Moses' Final Blessing on Israel

33 This is the blessing with which Moses ^(A)the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. ² He said,

⁷ And this he said of Judah:

⁸ And ^(K)of Levi he said,

^12 (T)Of Benjamin he said,

¹³ And ^(U)of Joseph he said,

¹⁸ And of Zebulun he said,

²⁰ And ^(AH)of Gad he said,

²² And ^(AL)of Dan he said,

²³ And ^(AO)of Naphtali he said,

²⁴ And ^(AQ)of Asher he said,

The Death of Moses

34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab ^(BB)to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, ² all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah ^(BC)as far as the western sea, ^3 (BD)the Negeb, and ^(BE)the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho ^(BF)the city of palm trees, as far as ^(BG)Zoar. ⁴ And the Lord said to him, ^(BH)“This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ ^(BI)I have let you see it with your eyes, but ^(BJ)you shall not go over there.” ⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, ⁶ and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but ^(BK)no one knows the place of his burial to this day. ^7 (BL)Moses was 120 years old when he died. ^(BM)His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. ⁸ And the people of Israel ^(BN)wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

⁹ And Joshua the son of Nun was full of ^(BO)the spirit of wisdom, for ^(BP)Moses had laid his hands on him. So ^(BQ)the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹⁰ And there has not ^(BR)arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, ^(BS)whom the Lord knew face to face, ¹¹ none like him for all ^(BT)the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, ¹² and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Greeting

1 ^(A)Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

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

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

^3 (B)We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,^[a] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore ^(C)we ourselves boast about you ^(D)in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith ^(E)in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ's Coming

⁵ This is ^(F)evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be ^(G)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— ⁶ since indeed God considers it ^(H)just ^(I)to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to grant ^(J)relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when ^(K)the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven ^(L)with his mighty angels ^8 (M)in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ^(N)who do not know God and on those who ^(O)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will suffer the punishment of ^(P)eternal destruction, ^(Q)away from^[b] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ^10 (R)when he comes on ^(S)that day ^(T)to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^(U)testimony to you ^(V)was believed. ¹¹ To this end we ^(W)always pray for you, that our God may ^(X)make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^(Y)work of faith by his power, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^(Z)may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Man of Lawlessness

2 Now concerning ^(AA)the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(AB)being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,^{[c] 2} not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^(AC)alarmed, either ^(AD)by a spirit or a ^(AE)spoken word, or ^(AF)a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^(AG)the day of the Lord has come. ^3 (AH)Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^(AI)unless the rebellion comes first, and ^(AJ)the man of lawlessness^[d] is revealed, ^(AK)the son of destruction,^{[e] 4} who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(AL)proclaiming himself to be God. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷ For ^(AM)the mystery of lawlessness ^(AN)is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸ And then ^(AO)the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^(AP)will kill with ^(AQ)the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^(AR)the appearance of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^(AS)with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with all wicked deception for ^(AT)those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ Therefore ^(AU)God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^(AV)what is false, ¹² in order that all may be condemned ^(AW)who did not believe the truth but ^(AX)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

¹³ But ^(AY)we ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^(AZ)brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^(BA)as the firstfruits^{[f] (BB)}to be saved, ^(BC)through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through ^(BD)our gospel, ^(BE)so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers, ^(BF)stand firm and hold to ^(BG)the traditions that you were taught by us, either ^(BH)by our spoken word or by ^(BI)our letter.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, ^(BJ)who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good ^(BK)hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and ^(BL)establish them in every good work and word.

Pray for Us

3 Finally, brothers,^{[g] (BM)}pray for us, that ^(BN)the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,^[h] as happened among you, ² and ^(BO)that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For ^(BP)not all have faith. ³ But ^(BQ)the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and ^(BR)guard you against ^(BS)the evil one.^{[i] 4} And ^(BT)we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. ⁵ May the Lord ^(BU)direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

⁶ Now we command you, brothers, ^(BV)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(BW)that you keep away from any ^(BX)brother ^(BY)who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know ^(BZ)how you ought to imitate us, because ^(CA)we were not idle when we were with you, ⁸ nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but ^(CB)with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ It was ^(CC)not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves ^(CD)an example to imitate. ¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: ^(CE)If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. ¹¹ For we hear that some among you ^(CF)walk in idleness, not busy at work, but ^(CG)busybodies. ¹² Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.^[j]

¹³ As for you, brothers, ^(CH)do not grow weary in doing good. ¹⁴ If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and ^(CI)have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. ^15 (CJ)Do not regard him as an enemy, but ^(CK)warn him as a brother.

Benediction

¹⁶ Now may ^(CL)the Lord of peace himself ^(CM)give you peace at all times in every way. ^(CN)The Lord be with you all.

¹⁷ I, Paul, write ^(CO)this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. ^18 (CP)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.