The greeting is written in the hand of myself, Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
The First Letter to the Thessalonians
IPAUL AND SILVANUS AND TIMOTHY to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.
We thank God at all times for all of you, as we make mention of you in our prayers and constantly remember the work of your faith and the labor of your love and the endurance of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father; knowing, God-beloved brothers, of your election, because our gospel came to you not in word alone, but also with power, and the Holy Spirit, and great assurance; just as you know what we were when we came to you for your sake. And you followed the ex^ple of us and of the Lord, and received the word, in great affliction, with joy in the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all believers in Macedonia and Achaea. From you the word of the Lord has re-echoed not only in Macedonia and Achaea, but your faith in God has gone forth to every region, so that there is no need for us to say anything. For they themselves report our visit to you, what it was like, and how you turned from idols to God, to serve the true and living God, and to await his son from the heavens, the son whom he raised, Jesus, our protector from the anger to come.
For you yourselves know, brothers, how our visit to you was not in vain; but after first suffering and being outrageously treated in Philippi we were bold in God to tell you the gospel of God, under great strain. For our appeal to you comes not from error, nor from impurity, nor in deceitfulness, but as we had had God's approval to have the gospel entrusted to us, thus we speak, not to please men but God, the examiner of our hearts. For we said nothing by way of flattery, as you know; nor as a pretext for profit, God is our witness; nor looking for honor from men, neither you nor others; though we could have put pressure upon you, as apostles of Christ. But we were innocents among you, as when a mother cherishes her children; so longing for you that we thought it right to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our ownwn lives, because you had become dear to us. You remember, brothers, our toil and labor; how we worked with our hands night and day so as not to lay any burden on you as we preached to you the gospel of God. You and God are our witnesses how piously and justly and blamelessly we acted toward you who are believers, just as you know how, like a father with his children, we urged and advised and reasoned with each one of you, to make you walk in a way worthy of the God who summons you to his Kingdom and his glory.
Therefore we also thank God at all times, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but the word of God as it really is, which works also in you who believe.
For you, my brothers, foHowed the example of the churches of God which are with Christ Jesus in Judaea, in that you have suffered the s^e treatment from your own fellow countrymen as they have from the Jews; who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and chased us out; unpleasing to God, against all men; trying to prevent us from speaking to the Gentiles, to save them, and filling up the measure of their own sins, always; and the wrath has overtaken them in the end.
But we, brothers, who have been bereft of you for a space of time, in actual presence not in the heart, have been the more eager and in great longing to see you face to face. Thus we have wished to go to you, I, Paul, again and again, but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope or joy or crown of exultation, if not you, before our Lord Jesus and at his coming? You are our pride and joy.
Therefore when we could no longer endure it, we decided to stay behind in Athens by ourselves, and we sent Timothy, our brother and the servant of God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you on behalf of your faith, so that none should weaken in these present sufferings. For you know yourselves that sufferings are our lot; since, when we were with you, we w^ed you that we must suffer, as has happened and as you know. Therefore when I could no longer endure it, I sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter might have tempted you and all our labor gone for nothing. But Timothy came back to us from you a little while ago and brought us the good news of your faith and your love for us, and told us that you have a good memory of us and long to see us as we long to see you; and for this, brothers, we have taken comfort in you through all our hardship and suffering, because of your faith, since if you are steadfast in the Lord now, we live. For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy we have in you before our God, as night and day we pray most urgently to see you face to face and to mend any shortcomings in faith? May God our Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you; and may our Lord multiply and increase your love for each other and for all, as we also love you, to strengthen your hearts so that they are blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Finally, brothers, we ask you this and urge you, by the Lord Jesus. You were told by us how you should live your lives in a way that would be pleasing to God, and so indeed you are doing. But improve even more. For you know what instructions we gave you, through the Lord Jesus. This, your sanctification, is the will of God; that you should abstain from lechery, and each one know how to keep his own body in sanctity and honor, not in subjection to desire like the heathens who do not know God; not to trespass against any brother and take advantage of him in this matter; since the Lord punishes these things, as we have warned you and attested. For God did not call us to unchastity but to sanctity. Therefore he who refuses this refuses not man but God, who gave us his Holy Spirit.
As for brotherly love, you have no need for me to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other; and this you do to all the brothers in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to improve further, and to rival each other in keeping the peace, to pursue your own business, to work with your hands, as I have advised you, so that you may be respected by those outside our number and need nothing from anyone else.
Also, we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, nor to be grieved like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God, through Jesus, will bring back the sleepers along with him. For this we say, by the word of the Lord, that we the living, the survivors, will not join the coming of the Lord before the sleepers do. For at the signal, at the cry of the archangel and the trumpet of God, the Lord himself will come down from heaven, and first those who are dead in Christ will rise up, and then we the living, the survivors, will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall be with the Lord forever. So comfort each other by saying this.
Concerning the times and occasions, brothers, you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say: Peace and safety, that is when doom will come suddenly upon them, like birth pangs to a pregnant woman, and they cannot escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, for the day to catch you like thieves, since all of you are sons of light and sons of day. We are not of the night or the dark; then let us not sleep, as the others do, but be wakeful and sober. For the sleepers sleep at night, and the drunkards are drunk at night; but we who are of the day should be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, with hope of salvation our helmet. For God did not destine us to the anger but to the w^^ing of salvation through our Lord Jesus, who died for us so that, whether we wake or sleep, we shall live with him. Therefore, comfort each other and strengthen one another; as indeed you are doing.