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Salutation

Paul, Silas, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example

We give thanks to God always for you all, mentioning you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patient hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father.

For we know, beloved brothers, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, just as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. You became followers of us and the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit. Therefore you were examples to all who believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For the word of the Lord sounded out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare how we were received by you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come.

From Paul, Silas [Acts 15:22, 40], and Timothy [Acts 16:1–5; 1 Cor. 16:10–11; Phil. 2:19–24; 1 and 2 Timothy].

To the church in Thessalonica [L of the Thessalonians; C a city in Macedonia, present-day northern Greece], the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

The Faith of the Thessalonians

We always thank God for all of you and mention you when we pray. We continually recall before God our Father ·the things you have done because of your faith [L your work of/from faith], ·the work you have done because of your love [L your labor of/from love] and your ·continuing strength because of your hope [L endurance of/from hope] in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, God loves you, and we know he has chosen you, because the ·Good News [Gospel] we brought to you came not only with words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with ·sure knowledge that it is true [great conviction]. You know how we lived when we were with you ·in order to help you [for your sake]. And you became ·like us and like [imitators of us and of] the Lord. You ·suffered much [experienced many trials/much persecution], but still you accepted the teaching with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. So you became an ·example to [model for] all the believers in Macedonia [C the Roman province in which Thessalonica was located, present-day northern Greece] and Achaia [C present-day southern Greece]. And the Lord’s ·teaching [message; word] ·spread [rang out; sounded forth] from you not only into Macedonia and Achaia, but now your faith in God has ·become known [gone forth] everywhere. So we do not need to say anything about it. ·People everywhere [L For they themselves] are ·telling [reporting; announcing] about the way you ·accepted [welcomed] us when we were there with you. They tell how you ·stopped worshiping idols [L turned to God from idols] to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom God raised from the dead. He is Jesus, who ·saves [rescues; delivers] us from ·God’s angry judgment that is sure to come [L the coming wrath].