Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Greetings

1 Paul, Silvanus,^[a] and Timothy,

To the community of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah:

Grace to you and shalom.

Good News with Power

² We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers—continually ³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadiness of hope in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. ⁴ We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that you are chosen, ⁵ because our Good News did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Ruach ha-Kodesh and with complete certainty—just as you know what kind of men we proved to be while among you for your sake.

⁶ You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having accepted the message in much tribulation, with the joy of the Ruach ha-Kodesh. ⁷ So you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸ For the word of the Lord rang out from you—not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faithfulness toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. ⁹ For they themselves bring news about what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Yeshua, the One delivering us from the coming wrath.

Cherishing Spiritual Children

2 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not in vain. ² On the contrary, after we had first suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know,^[b] we had boldness in our God to tell you the Good News of God—even in the midst of much opposition. ³ For our urging is not out of deceit or impure motives or trickery. ⁴ But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News, so we declare it—not pleasing men but rather God, who examines our hearts.^[c]

⁵ For as you know and God is witness, we never came with a word of flattery or a motive of greed— ⁶ or seeking glory from people, whether from you or from others, ⁷ even though we could have thrown our weight around as emissaries of Messiah. Rather, we proved to be infants^[d] among you. Like a nursing mother^[e] cherishes her children, ⁸ in this way we were yearning for you. We were delighted to share with you not only the Good News of God but also our very souls, because you had become dear to us.

⁹ For you recall, brothers and sisters, our labor and hardship—working night and day, so as not to burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the Good News of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, along with God, of how devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we behaved toward you who believe. ¹¹ For you know how, as a father with his own children, ¹² we exhorted and encouraged and urged each one of you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

¹³ For this reason, we also thank God constantly that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is—the word of God, which does its work in you who believe. ¹⁴ For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s communities in Messiah Yeshua that are in Judea—for you suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen as they did from the Judean leaders, ¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Yeshua and the prophets and drove us out.^[f] They are not pleasing to God and hostile to all people, ¹⁶ hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved. As a result, they constantly fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last.

Longing to Visit and Reassure

¹⁷ But brothers and sisters, after we were orphaned by separation from you for a short time (in person, not in heart), we were all the more eager in our great longing to see you face to face. ¹⁸ For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—but satan thwarted us. ¹⁹ For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting^[g] before our Lord Yeshua at His coming? Is it not you? ²⁰ For you are our glory and joy!

3 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind alone in Athens. ² We sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the Good News of Messiah, in order to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know we are destined for this. ⁴ For even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer persecution—just as has happened, as you know. ⁵ For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faithfulness, for fear that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be in vain.

⁶ But now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us the good news of your faithfulness and love, and that you always have good memories of us, longing to see us just as we long to see you— ⁷ because of this, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and trouble, we were comforted about you by your faithfulness. ⁸ For now we live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹ For what thanks would be enough to offer to God, in return for all the joy we feel before our God because of you? ¹⁰ Night time and day time we keep praying more than ever to see you face to face,^[h] and mend any shortcomings in your faith.

Thanks, Joy, and Love Before God

¹¹ Now may our God and Father Himself and Yeshua our Lord direct our way to you. ¹² May the Lord also cause you to increase and overflow in love for one another and for all people, just as we also do for you, ¹³ in order to strengthen your hearts as blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Yeshua with all His kedoshim. Amen.