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Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
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Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.
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We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,
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The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it,
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for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
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We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition.
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On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.
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You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.
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so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.
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Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
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You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.
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encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
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And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
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For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews
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who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone
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in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
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We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
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How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?
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Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.
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May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
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Living to Please God
As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.
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It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
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not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;
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For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
