Font Size
1 Thessalonians 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
1 Thessalonians 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 3
1 That is why, when we could bear it no longer, we decided to remain alone in Athens(A) 2 and sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,(B) 3 so that no one be disturbed in these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined[a] for this. 4 For even when we were among you, we used to warn you in advance that we would undergo affliction, just as has happened, as you know.(C) 5 For this reason, when I too could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had put you to the test and our toil might come to nothing.
6 But just now Timothy has returned to us from you, bringing us the good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us and long to see us as we long to see you. 7 Because of this, we have been reassured about you, brothers, in our every distress and affliction, through your faith. 8 For we now live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
Concluding Thanksgiving and Prayer. 9 [b]What thanksgiving, then, can we render to God for you, for all the joy we feel on your account before our God? 10 Night and day we pray beyond measure to see you in person and to remedy the deficiencies of your faith. 11 Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you,(D) 13 so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. [Amen.](E)
Footnotes
- 3:3 We are destined: the Greek phraseology and the context suggest Paul’s concern to alert his readers to difficulties he knew they would necessarily face and to enable them to see their present experience in the light of what he warned them would happen in the future. This line of thought is followed in 2 Thes 2:1–15.
- 3:9–10 The tension between Paul’s optimism concerning the Thessalonians’ faith and his worries about their perseverance remains unresolved. Perhaps this is accounted for not only by the continuing harassment but also by the shortness of his own stay in Thessalonica (even if that were over twice as long as the conventional three weeks that Luke assigns to it, Acts 17:2).
1 Thessalonians 3
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 Thessalonians 3
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming[a] the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, 3 so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us—just as we long to see you. 7 For this reason, brothers and sisters,[b] during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. 8 For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Footnotes
- 1 Thessalonians 3:2 Gk lacks proclaiming
- 1 Thessalonians 3:7 Gk brothers
1 Thessalonians 3
Common English Bible
1 Thessalonians 3
Common English Bible
3 So when we couldn’t stand it any longer, we thought it was a good idea to stay on in Athens by ourselves, 2 and we sent you Timothy, who is our brother and God’s coworker in the good news about Christ. We sent him to strengthen and encourage you in your faithfulness. 3 We didn’t want any of you to be shaken by these problems. You know very well that we were meant to go through this. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept on predicting that we were going to face problems exactly like what happened, as you know. 5 That’s why I sent Timothy to find out about your faithfulness when I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was worried that the tempter might have tempted you so that our work would have been a waste of time.
Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians
6 Now Timothy has returned to us from you and has given us good news about your faithfulness and love! He says that you always have good memories about us and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. 7 Because of this, brothers and sisters, we were encouraged in all our distress and trouble through your faithfulness. 8 For now we are alive if you are standing your ground in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you, given all the joy we have because of you before our God? 10 Night and day, we pray more than ever to see all of you in person and to complete whatever you still need for your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus guide us on our way back to you. 12 May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you. 13 May the love cause your hearts to be strengthened, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his people. Amen.
1 Thessalonians 3
New American Standard Bible
1 Thessalonians 3
New American Standard Bible
Encouragement of Timothy’s Visit
3 Therefore, (A)when we could no longer endure it, we thought it best to be left behind, alone at (B)Athens, 2 and we sent (C)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 [a]disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that (D)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; [b](E)and so it happened, [c]as you know. 5 For this reason, (F)when I could no longer endure it, I also (G)sent to [d]find out about your faith, for fear that (H)the tempter might have tempted you, and (I)our labor would be for nothing.
6 But now that (J)Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of (K)your faith and love, and that you always (L)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 (M)stand firm in the Lord. 9 For (N)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 (O)keep praying most earnestly night and day that we may (P)see your faces, and may (Q)complete what is lacking in your faith?
11 (R)Now may (S)our God and Father (T)Himself, and our Lord Jesus, (U)direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and (V)overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may (W)establish your hearts (X)blameless in holiness before (Y)our God and Father at the [e](Z)coming of our Lord Jesus (AA)with all His [f]saints.
Footnotes
- 1 Thessalonians 3:3 Or deceived
- 1 Thessalonians 3:4 Lit just as
- 1 Thessalonians 3:4 Lit and
- 1 Thessalonians 3:5 Or to know, to ascertain
- 1 Thessalonians 3:13 Or presence
- 1 Thessalonians 3:13 Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
1 Thessalonians 3
New International Version
1 Thessalonians 3
New International Version
3 So when we could stand it no longer,(A) we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.(B) 2 We sent Timothy,(C) who is our brother and co-worker(D) in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ,(E) to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.(F) For you know quite well that we are destined for them.(G) 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.(H) 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer,(I) I sent to find out about your faith.(J) I was afraid that in some way the tempter(K) had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.(L)
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
6 But Timothy(M) has just now come to us from you(N) and has brought good news about your faith and love.(O) He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.(P) 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm(Q) in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you(R) in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?(S) 10 Night and day we pray(T) most earnestly that we may see you again(U) and supply what is lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father(V) himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other(W) and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless(X) and holy in the presence of our God and Father(Y) when our Lord Jesus comes(Z) with all his holy ones.(AA)
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.