¹⁹ Do not take revenge,^(A) my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[a](B) says the Lord.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ We ought always to thank God for you,^(A) brothers and sisters,^[a] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.^{(B) 4} Therefore, among God’s churches we boast^(C) about your perseverance and faith^(D) in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.^(E)

⁵ All this is evidence^(F) that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy^(G) of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶ God is just:^(H) He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you^{(I) 7} and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven^(J) in blazing fire^(K) with his powerful angels.^{(L) 8} He will punish^(M) those who do not know God^(N) and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.^{(O) 9} They will be punished with everlasting destruction^(P) and shut out from the presence of the Lord^(Q) and from the glory of his might^{(R) 10} on the day^(S) he comes to be glorified^(T) in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.^(U)