Paul says ‘Hello’

1 This letter is from Paul, Silas and Timothy.

We are writing to the people of the church in Thessalonica. You belong to God our Father, and to the Lord Jesus Christ.

² We pray that God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ will continue to help you. We pray that they will give you peace in your minds.

Paul thanks God because of the believers at Thessalonica

³ Our Christian friends, we ought always to thank God because of you. It is right that we do this, because you are learning to trust Christ more and more. All of you are also loving each other more and more. ⁴ As a result, we are proud to tell believers in other churches about you. We tell them how you continue to trust God in your many troubles. You are patient and brave, even when people cause you to have much pain.

⁵ This shows us that God judges people in a way that is right. Now you are receiving much trouble because you belong to God's kingdom. This shows that God accepts you as the people that he rules.

⁶ God will punish those people who are causing trouble for you. He will cause trouble for them. That is right and fair. ⁷ God will also do what is right and fair for you. You have troubles now. But one day God will cause you to have rest, together with us. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes down from heaven. He will come with his powerful angels, ⁸ and with a very hot fire. He will punish those people who do not know God. Yes, he will punish those people who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. ⁹ Their punishment will continue for ever, as God destroys them. He will keep them away from the Lord. They will never see the Lord, or his great power. ¹⁰ This will happen when Jesus comes on that special day. His own people will praise him for the great things that he has done for them. All of us who are believers will be surprised when we see his great power. This includes you, because you believed our message about the Lord Jesus.

Paul prays for the believers

¹¹ So we always pray for you. Our God has chosen you to be his own people. We pray that he will help you, so that you continue to please him. We also pray that God will work powerfully in you. Then you will be able to do every good thing that you want to do. You will do the things that you want to do because you trust God. ¹² As a result, people will praise our Lord Jesus because of how you live. You also will receive praise, because you belong to Jesus. All this is possible because our God and the Lord Jesus Christ are very kind.