Giving Thanks for These Believers

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

knowing, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, His choice of you;

for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes.

You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word during great affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything.

For they themselves report about us as to the kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,

and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.

Paul’s Ministry

For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our reception among you was not in vain,

but after we had already suffered and been treated abusively in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.

but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not intending to please people, but to please God, who examines our hearts.

For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness—

nor did we seek honor from people, either from you or from others, though we could have asserted our authority as apostles of Christ.

in the same way we had a fond affection for you and were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.

For you recall, brothers and sisters, our labor and hardship: it was by working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, that we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly and rightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers;

so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,

hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always reach the limit of their sins. But wrath has come upon them fully.

But we, brothers and sisters, having been orphaned from you by absence for a short while—in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.

For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and Satan hindered us.

and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the benefit of your faith,

so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.

For even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it happened, as you know.

For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be for nothing.