1 Tê-sa-lô-ni-ca 3

Timothy sent to strengthen them

¹So, when we could not bear the waiting any longer, we decided to stay behind in Athens on our own ²and sent you Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ. We sent him to make you strong and to encourage you in your faith, ³so that none of you would be shaken by these troubles.^a You know yourselves that we are appointed for this. ⁴Even while we were with you, we told you again and again that we were bound to suffer, and it has come about, as you know. ⁵So I too, unable to wait any longer, sent Timothy to learn how your faith was standing. I feared the tempter might somehow have tempted you, and our hard work would have come to nothing.

Timothy’s good news

⁶But Timothy has just come back to us from you, with the good news of your faith and love. He tells us that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you. ⁷So, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and trouble your faith has given us comfort about you. ⁸Now we can truly live again, if you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹What thanks can we give back to God for you, for all the joy we feel before our God because of you? ¹⁰Night and day we pray with great urgency to see you face to face and to fill in whatever is still missing from your faith. ¹¹Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, clear the way for us to come to you. ¹²As for you, may the Lord fill you to overflowing with love for each other and for all people, the kind of love we have for you. ¹³Then your hearts will stand firm, without fault and holy before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.^b