First Letter to the Thessalonians 2

¹ You know yourselves, my brothers, that our visit to you has not proved ineffectual.

² We had, as you know, been given rough treatment and been grossly insulted at Philippi, and it was our God who gave us the courage to proclaim his Good News to you in the face of great opposition.

³ We have not taken to preaching because we are deluded, or immoral, or trying to deceive anyone;

⁴ it was God who decided that we were fit to be entrusted with the Good News, and when we are speaking, we are not trying to please men but God, who can read our inmost thoughts.[*a]

⁵ You know very well, and we can swear it before God, that never at any time have our speeches been simply flattery, or a cover for trying to get money;

⁶ nor have we ever looked for any special honour from men, either from you or anybody else,

⁷ when we could have imposed ourselves on you with full weight, as apostles of Christ.

⁸ we felt so devoted and protective towards you, and had come to love you so much, that we were eager to hand over to you not only the Good News but our whole lives as well.

⁹ Let me remind you, brothers, how hard we used to work, slaving night and day so as not to be a burden on any one of you while we were proclaiming God’s Good News to you.

¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, that our treatment of you, since you became believers, has been impeccably right and fair.

¹¹ You can remember how we treated every one of you as a father treats his children,

¹² teaching you what was right, encouraging you and appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who is calling you to share the glory of his kingdom.

¹³ Another reason why we constantly thank God for you is that as soon as you heard the message that we brought you as God’s message, you accepted it for what it really is, God’s message and not some human thinking; and it is still a living power among you who believe it.

¹⁴ For you, my brothers, have been like the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judaea, in suffering the same treatment from your own countrymen as they have suffered from the Jews,

¹⁵ the people who put the Lord Jesus to death, and the prophets too. And now they have been persecuting us, and acting in a way that cannot please God and makes them the enemies of the whole human race,

¹⁶ because they are hindering us from preaching to the pagans and trying to save them. They never stop trying to finish off the sins they have begun,[*b] but retribution is overtaking them at last.

¹⁷ A short time after we had been separated from you – in body but never in thought, brothers – we had an especially strong desire and longing to see you face to face again,

¹⁸ and we tried hard to come and visit you; I, Paul, tried more than once, but Satan prevented us.

¹⁹ What do you think is our pride and our joy? You are; and you will be the crown of which we shall be proudest in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes;

²⁰ you are our pride and our joy.