HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1454
1 T H ES S A L O N I A N S 3
were not preaching with any deceit or impure
motives or trickery.
4 For 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. 5 Never 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! 6 As for human praise, we have never
sought it from you or anyone else.
7 As 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. 8 We loved you so much that we shared
with you not only God’s Good News but our
own lives, too.
9 Don’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. 10 You yourselves are
our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you
believers. 11 And you know that we treated each
of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We
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.
13 Therefore, 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.
14 And 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. 15 For 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 16 as 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
17 Dear 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. 18 We wanted very much to come
to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but
Satan prevented us. 19 After all, what gives us
hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord
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Jesus when he returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are
our pride and joy.
3
Finally, when we could stand it no longer,
we decided to stay alone in Athens, 2 and
we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother
and God’s co-worker* in proclaiming the Good
News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you,
to encourage you in your faith, 3 and to keep
you from being shaken by the troubles you
were going through. But you know that we are
destined for such troubles. 4 Even while we were
with you, we warned you that troubles would
soon come—and they did, as you well know.
5 That is why, when I could bear it no longer,
I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith
was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter
had gotten the best of you and that our work
had been useless.
6 But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. He
reports that you always remember our visit with
joy and that you want to see us as much as we
want to see you. 7 So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters,* because you
have remained strong in your faith. 8 It gives us
new life to know that you are standing firm in
the Lord.
9 How we thank God for you! Because of you
we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.
10 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps
in your faith.
11 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus
bring us to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord
make your love for one another and for all
people grow and overflow, just as our love for
you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your
hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand
before God our Father when our Lord Jesus
comes again with all his holy people. Amen.
Live to Please God
Finally, dear brothers and sisters,* we
urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus
to live in a way that pleases God, as we have
taught you. You live this way already, and we
encourage you to do so even more. 2 For you
remember what we taught you by the authority
of the Lord Jesus.
3 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away
from all sexual sin. 4 Then each of you will control his own body* and live in holiness and
honor—5 not in lustful passion like the pagans
who do not know God and his ways. 6 Never
4
2:7 Some manuscripts read we were gentle. 3:2 Other
manuscripts read and God’s servant; still others read and
a co-worker, or and a servant and co-worker for God, or
and God’s servant and our co-worker. 3:7 Greek brothers.
4:1 Greek brothers; also in 4:10, 13. 4:4 Or will know how
to take a wife for himself; or will learn to live with his own
wife; Greek reads will know how to possess his own vessel.