1 Thessalonians 3-4

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.

Living that pleases God

4 So then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to keep living the way you already are and even do better in how you live and please God—just as you learned from us. ² You know the instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ God’s will is that your lives are dedicated to him.^[a] This means that you stay away from sexual immorality ⁴ and learn how to control your own body in a pure^[b] and respectable way. ⁵ Don’t be controlled by your sexual urges like the Gentiles who don’t know God. ⁶ No one should mistreat or take advantage of their brother or sister in this issue. The Lord punishes people for all these things, as we told you before and sternly warned you. ⁷ God didn’t call us to be immoral but to be dedicated to him.^{[c] 8} Therefore, whoever rejects these instructions isn’t rejecting a human authority. They are rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ You don’t need us to write about loving your brothers and sisters because God has already taught you to love each other. ¹⁰ In fact, you are doing loving deeds for all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. Now we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do so even more. ¹¹ Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you. ¹² That way you’ll behave appropriately toward outsiders, and you won’t be in need.

Believers who have died

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about people who have died^[d] so that you won’t mourn like others who don’t have any hope. ¹⁴ Since we believe that Jesus died and rose, so we also believe that God will bring with him those who have died in Jesus. ¹⁵ What we are saying is a message from the Lord: we who are alive and still around at the Lord’s coming definitely won’t go ahead of those who have died. ¹⁶ This is because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with the signal of a shout by the head angel and a blast on God’s trumpet. First, those who are dead in Christ will rise. ¹⁷ Then, we who are living and still around will be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet with the Lord in the air. That way we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ So encourage each other with these words.