The Lord Our God Is Holy

Moses’ Intercession

12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, ^fyou say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ^g‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please ^hshow me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is ⁱyour people.” 14 And he said, ^j“My presence will go with you, and ^kI will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, ^l“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? ^mIs it not in your going with us, ⁿso that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, ^ofor you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “Please ^pshow me your glory.” 19 And he said, ^q“I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And ^rI will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for ^sman shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a ^tcleft of the rock, and I will ^ucover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall ^vnot be seen.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 ^gThen the Pharisees went and plotted how ^hto entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent ⁱtheir disciples to him, along with ^jthe Herodians, saying, “Teacher, ^kwe know that you are true and teach ^lthe way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for ^myou are not swayed by appearances.¹ 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ⁿtaxes to ^oCaesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why ^pput me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.² 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, ^q“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they ^rleft him and went away.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aSilvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the ^bThessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

^cGrace to you and peace.

The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example

2 ^dWe give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly^{1 e}mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before ^four God and Father ^gyour work of faith and labor of ^hlove and ⁱsteadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, ^jbrothers² loved by God, ^kthat he has chosen you, 5 because ^lour gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and ^min the Holy Spirit and with full ⁿconviction. You know ^owhat kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And ^pyou became imitators of us ^qand of the Lord, for ^ryou received the word in much affliction, ^swith the ^tjoy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord ^usounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth ^veverywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of ^wreception we had among you, and how ^xyou turned to God ^yfrom idols to serve the living and ^ztrue God, 10 and ^ato wait for his Son ^bfrom heaven, ^cwhom he raised from the dead, Jesus ^dwho delivers us from ^ethe wrath to come.