 1–4

Greeting

1Paul, Silvanus, ^aband Timothy: ^c

To the church of the Thessalonians ^din God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace. ^e

Thanksgiving

²We always thank God for all of you, remembering you constantly in our prayers. ³We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, ^fyour work of faith, ^glabor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, ^h4knowing your election, ⁱbrothers loved ^jby God. ^k5For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, ^land with much assurance. You know what kind of men we were among you ^mfor your benefit, ⁶and you became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message ⁿwith joy from the Holy Spirit. ⁷As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia ^oand Achaia. ^p8For the Lord’s message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith ^qrin God has gone out. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything, ⁹for they themselves report ^swhat kind of reception ^twe had from you: how you turned ^uto God from idols ^vto serve the living ^wand true ^xGod ¹⁰and to wait ^yfor His Son ^zfrom heaven, whom He raised from the dead ^a—Jesus, who rescues us ^bfrom the coming wrath. ^c

Paul’s Conduct

2For you yourselves know, brothers, that our visit ^dwith you was not without result. ²On the contrary, after we had previously suffered, ^eand we were treated outrageously in Philippi, ^fas you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition. ³For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity ^gor an intent to deceive. ^h4Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted ⁱwith the gospel, ^jso we speak, not to please men, but rather God, ^kwho examines our hearts. ^l5For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy ^mmotives ⁿ—God is our witness ^o— ⁶and we didn’t seek glory ^pfrom people, either from you or from others. ⁷Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, ^qinstead we were gentle ^ramong you, as a nursing mother nurtures her own children. ⁸We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. ⁹For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers. Working ^snight and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. ¹⁰You are witnesses, ^tand so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, ^uand blamelessly ^vwe conducted ourselves with you believers. ¹¹As you know, like a father with his own children, ^w12we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, ^xwho calls you into His own kingdom ^yand glory. ^z

Reception and Opposition to the Message

¹³This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the message about God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, ^athe message of God, ^bwhich also works effectively in you believers. ¹⁴For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, ^csince you have also suffered ^dthe same things from people of your own country, ^ejust as they did from the Jews ¹⁵who killed both the Lord Jesus ^fand the prophets and persecuted us; ^gthey displease God and are hostile to everyone, ¹⁶hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are always completing the number of their sins, ^hand wrath has overtaken them at last. ⁱ

Paul’s Desire to See Them

¹⁷But as for us, brothers, after we were forced to leave you for a short time (in person, not in heart ^j), we greatly desired and made every effort to return ^kand see you face to face. ¹⁸So we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan ^lhindered us. ¹⁹For who is our hope or joy ^mor crown ⁿof boasting ^oin the presence of our Lord ^pJesus at His coming? ^qIs it not you? ^r20For you are our glory ^sand joy!

Anxiety in Athens

3Therefore, when we could no longer stand it, we thought it was better to be left alone in Athens. ^t2And we sent Timothy, ^uour brother and God’s coworker ^vin the gospel of Christ, ^wto strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, ³so that no one will be shaken by these persecutions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to ^xthis. ⁴In fact, when we were with you, we told you previously that we were going to suffer persecution, and as you know, it happened. ⁵For 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.

Encouraged by Timothy

⁶But now Timothy has come to us ^yfrom 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. ^z7Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you through your faith. ⁸For now we live, if you stand firm ^ain the Lord. ⁹How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy ^bwe experience before our God because of you, ¹⁰as we pray very earnestly night and day to see you face to face ^cand to complete what is lacking in your faith? ^d

Prayer for the Church

¹¹Now may our God and Father ^eHimself, and our Lord Jesus, ^fdirect our way to you. ¹²And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love ^gfor one another ^hand for everyone, just as we also do for you. ¹³May He make your hearts blameless ⁱin holiness ^jbefore our God and Father at the coming ^kof our Lord ^lJesus with all His saints. Amen. ^m

The Call to Sanctification

4Finally then, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received from us how you must walk and please God—as you are doing ⁿ—do so even more. ²For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

³For this is God’s will, ^oyour sanctification: ^pthat you abstain ^qfrom sexual immorality, ⁴so that each of you knows how to control his own body ^rin sanctification and honor, ⁵not with lustful desires, ^slike the Gentiles who don’t know God. ⁶This means one must not transgress against and defraud ^this brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, ^uas we also previously told and warned you. ⁷For God has not called us to impurity ^vbut to sanctification. ⁸Therefore, the person who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who also gives you His Holy Spirit. ^w

Loving and Working

⁹About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God ^xto love one another. ^y10In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers in the entire region of Macedonia. ^zBut we encourage you, brothers, to do so even more, ¹¹to seek to lead a quiet life, ^ato mind your own business, ^band to work ^cwith your own hands, as we commanded you, ¹²so that you may walk properly ^dein the presence of outsiders ^fand not be dependent on anyone. ^gh

The Comfort of Christ’s Coming

¹³We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. ⁱ¹⁴Since we believe that Jesus died and rose ^jagain, ^kin the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through ^lJesus. ^m15For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: ^noWe who are still alive at the Lord’s coming ^pwill certainly have no advantage over ^qthose who have fallen asleep. ^r16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, ^stwith the archangel’s ^uvoice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ ^vwill rise first. ¹⁷Then ^wwe who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds ^xto meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore encourage ^yone another with these words.