1 Thessalonians 1 - 3 — Legacy Standard Bible

Thanksgiving

1^aPaul and ^bSilvanus and ^cTimothy, To the ^dchurch of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ^eGrace to you and peace.

²^aWe give thanks to God always for all of you, ^bmaking mention of you in our prayers; ³remembering without ceasing your ^awork of faith and labor of ^blove and ¹^,^csteadfastness of hope ²in our Lord Jesus Christ before ^dour God and Father, ⁴knowing, ^abrothers beloved by God, ^byour election, ⁵for our ^agospel did not come to you in word only, but also ^bin power and in the Holy Spirit and with ^cfull assurance; just as you know ^dwhat kind of men we ¹proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶You also became ^aimitators of us and of the Lord, ^bhaving received ^cthe word in much affliction with the ^djoy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷so that you became a model to all the believers in ^aMacedonia and in ^bAchaia. ⁸For ^athe word of the Lord has ^bsounded forth from you, not only in ^cMacedonia and ^dAchaia, but also ^ein every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. ⁹For they themselves report about us what kind of an ^aentrance we had ¹with you, and how you ^bturned to God ^cfrom ²idols to serve ³^,^da living and true God, ¹⁰and to ^await for His Son from ¹heaven, whom He ^braised from the dead, Jesus, who ^crescues us from ^dthe wrath to come.

Entrusted with the Gospel

2For you yourselves know, brothers, that our ^aentrance to you ^bwas not in vain, ²but after we had already suffered and been ^amistreated in ^bPhilippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God ^cto speak to you the ^dgospel of God amid much ^estruggle. ³For our ^aexhortation does not come from ^berror or ^cimpurity or ¹by way of ^ddeceit; ⁴^abut just as we have been approved by God to be ^bentrusted with the gospel, so we speak, ^cnot as pleasing men, but God who ¹^,^dexamines our hearts. ⁵For we never came with a flattering word, as you know, nor with ^aa pretext for greed—^bGod is witness— ⁶nor ^aseeking glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as ^bapostles of Christ we ¹could have been a burden to you. ⁷But we ¹proved to be ²^,^agentle ³among you, ^bas a nursing mother ⁴tenderly cares for her own children. ⁸In this way, having fond affection for you, we were pleased to ^aimpart to you not only the ^bgospel of God but also our own ¹lives, because you had become beloved to us.

⁹For you remember, brothers, our ^alabor and hardship, how ^bworking night and day so as not to be a ^cburden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the ^dgospel of God. ¹⁰You are witnesses, and so is ^aGod, of ^bhow devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we ¹behaved toward you ²believers; ¹¹just as you know how we were ^aexhorting and encouraging and ^bbearing witness to each one of you as ^ca father would his own children, ¹²so that you would ^awalk in a manner worthy of the God who ^bcalls you into His own kingdom and ^cglory.

¹³And for this reason we also ^athank God without ceasing that when you received the ^bword of God which you heard from us, you accepted it ^cnot as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, ^dwhich also is at work in you who believe. ¹⁴For you, brothers, became ^aimitators of ^bthe churches of God in Christ Jesus that are ^cin Judea, for ^dyou also suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen, ^eeven as they did from the Jews, ¹⁵^awho both killed the Lord Jesus and ^bthe prophets, and ¹drove us out, and do not please God, and are hostile to all men, ¹⁶^ahindering us from speaking to the Gentiles ^bso that they may be saved; with the result that they always ^cfill up the measure of their sins. But ^dwrath has come upon them ¹to the utmost.

¹⁷But we, brothers, having been taken away from you for a ¹short while—^ain face but not in heart—were all the more eager with great desire ^bto see your face. ¹⁸¹For ^awe wanted to come to you—I, Paul, ²^,^bmore than once—and yet ^cSatan ^dhindered us. ¹⁹For who is our hope or ^ajoy or crown of boasting? Is it not even you, before our Lord Jesus at His ¹^,^bcoming? ²⁰For you are ^aour glory and joy.

Timothy’s Good Report

3Therefore ^awhen we could endure it no longer, we were pleased to be left behind at ^bAthens alone, ²and we sent ^aTimothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, ³so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that ^awe have been destined for this. ⁴For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction, ^ajust as it happened and as you know. ⁵For this reason, ^awhen I could endure it no longer, I also ^bsent to know about your faith, lest somehow ^cthe tempter has tempted you, and ^dour labor be in vain.

⁶But now that ^aTimothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of ^byour faith and love, and that you always ^cremember us kindly, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, ⁷for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; ⁸for now we really live, if you ^astand firm in the Lord. ⁹For ^awhat thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God because of you, ¹⁰as we ^anight and day keep praying most earnestly that we may ^bsee your face, and may ^ccomplete what is lacking in your faith?

¹¹^aNow may ^bour God and Father ^cHimself and Jesus our Lord ^ddirect our way to you, ¹²and may the Lord cause you to increase and ^aabound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you, ¹³so that He may ^astrengthen your hearts ^bblameless in holiness, before ^cour God and Father, at the ¹^,^dcoming of our Lord Jesus ^ewith all His ²saints.