1 Thessalonians 2:9–16

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