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¹Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.

²We always thank God for all of you, making mention of you constantly in our prayers.

³We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,

⁵because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance. You know how we lived among you for your benefit,

⁶and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit.

⁷As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

⁸For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith in God has gone out. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything,

⁹for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead  — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

¹For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit with you was not without result.

²On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition.

³For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity or an intent to deceive.

⁴Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts.

⁵For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives  — God is our witness  —

⁶and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others.

⁷Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children.

⁸We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

⁹For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you.

¹⁰You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers.

¹¹As you know, like a father with his own children,

¹²we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

¹³This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe.

¹⁴For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, since you have also suffered the same things from people of your own country, just as they did from the Jews

¹⁵who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us. They displease God and are hostile to everyone,

¹⁶by keeping us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are constantly filling up their sins to the limit, and wrath has overtaken them at last.

¹⁷But as for us, brothers and sisters, after we were forced to leave you for a short time (in person, not in heart ), we greatly desired and made every effort to return and see you face to face.

¹⁸So we wanted to come to you — even I, Paul, time and again — but Satan hindered us.

¹⁹For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?

²⁰Indeed you are our glory and joy!

¹Therefore, when we could no longer stand it, we thought it was better to be left alone in Athens.

²And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith,

³so that no one will be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.

⁴In fact, when we were with you, we told you in advance that we were going to experience affliction, and as you know, it happened.

⁵For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.

⁶But now Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news about your faith and love. He reported that you always have good memories of us and that you long to see us, as we also long to see you.

⁷Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction, we were encouraged about you through your faith.

⁸For now we live, if you stand firm in the Lord.

⁹How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of you,

¹⁰as we pray very earnestly night and day to see you face to face and to complete what is lacking in your faith?

¹¹Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.

¹²And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we do for you.

¹³May he make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen.

¹Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God — as you are doing  — do this even more.

²For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

³For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality,

⁴that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor,

⁵not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God.

⁶This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you.

⁷For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness.

⁸Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

⁹About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

¹⁰In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more,

¹¹to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,

¹²so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

¹³We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

¹⁵For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

¹⁶For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

¹⁷Then 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.

¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

¹About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you.

²For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

³When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁴But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.

⁵For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.

⁶So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled.

⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.

⁹For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁰who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

¹²Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you,

¹³and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

¹⁴And we exhort you, brothers and sisters: warn those who are idle, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

¹⁵See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.

¹⁶Rejoice always,

¹⁷pray constantly,

¹⁸give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁹Don’t stifle the Spirit.

²⁰Don’t despise prophecies,

²¹but test all things. Hold on to what is good.

²²Stay away from every kind of evil.

²³Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.

²⁵Brothers and sisters, pray for us also.

²⁶Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.

²⁷I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters.

²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.