1 Thessalonians Chapter 1
Greeting
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Example of the Thessalonians
2 We always thank God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers.
3 We continually 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.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that you have been chosen,
5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
7 And so you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
8 The word of the Lord sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has gone out everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything,
9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception 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, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians Chapter 2
Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica
1 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not in vain.
2 For even after we had suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the face of great opposition.
3 For our exhortation did not come from error or impurity or deceitfulness.
4 On the contrary, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please men but God, who tests our hearts.
5 For we never used flattering words, as you know, nor did we have a cover-up for greed—God is our witness.
6 Nor were we seeking glory from men, either from you or from anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you.
7 On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.
8 So great was our affection for you that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our very lives as well. because you have become very dear to us.
9 For you remember, brothers and sisters, our labor and toil; we worked night and day, so that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.
11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging and comforting each one of you,
12 and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
13 And we also continually thank God 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.
14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered from your own people the same things that they suffered from the Jews,
15 They killed the Lord Jesus and his prophets, and drove us out. They are displeasing to God and hostile to everyone,
16 hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. They always heap up their sins, and wrath has come upon them to the extreme.
Paul's absence from the church
17 But we, brothers and sisters, having been separated from you for a short time—in person, not in heart—longed all the more to see you face to face.
18 For this reason we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will boast when our Lord Jesus Christ comes? Is it not you?
20 Indeed, you are our glory and our joy.
1 Thessalonians Chapter 3
1 Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we decided to remain alone in Athens.
2 And we sent Timothy, our brother, a servant of God and our fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith,
3 so that no one would be unsettled by these tribulations. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
4 For even when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were going to suffer tribulations, just as has happened and as you know.
5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to find out about your faith, lest the tempter had tempted you and our labor had been in vain.
6 But when Timothy returned from you to us and brought us good news of your faith and love, and how you always remember us fondly, longing to see us, as we also long to see you,
7 therefore, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we were comforted by you through your faith.
8 For now we live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
9 What thanksgiving can we offer to God for you, for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you,
10 praying night and day with all perseverance that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
11 May our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you.
12 May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you,
13 so that your hearts may be strengthened in holiness and blamelessness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians Chapter 4
The life that pleases God
1 Finally, brothers and sisters, we urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to live and to please God, you should do so more and more.
2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
4 that each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
6 that no one wrong or defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and testified.
7 For God did not call us to impurity, but to holiness.
8 Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who also gives you his Holy Spirit.
9 Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for me to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another,
10 and you do so toward all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to excel in this more and more,
11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,
12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anyone.
The Coming of the Lord
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians Chapter 5
1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
2 for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us stay awake and be sober.
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are doing.
Paul exhorts the brothers
12 We urge you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.
13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
14 We urge you, brothers and sisters, to warn the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray continually.
18 Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
20 Do not despise prophecies.
21 Test everything; hold fast to what is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Greetings and final blessing
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.
27 I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the saints.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen