1 Thessalonians 2
2
1For ye know yourselves, brethren, our entering in which we had to you, that it has not been in vain; 2but, having suffered before and been insulted, even as ye know, in Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the glad tidings of God with much earnest striving. 3For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; 4but even as we have been approved of God to have the glad tidings entrusted to us, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, who proves our hearts. 5For we have not at any time been among you with flattering discourse, even as ye know, nor with a pretext for covetousness, God is witness; 6nor seeking glory from men, neither from you nor from others, when we might have been a charge as Christ's apostles;
7but have been gentle in the midst of you, as a nurse would cherish her own children. 8Thus, yearning over you, we had found our delight in having imparted to you not only the glad tidings of God, but our own lives also, because ye had become beloved of us. 9For ye remember, brethren, our labour and toil: working night and day, not to be chargeable to any one of you, we have preached to you the glad tidings of God. 10Ye are witnesses, and God, how piously and righteously and blamelessly we have conducted ourselves with you that believe: 11as ye know how, as a father his own children, we used to exhort each one of you, and comfort and testify, 12that ye should walk worthy of God, who calls you to his own kingdom and glory.
13And for this cause we also give thanks to God unceasingly that, having received the word of the report of God by us, ye accepted, not men's word, but, even as it is truly, God's word, which also works in you who believe. 14For ye, brethren, have become imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; for ye also have suffered the same things of your own countrymen as also they of the Jews, 15who have both slain the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and have driven us out by persecution, and do not please God, and are against all men, 16forbidding us to speak to the nations that they may be saved, that they may fill up their sins always: but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
17But we, brethren, having been bereaved of you and separated for a little moment in person, not in heart, have used more abundant diligence to see your face with much desire; 18wherefore we have desired to come to you, even I Paul, both once and twice, and Satan has hindered us. 19For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of boasting? are not ye also before our Lord Jesus at his coming? 20for ye are our glory and joy.
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1 Thessalonians 2: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign 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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