1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:5

¹⁷But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a ¹short while—^ain ²person, not in ³spirit—were all the more eager with great desire ^bto see your face.

¹⁸¹For ^awe wanted to come to you—I, Paul, ^2bmore than once—and yet ^cSatan ^dhindered us.

¹⁹For who is our hope or ^ajoy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His ^1bcoming?

²⁰For you are ^aour glory and joy.

Chapter 3

Encouragement of Timothy’s Visit

¹Therefore ^awhen we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at ^bAthens alone,

²and we sent ^aTimothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith,

³so that no one would be ¹disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that ^awe have been destined for this.

⁴For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; ^1aand so it came to pass, ²as you know.

⁵For this reason, ^awhen I could endure it no longer, I also ^bsent to ¹find out about your faith, for fear that ^cthe tempter might have tempted you, and ^dour labor would be in vain.