1 Thessalonians 3
3
1So when we couldn't bear it any longer, we decided it would be best for us to stay behind in Athens, 2and send Timothy on to you. He is our brother and God's co-worker in spreading the good news of Christ. We sent him to strengthen and encourage you in your trust in God 3so that none of you would be upset by your troubles—for you know we should expect such things. 4Even while we were with you we kept on warning you that we would suffer persecution soon— and as you well know that is exactly what has happened. 5This is why, when I couldn't stand it anymore, I sent to find out whether you were still trusting in God. I was concerned that the devil#3:5. “The devil,” Literally, “the tempter.” had successfully tempted you and that all our work had been for nothing!#3:5. “Successfully tempted”—the original is actually just “tempted” but in English this doesn't imply what Paul fears—that the temptation has succeeded. The issue here is not being tempted, but falling into sin as a result of temptation.
6Now Timothy has just returned from visiting you and he has brought us good news of your trust in God and the love you have. He's told us that you still have fond memories of us, longing to see us just as we long to see you. 7This news really encouraged us while we were suffering troubles ourselves, brothers and sisters, knowing that you continue to hold on to your trust in God. 8For us life is worth living now because you're standing firm in the Lord! 9As we go into the presence of our God, how can we ever thank God enough for you because of all the joy you bring to us? 10Night and day we pray for you as earnestly as possible, hoping to see you again face to face, and to help you continue developing your trust in God. 11May God our Father and our Lord Jesus make it possible for us to come to see you soon. 12May the Lord increase your love so it overflows to one another, and to everyone, just as we love you. 13In this way may the Lord strengthen you so you may stand with minds that are holy and blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.
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1 Thessalonians 3: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
1 Thessalonians 3
3
1 #
Ac 17.15. Finally, we couldn't stand it any longer. We decided to stay in Athens by ourselves 2and send our friend Timothy to you. He works with us as God's servant and preaches the good news about Christ. We wanted him to make you strong in your faith and to encourage you. 3We didn't want any of you to be discouraged by all these troubles. You knew we would have to suffer, 4because when we were with you, we told you this would happen. And we did suffer, as you well know. 5At last, when I could not wait any longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I hoped Satan had not tempted you and made all our work useless.
6 #
Ac 18.5. Timothy has now come back from his visit with you and has told us about your faith and love. He also said that you always have happy memories of us and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you.
7My friends, even though we have a lot of trouble and suffering, your faith makes us feel better about you. 8Your strong faith in the Lord is like a breath of new life. 9How can we possibly thank God enough for all the happiness you have brought us? 10Day and night we sincerely pray that we will see you again and help you to have an even stronger faith.
11We pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus will let us visit you. 12May the Lord make your love for each other and for everyone else grow by leaps and bounds. This is how our love for you has grown. 13And when our Lord comes with all his people, I pray he will make your hearts pure and innocent in the sight of God the Father.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.