Greeting
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
3 aWe ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,1 as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the blove of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves cboast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in dall your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
The Judgment at Christ’s Coming
5 This is eevidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be fconsidered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to grepay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, hwhen the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven iwith his mighty angels 8 jin flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who kdo not know God and on lthose who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from2 the presence of the Lord and mfrom the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, nbecause our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of ohis calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every pwork of faith by his power, 12 so that the qname of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Man of Lawlessness
1 Now concerning the rcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ and sour being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,1 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or talarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter useeming to be from us, to the effect that the vday of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the wrebellion comes first, and the xman of lawlessness2 is revealed, the son of destruction,3 4 who opposes and yexalts himself against every zso-called god or object of worship, aso that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is balready at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill cwith the breath of his dmouth and bring to nothing by the eappearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false fsigns and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore gGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that hall may be condemned who idid not believe the truth but jhad pleasure in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, kbrothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the lfirstfruits4 to be saved, through msanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he ncalled you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, ostand firm and hold to the ptraditions that you were taught by us, qeither by our spoken word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good rhope through grace, 17 scomfort your hearts and testablish them in every good work and word.
Pray for Us
1 Finally, brothers,1 upray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,2 vas happened among you, 2 and that we may be wdelivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and xguard you against the evil one.3 4 And ywe have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we zcommand. 5 May the Lord adirect your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
Warning Against Idleness
6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you bkeep away from any brother who is walking in cidleness and not in accord with the dtradition that you received from us. 7 For eyou yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and flabor we worked night and day, gthat we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 hIt was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but ibusybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work jquietly and to earn their own living.4
13 As for you, brothers, kdo not grow weary lin doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 mDo not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Benediction
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself ngive you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
17 oI, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of pgenuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
4 And he reasoned in the usynagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
5 vWhen Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the wChrist was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his xgarments and said to them, y“Your zblood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will ago to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 bCrispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul cbelieved and were dbaptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one enight in a vision, f“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews1 made a united attack on Paul and brought him gbefore the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But since it is a matter of hquestions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.
Paul Returns to Antioch
18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers2 and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had icut his hair, for he was junder a kvow. 19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus
24 Now a Jew named lApollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an meloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit,3 he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the nbaptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And owhen he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully prefuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the qChrist was Jesus.
