1 Thessalonians 3
3
1That is why, when we could bear it no longer, we decided to remain alone in Athens#Acts 17:14. 2and sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,#Acts 16:1–2; 1 Cor 3:5–9. 3so that no one be disturbed in these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined#We are destined: the Greek phraseology and the context suggest Paul’s concern to alert his readers to difficulties he knew they would necessarily face and to enable them to see their present experience in the light of what he warned them would happen in the future. This line of thought is followed in 2 Thes 2:1–15. for this. 4For even when we were among you, we used to warn you in advance that we would undergo affliction, just as has happened, as you know.#Acts 14:22; 2 Thes 2:5–7; 2 Tm 3:12. 5For this reason, when I too could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had put you to the test and our toil might come to nothing.
6But just now Timothy has returned to us from you, bringing us the good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us and long to see us as we long to see you. 7Because of this, we have been reassured about you, brothers, in our every distress and affliction, through your faith. 8For we now live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
Concluding Thanksgiving and Prayer. 9#The tension between Paul’s optimism concerning the Thessalonians’ faith and his worries about their perseverance remains unresolved. Perhaps this is accounted for not only by the continuing harassment but also by the shortness of his own stay in Thessalonica (even if that were over twice as long as the conventional three weeks that Luke assigns to it, Acts 17:2). What thanksgiving, then, can we render to God for you, for all the joy we feel on your account before our God? 10Night and day we pray beyond measure to see you in person and to remedy the deficiencies of your faith. 11Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, 12and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you,#4:9–10; 2 Thes 1:3. 13so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. [Amen.]#5:23; 1 Cor 1:8.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
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.