HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1459
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9 This man will come to do the work of Satan
with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.
10 He will use every kind of evil deception to
fool those on their way to destruction, because
they refuse to love and accept the truth that
would save them. 11 So God will cause them to
be greatly deceived, and they will believe these
lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
Believers Should Stand Firm
13 As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you,
dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We
are always thankful that God chose you to be
among the first* to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes
you holy and through your belief in the truth.
14 He called you to salvation when we told you
the Good News; now you can share in the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers
and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on
the teaching we passed on to you both in person
and by letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and
God our Father, who loved us and by his grace
gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope,
17 comfort you and strengthen you in every good
thing you do and say.
Paul’s Request for Prayer
Finally, dear brothers and sisters,* we ask
you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. 2 Pray,
too, that we will be rescued from wicked and
evil people, for not everyone is a believer. 3 But
the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and
guard you from the evil one.* 4 And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will
continue to do the things we commanded you.
5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and
the patient endurance that comes from Christ.
3
An Exhortation to Proper Living
6 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give
you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ: Stay away from all believers* who live idle
lives and don’t follow the tradition they received*
from us. 7 For you know that you ought to imitate
us. We were not idle when we were with you. 8 We
never accepted food from anyone without paying
for it. We worked hard day and night so we would
not be a burden to any of you. 9 We certainly had
the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted
to give you an example to follow. 10 Even while
we were with you, we gave you this command:
“Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”
2:13 Some manuscripts read chose you from the very
beginning. 3:1 Greek brothers; also in 3:6, 13. 3:3 Or
from evil. 3:6a Greek from every brother. 3:6b Some
manuscripts read you received. 3:15 Greek as a brother.
2 THESSAL ONIANS 3
11 Yet we hear that some of you are living idle
lives, refusing to work and meddling in other
people’s business. 12 We command such people
and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ to settle down and work to earn their own
living. 13 As for the rest of you, dear brothers and
sisters, never get tired of doing good.
14 Take note of those who refuse to obey what
we say in this letter. Stay away from them so
they will be ashamed. 15 Don’t think of them as
enemies, but warn them as you would a brother
or sister.*
Paul’s Final Greetings
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you
his peace at all times and in every situation. The
Lord be with you all.
17 Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul. I do this in all my letters
to prove they are from me.
18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you all.
• Comfort
2 THE S S A LON I A N S 2:16-17
When children fall and scrape a knee or
when they are frightened by a thunderstorm at night, they instinctively look for
the comfort of their mother or father. The
Thessalonian church was beginning to
experience the fear and pain of persecution. Here Paul reassures them that
God has not forgotten but offers his great
and everlasting comfort through Jesus
Christ our Lord. When you are afraid,
where do you turn for comfort?
• Faithfulness
2 THE S S A LON I A N S 3:3
With so much emphasis placed upon the
Christian’s faithfulness to Christ and a holy
lifestyle, we sometimes forget that Christianity is based upon God’s faithfulness,
not our own. Our faith—and all the good
works and spiritual fruit it produces—is
our response to God’s love and his faithfulness to his purposes for us. The faith
of the Thessalonian believers was being
tried by persecution. Undoubtedly some
of them were wavering, even failing, as the
surrounding evil put them to the test. This
was an important time for Paul to remind
them that no matter what happened, God’s
faithfulness would prevail over evil and
strengthen them so that they could endure.