1 Thessalonians 1-3

New American Standard Bible

Giving Thanks for These Believers

1 ^(A)Paul, ^(B)Silvanus, and ^(C)Timothy,

To the ^(D)church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ^(E)Grace to you and peace.

^2 (F)We always give thanks to God for all of you, ^(G)making mention of you in our prayers; ³ constantly keeping in mind your ^(H)work of faith and labor of ^(I)love and ^[a](J)perseverance of hope ^[b]in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of ^(K)our God and Father, ⁴ knowing, ^(L)brothers and sisters, beloved by God, ^(M)His choice of you; ⁵ for our ^(N)gospel did not come to you in word only, but also ^(O)in power and in the Holy Spirit and with ^(P)full conviction; just as you know ^(Q)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes. ⁶ You also became ^(R)imitators of us and of the Lord, ^(S)having received ^(T)the word during great affliction with the ^(U)joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in ^(V)Macedonia and ^(W)Achaia. ⁸ For ^(X)the word of the Lord has ^(Y)sounded forth from you, not only in ^(Z)Macedonia and ^(AA)Achaia, but ^(AB)in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. ⁹ For they themselves report about us ^[c]as to the kind of ^(AC)reception we had with you, and how you ^(AD)turned to God ^(AE)from ^[d]idols to serve ^[e](AF)a living and true God, ¹⁰ and to ^(AG)wait for His Son from ^[f]heaven, whom He ^(AH)raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who ^(AI)rescues us from ^(AJ)the wrath to come.

Paul’s Ministry

2 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our ^[g](AK)reception among you ^(AL)was not in vain, ² but after we had already suffered and been ^(AM)treated abusively in ^(AN)Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God ^(AO)to speak to you the ^(AP)gospel of God ^[h]amid much ^[i](AQ)opposition. ³ For our ^(AR)exhortation does not come from ^(AS)error or ^(AT)impurity or ^[j]by way of ^(AU)deceit; ^4 (AV)but just as we have been approved by God to be ^(AW)entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, ^(AX)not intending to please people, but to please God, who ^[k](AY)examines our hearts. ⁵ For we never came ^[l]with flattering speech, as you know, nor with ^(AZ)a pretext ^[m]for greed—^(BA)God is our witness— ⁶ nor did we ^(BB)seek honor from people, either from you or from others, though ^[n]we could have ^[o]asserted our authority as ^(BC)apostles of Christ. ⁷ But we ^[p]proved to be ^[q](BD)gentle ^[r]among you. ^(BE)As a nursing mother ^[s]tenderly cares for her own children, ⁸ in the same way we had a fond affection for you and were delighted to ^(BF)share with you not only the ^(BG)gospel of God, but also our own ^[t]lives, because you had become ^[u]very dear to us.

⁹ For you recall, brothers and sisters, our ^(BH)labor and hardship: it was by ^(BI)working night and day so as not to be a ^(BJ)burden to any of you, that we proclaimed to you the ^(BK)gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is ^(BL)God, of ^(BM)how devoutly and rightly and blamelessly we ^[v]behaved toward you ^[w]believers; ¹¹ just as you know how we were ^(BN)exhorting and encouraging and ^(BO)imploring each one of you as ^(BP)a father would his own children, ¹² so that you would ^(BQ)walk in a manner worthy of the God who ^(BR)calls you into His own kingdom and ^(BS)glory.

¹³ For this reason we also constantly ^(BT)thank God that when you received the ^(BU)word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it ^(BV)not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, ^(BW)which also is at work in you who believe. ¹⁴ For you, brothers and sisters, became ^(BX)imitators of ^(BY)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are ^(BZ)in Judea, for ^(CA)you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, ^(CB)even as they did from the Jews, ^15 (CC)who both killed the Lord Jesus and ^(CD)the prophets, and ^[x]drove us out. ^[y]They are not pleasing to God, ^[z]but hostile to all people, ^16 (CE)hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles ^(CF)so that they may be saved; with the result that they always ^[aa](CG)reach the limit of their sins. But ^(CH)wrath has come upon them ^[ab]fully.

¹⁷ But we, brothers and sisters, having been orphaned from you by absence for a ^[ac]short while—^(CI)in ^[ad]person, not in ^[ae]spirit—were all the more eager with great desire ^(CJ)to see your face. ^18 [af]For ^(CK)we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, ^[ag](CL)more than once—and ^(CM)Satan ^(CN)hindered us. ¹⁹ For who is our hope, or ^(CO)joy or crown of pride, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His ^[ah](CP)coming? Or is it not indeed you? ²⁰ For you are ^(CQ)our glory and joy.

Encouragement of Timothy’s Visit

3 Therefore, ^(CR)when we could no longer endure it, we thought it best to be left behind, alone at ^(CS)Athens, ² and we sent ^(CT)Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the benefit of your faith, ³ so that no one would be ^[ai]disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that ^(CU)we have been destined for this. ⁴ For even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; ^[aj](CV)and so it happened, ^[ak]as you know. ⁵ For this reason, ^(CW)when I could no longer endure it, I also ^(CX)sent to ^[al]find out about your faith, for fear that ^(CY)the tempter might have tempted you, and ^(CZ)our labor would be for nothing.

⁶ But now that ^(DA)Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of ^(DB)your faith and love, and that you always ^(DC)think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, ⁷ for this reason, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; ⁸ for now we really live, if you ^(DD)stand firm in the Lord. ⁹ For ^(DE)what thanks can we give to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before our God, ¹⁰ as we ^(DF)keep praying most earnestly night and day that we may ^(DG)see your faces, and may ^(DH)complete what is lacking in your faith?

^11 (DI)Now may ^(DJ)our God and Father ^(DK)Himself, and our Lord Jesus, ^(DL)direct our way to you; ¹² and may the Lord cause you to increase and ^(DM)overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; ¹³ so that He may ^(DN)establish your hearts ^(DO)blameless in holiness before ^(DP)our God and Father at the ^[am](DQ)coming of our Lord Jesus ^(DR)with all His ^[an]saints.