1 Thessalonians 2
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1You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results.1You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure.
2We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition.2You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition.
3For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you.3So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.
4On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.4For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.
5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed--God is our witness.5Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money!
6We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.6As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.
7Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,7As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children.
8so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.8We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.
9Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.9Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you.
10You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.10You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers.
11For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,11And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children.
12encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.12We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.
13And we also thank God continually 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.13Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.
14For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews14And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews.
15who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone15For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity
16in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.16as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last. Timothy’s Good Report about the Church
17But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.17Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again.
18For we wanted to come to you--certainly I, Paul, did, again and again--but Satan blocked our way.18We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.
19For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?19After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you!
20Indeed, you are our glory and joy.20Yes, you are our pride and joy.
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1 Thessalonians 1
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