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Salutation

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

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

Grace to you and peace from God the[a] Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.(A) Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.(B)

The Judgment at Christ’s Coming

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering.(C) For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels(D) in a fiery flame, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.(E) These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,(F) 10 when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.(G)

Footnotes

  1. 1.2 Other ancient authorities read our

Salutation

From Paul[a] and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you[b] from God the[c] Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving

We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters,[d] and rightly so,[e] because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater. As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring.

Encouragement in Persecution

This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, to make you worthy[f] of the kingdom of God, for which in fact you are suffering. For it is right[g] for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed[h] from heaven with his mighty angels.[i] With flaming fire he will mete out[j] punishment on those who do not know God[k] and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They[l] will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength,[m] 10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired[n] on that day among all who have believed—and you did in fact believe our testimony.[o] 11 And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling[p] and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to[q] the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Thessalonians 1:1 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
  2. 2 Thessalonians 1:2 tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
  3. 2 Thessalonians 1:2 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A F G I 0278 1175 1241 1505 2464 M lat sy sa) have ἡμῶν (hēmōn) after πατρός (patros), reading “God our Father,” in apparent emulation of Paul’s almost universal style. The omission of the pronoun (the reading of B D P 0111vid 33 1739 1881 SBL) seems to be the earlier wording of this salutation. As well, the intrinsic evidence also supports the shorter reading: If 2 Thessalonians is authentic, it was one of Paul’s earliest letters, and, if so, his stereotyped salutation was still in embryonic form (see discussion at 1 Thess 1:1). NA28 places the word in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
  4. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
  5. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 tn Grk “as is worthy.”
  6. 2 Thessalonians 1:5 tn Grk “so that you may be made worthy.” The passive infinitive καταξιωθῆναι (kataxiōthēnai) has been translated as an active construction in English for stylistic reasons.
  7. 2 Thessalonians 1:6 tn Grk “if in fact/since,” as a continuation of the preceding.
  8. 2 Thessalonians 1:7 tn Grk “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.”
  9. 2 Thessalonians 1:7 tn Grk “angels of power,” translated as an attributive genitive.
  10. 2 Thessalonians 1:8 tn Grk “meting out,” as a description of Jesus Christ in v. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.
  11. 2 Thessalonians 1:8 sn An allusion to Jer 10:25, possibly also to Ps 79:6 and Isa 66:15.
  12. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 tn Grk “who,” describing the people mentioned in v. 8. A new sentence was started here in the translation by replacing the relative pronoun with a personal pronoun.
  13. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 tn Or “power,” or “might.” The construction can also be translated as an attributed genitive: “from his glorious strength” (cf. TEV “glorious might”; CEV “glorious strength”; NLT “glorious power”).sn An allusion to Isa 2:10, 19, 21.
  14. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 tn Or “marveled at.”
  15. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 tn Grk “because our testimony to you was believed.”
  16. 2 Thessalonians 1:11 tn Or “your calling.”
  17. 2 Thessalonians 1:12 tn Or “by means of.”