Greeting

1 Paul, Silvanus, a b and Timothy: c

To the church of the Thessalonians d in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace. e

Thanksgiving

2 We always thank God for all of you, remembering you constantly in our prayers. 3 We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, f your work of faith, g labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, h 4 knowing your election, i * brothers loved j by God. k 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, l and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we were among you m for your benefit, 6 and you became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message n with joy from the Holy Spirit. 7 As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia o and Achaia. p 8 For the Lord’s message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith q r in God has gone out. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything, 9 for they themselves report s what kind of reception t we had from you: how you turned u to God from idols v to serve the living w and true x God 10 and to wait y for His Son z from heaven, whom He raised from the dead a—Jesus, who rescues us b from the coming wrath. c