1 Tê-sa-lô-ni-ca 2

Paul’s work among them

¹You know yourselves, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not wasted. ²We had already suffered and been shamefully treated in Philippi, as you know, but our God gave us courage to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. ³Our preaching does not come from error or from impure motives, and it uses no deceit. ⁴Instead, God has tested us and approved us to be entrusted with the gospel, and that is how we speak: not to please people, but to please God, who tests our hearts. ⁵As you know, we never used flattery, and we never put on a show to cover up greed; God is our witness. ⁶We did not look for praise from people, whether from you or from anyone else, ⁷even though as apostles of Christ we could have made our weight felt. Instead we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother who holds her own children close.^{a 8}Our longing for you was such that we gladly gave you not only the gospel of God but ourselves too, for you had become dear to us.

⁹You remember, brothers and sisters, how hard we worked and toiled: we labored night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you while we preached the gospel of God to you. ¹⁰God is our witness, and so are you: we lived among you believers in a way that was devout, just and without fault. ¹¹You know how we treated each one of you as a father treats his own children. ¹²We urged you on, we comforted you, and we pleaded with you to live in a way that is worthy of God, who is calling you into his own kingdom and glory.

They received God’s own word

¹³And we too give thanks to God without ceasing for this: when you received from us the word of God that you heard, you welcomed it not as a human message but as what it really is, God’s own word, which is now at work in you who believe. ¹⁴For you, brothers and sisters, followed the example of God’s churches in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own people the same things they suffered from the Jews of Judea, ¹⁵who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out. They do not please God and they are hostile to everyone, ¹⁶because they try to stop us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they keep filling up the full measure of their sins.^b But the wrath has come upon them at last.^c

Paul longs to see them

¹⁷But we, brothers and sisters, were torn away from you for a short time, in person though not in heart, and we longed all the more eagerly to see you face to face. ¹⁸We did want to come to you, and I, Paul, tried more than once, but Satan stood in our way. ¹⁹When our Lord Jesus comes, what will be our hope and joy, the crown we will be proud of before him? Surely it will be you, too. ²⁰Yes, you are our glory and our joy.