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The First Letter to the Thessalonians 2

2 Fellow believers, you surely remember that when we visited you, it was very productive. 2 As you remember, when we were in the city of Philippi, people hurt us and abused us. However, our God made us confident when we told you the good news from God, despite how hard it was to do. 3 When we encouraged you to believe the good news, we did not convince you to believe an incorrect message. We did not say or do unclean things. We did not deceive you. 4 Rather, we speak as people whom God has tested and approved to proclaim the good news. We are not trying to please people. Instead, we are trying to please God. He is the one who tests what we think and desire. 5 In fact, when we visited you, we did not flatter you or pretend not to want money. You remember that this is true, and God testifies that it is true. 6 We did not desire that people would honor us. We did not desire this from you or from anyone else. 7 Since the Messiah sent us to represent him, we could have required you to obey us and give us whatever we wanted. However, when we were with you, we acted as gentle as babies. We were like mothers who lovingly take care of their children. 8 Since we care for you in those ways, we delighted to share the good news from God with you. Even more, we delighted to share our own lives with you. That is because we started to love you very much. 9 Fellow believers, I know that you recall how hard we labored. We worked all day long so that we would not have to bother any of you by asking for money. That was how we acted when we told you the good news from God. 10 Both you and God can testify that we did what was good and right when we were with you who trust in God. 11 You remember that we behaved toward every one of you as a father behaves toward his own children. 12 That means that we were teaching you and urging you so that you would live the way that God wants his people to live. He is the one who invites you to participate in his kingdom and in how great he is.

13 Further, we consistently thank God that you accepted what you heard about God in our message. You did not consider it to be a merely human message. Rather, you considered it to be a message from God, which is what it really is. This message is changing you who trust in God. 14-15 14-15Now unbelieving Jews not only killed the prophets long ago, but they also recently killed the Lord Jesus and forced us to leave your city. These unbelieving Jews also persecuted the believers who live in the region of Judea. In fact, fellow believers, you have become like these groups of believers in Judea whom God has united to Jesus the Messiah. That is because people from your own country persecute you, just as the unbelieving Jews persecuted the believers in Judea. These unbelieving Jews do not please God, and they act against most people. 16 They try to stop us from telling the good news to non-Jews, which we do so that God saves non-Jews. So, these unbelieving Jews consistently continue to sin. However, God will completely punish them!

17 In contrast, fellow believers, we very eagerly desired to be with you in person, even though we had to leave you for a little while. Although we were physically absent, we always thought and cared about you. 18 Indeed, we wanted to visit you. Specifically, I myself, Paul, tried to visit several times. However, each time, Satan stopped us from visiting. 19 We wanted to visit you because it is you who enable us to hope and to rejoice and to say great things about you, who honor us. We know that this will be true when our Lord Jesus examines everyone after he returns to this world. 20 Indeed, you honor us and make us rejoice!

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