Instructions

17 Now He said to His disciples, “^(A)It is inevitable that ^[a]stumbling blocks come, but woe to one through whom they come! ^2 (B)It is better for him if a millstone is hung around his neck and he ^[b]is thrown into the sea, than that he may cause one of these little ones to ^[c]sin. ^3 [d]Be on your guard! ^(C)If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you ^(D)seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

^5 (E)The apostles said to ^(F)the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ But ^(G)the Lord said, “If you ^[e]had faith ^[f]the size of ^(H)a mustard seed, you could say to this ^(I)mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would ^[g]obey you.

⁷ “Now which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him after he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and recline at the table to eat’? ⁸ On the contrary, will he not say to him, ‘^(J)Prepare something for me to eat, and properly ^[h]clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and ^[i]afterward you ^[j]may eat and drink’? ⁹ He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? ¹⁰ So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded you, say, ‘We are ^[k]unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

Ten Men with Leprosy Healed

¹¹ While He was ^(K)on the way to Jerusalem, ^(L)He was passing ^[l]between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as He entered a village, ten men with leprosy who ^(M)stood at a distance met Him; ¹³ and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, ^(N)Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When He saw them, He said to them, “^(O)Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, ^(P)glorifying God with a loud voice, ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a ^(Q)Samaritan. ¹⁷ But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? ^18 [m]Was no one found who returned to ^(R)give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Stand up and go; ^(S)your faith has ^[n]made you well.”

Second Coming Foretold

²⁰ Now He was questioned by the Pharisees ^(T)as to when the kingdom of God was coming, and He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with ^[o](U)signs that can be observed; ²¹ nor will ^(V)they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is ^[p]in your midst.”

²² And He said to the disciples, “^(W)The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (X)And they will say to you, ‘Look there,’ or, ‘Look here!’ Do not leave, and do not run after them. ^24 (Y)For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part ^[q]of the sky, shines to the other part ^[r]of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. ^25 (Z)But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. ^26 (AA)And just as it happened ^(AB)in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, and they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ^28 [s]It was the same as happened in ^(AC)the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and ^[t]brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be ^[u]just the same on the day that the Son of Man ^(AD)is revealed. ³¹ On that day, the one who will be ^(AE)on the ^[v]housetop, ^[w]with his goods in the house, must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one in the field must not turn back. ^32 (AF)Remember Lot’s wife. ^33 (AG)Whoever strives to ^[x]save his ^[y]life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ^35 (AH)There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁶ [^[z](AI)Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] ³⁷ And responding, they *said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “^(AJ)Where the body is, there also the ^[aa]vultures will be gathered.”

Giving Thanks for Faith and Perseverance

1 ^(A)Paul, ^(B)Silvanus, and ^(C)Timothy,

To the ^(D)church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ^2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We ought always ^(F)to give thanks to God for you, ^(G)brothers and sisters, as is only fitting, because your faith is increasing abundantly, and the ^(H)love of each and every one of you toward one another grows ever greater. ⁴ As a result, we ourselves ^(I)speak proudly of you among ^(J)the churches of God for your ^[a]perseverance and faith ^[b](K)in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. ⁵ This is ^[c]a ^(L)plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be ^(M)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering. ^6 [d]For after all ^(N)it is only right ^[e]for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, ^[f](O)when the Lord Jesus will be revealed ^(P)from heaven ^(Q)with ^[g]His mighty angels ^8 (R)in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who ^(S)do not know God, and to those who ^(T)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ These people will pay the penalty of ^(U)eternal destruction, ^(V)away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes to be ^(W)glorified among His ^[h]saints on that ^(X)day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—because our ^(Y)testimony to you was believed. ¹¹ To this end also we ^(Z)pray for you always, that our God will ^(AA)consider you worthy of your ^(AB)calling, and fulfill every desire for ^(AC)goodness and the ^(AD)work of faith with power, ¹² so that the ^(AE)name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, in accordance with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Man of Lawlessness

2 Now we ask you, ^(AF)brothers and sisters, regarding the ^[i](AG)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(AH)gathering together to Him, ² that you not be quickly shaken from your ^[j]composure or be disturbed either by a ^(AI)spirit, or a ^[k](AJ)message, or a ^(AK)letter as if from us, to the effect that ^(AL)the day of the Lord ^(AM)has come. ^3 (AN)No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the ^[l](AO)apostasy comes first, and the ^(AP)man of lawlessness is revealed, the ^(AQ)son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above ^[m](AR)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(AS)displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that ^(AT)while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know ^(AU)what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. ⁷ For ^(AV)the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[n](AW)He who now restrains will do so until ^[o]He is ^[p]removed. ⁸ Then that lawless one ^(AX)will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate ^(AY)with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the ^(AZ)appearance of His ^[q]coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose ^[r]coming is in accord with the activity of ^(BA)Satan, with all power and false ^[s](BB)signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with ^[t]all the deception of wickedness for ^(BC)those who perish, because they did not accept the love of ^(BD)the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason ^(BE)God ^[u]will send upon them ^[v]a ^(BF)deluding influence so that they will believe ^[w]what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be ^[x]judged who ^(BG)did not believe the truth, but ^[y](BH)took pleasure in wickedness.

Stand Firm

^13 (BI)But we should always give thanks to God for you, ^(BJ)brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because ^(BK)God has chosen you ^[z]from the beginning ^(BL)for salvation ^[aa](BM)through sanctification ^[ab]by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ It was for this He ^(BN)called you through ^(BO)our gospel, ^[ac]that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, ^(BP)stand firm and ^(BQ)hold on to the traditions which you were taught, whether ^(BR)by word of mouth or ^(BS)by letter ^[ad]from us.

^16 (BT)Now may our Lord Jesus Christ ^(BU)Himself and God our Father, who has ^(BV)loved us and given us eternal comfort and ^(BW)good hope by grace, ^17 (BX)comfort and ^(BY)strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Request for Prayer

3 ^(BZ)Finally, brothers and sisters, ^(CA)pray for us that ^(CB)the word of the Lord will ^[ae]spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it was also with you; ² and that we will be ^(CC)rescued from troublesome and evil people; for not all have the faith. ³ But ^(CD)the Lord is faithful, ^[af]and He will strengthen and protect you ^[ag]from ^(CE)the evil one. ⁴ We have ^(CF)confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you ^(CG)are doing, and will do, what we command. ⁵ May the Lord ^(CH)direct your hearts to the love of God and to the perseverance of Christ.

⁶ Now we command you, brothers and sisters, ^(CI)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you ^[ah](CJ)keep away from every brother or sister who ^[ai]leads a ^[aj](CK)disorderly life and not one in accordance with ^(CL)the tradition which ^[ak]you received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to ^[al](CM)follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined way among you, ⁸ nor did we ^(CN)eat ^[am]anyone’s bread ^[an]without paying for it, but with ^(CO)labor and hardship we kept ^(CP)working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; ⁹ not because we do not have ^(CQ)the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves ^(CR)as a role model for you, so that you would ^[ao]follow our example. ¹⁰ For even ^(CS)when we were with you, we used to give you this order: ^(CT)if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. ¹¹ For we hear that some among you are ^(CU)leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like ^(CV)busybodies. ¹² Now we command and ^(CW)exhort such persons in the Lord Jesus Christ to ^(CX)work ^[ap]peacefully and eat their own bread. ¹³ But as for you, ^(CY)brothers and sisters, ^(CZ)do not grow weary of doing good.

¹⁴ If anyone does not obey our ^[aq]instruction ^[ar](DA)in this letter, take special note of that person so as ^(DB)not to associate with him, so that he will be ^(DC)put to shame. ¹⁵ And yet ^(DD)do not regard that person as an enemy, but ^[as](DE)admonish that one as a ^(DF)brother or sister.

¹⁶ Now ^(DG)may the Lord of peace ^(DH)Himself continually grant you peace in every ^[at]circumstance. ^(DI)The Lord be with you all!

^17 [au]I, Paul, write this greeting ^(DJ)with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. ^18 (DK)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.