1 Thessalonians 2
2
Cherishing Spiritual Children
1For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not in vain.
2On the contrary, after we had first suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to tell you the Good News of God—even in the midst of much opposition.
3For our urging is not out of deceit or impure motives or trickery.
4But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News, so we declare it—not pleasing men but rather God, who examines our hearts.
5For as you know and God is witness, we never came with a word of flattery or a motive of greed—
6or seeking glory from people, whether from you or from others,
7even though we could have thrown our weight around as emissaries of Messiah. Rather, we proved to be infants among you. Like a nursing mother cherishes her children,
8in this way we were yearning for you. We were delighted to share with you not only the Good News of God but also our very souls, because you had become dear to us.
9For you recall, brothers and sisters, our labor and hardship—working night and day, so as not to burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the Good News of God.
10You are witnesses, along with God, of how devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we behaved toward you who believe.
11For you know how, as a father with his own children,
12we exhorted and encouraged and urged each one of you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
13For this reason, we also thank God constantly that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is—the word of God, which does its work in you who believe.
14For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s communities in Messiah Yeshua that are in Judea—for you suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen as they did from the Judean leaders,
15who killed both the Lord Yeshua and the prophets and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God and hostile to all people,
16hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved. As a result, they constantly fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last.
Longing to Visit and Reassure
17But brothers and sisters, after we were orphaned by separation from you for a short time (in person, not in heart), we were all the more eager in our great longing to see you face to face.
18For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—but satan thwarted us.
19For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Yeshua at His coming? Is it not you?
20For you are our glory and joy!
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
1 Thessalonians 2
2
Paul’s Work in Thessalonica
1Brothers and sisters, you know that our visit to you was not a failure. 2Before we came to you, people in Philippi abused us with insults and made us suffer. You know all about that. And then, when we came to you, many people there caused trouble for us. But our God gave us the courage we needed to tell you his Good News. 3When we encourage people to believe the Good News, it’s not out of wrong motives. We are not trying to trick or fool anyone. 4No, we did it because God is the one who gave us this work. And this was only after he tested us and saw that we could be trusted to do it. So when we speak, we are only trying to please God, not anyone else. He is the one who can see what is in our hearts.
5You know that we never tried to influence you by saying nice things about you. We were not trying to get your money. We had no greed to hide from you. God knows that this is true. 6We were not looking for praise from people—not from you or anyone else.
7When we were with you, as apostles of Christ we could have used our authority to make you help us. But we were very gentle#2:7 But … gentle Several Greek copies have “But we became babies.” with you. We were like a mother caring for her little children. 8We loved you very much, so we were happy to share God’s Good News with you. But not only that—we were also happy to share even our own lives with you. 9Brothers and sisters, I know that you remember how hard we worked. We worked night and day to support ourselves, so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we did the work of telling you God’s Good News.
10When we were there with you believers, we were pure, honest, and without fault in the way we lived. You know, just as God does, that this is true. 11You know that we treated each one of you the way a father treats his own children. 12We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we told you to live good lives for God. He calls you to be part of his glorious kingdom.
13Also, we always thank God because of the way you accepted his message. You heard it and accepted it as God’s message, not our own. And it really is God’s message. And it works in you who believe. 14Brothers and sisters, you are just like God’s churches in Judea.#2:14 Judea The Jewish land where Jesus lived and taught and where the church first began. I mean that you were treated badly by your own people, just as those believers in Christ Jesus were treated badly by other Jews— 15the same Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets. And they forced us to leave their country. They are not pleasing to God, and they are against everyone else. 16And they are trying to stop us from teaching those who are not Jews. They don’t want them to be saved. But they are just adding more and more sins to the ones they already have. Now the time has come for them to suffer God’s anger.
Paul’s Desire to Visit Them Again
17Brothers and sisters, we were separated from you for a short time. But even though we were not there, our thoughts were still with you. We wanted very much to see you, and we tried very hard to do this. 18Yes, we wanted to come to you. I, Paul, tried more than once to come, but Satan stopped us. 19You are our hope, our joy, and the crown we will be proud of when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. 20You bring us honor and joy.
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