For you yourselves, brothers, are conscious that our coming among you was not without effect:

But even as the good news was given to us by the approval of God, so we give it out; not as pleasing men, but God by whom our hearts are tested.

You are witnesses, with God, how holy and upright and free from all evil was our way of life among you who have faith;

For you, my brothers, took as your examples the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; because you underwent the same things from your countrymen as they did from the Jews;

Who put to death the Lord Jesus and the prophets, violently driving us out; who are unpleasing to God and against all men;

For what is our hope or joy or crown of glory? Are not even you, before our Lord Jesus, at his coming?

For you are our glory and our joy.

So that no man might be moved by these troubles; because you see that these things are part of God's purpose for us.

For how great is the praise which we give to God for you, and how great the joy with which we are glad because of you before our God;

And last of all, the prayer which we make to you from our heart and in the name of the Lord Jesus, is this: that as we made clear to you what sort of behaviour is pleasing to God, as in fact you are doing now, so you will go on in these ways, but more and more.

And, truly, you are lovers of all the brothers in Macedonia; but it is our desire that your love may be increased still more;

That you may be respected by those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.

But it is our desire, brothers, that you may be certain about those who are sleeping; so that you may have no need for sorrow, as others have who are without hope.

For if we have faith that Jesus underwent death and came back again, even so those who are sleeping will come again with him by God's power.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are still living at the coming of the Lord, will not go before those who are sleeping.

Then we who are still living will be taken up together with them into the clouds to see the Lord in the air: and so will we be for ever with the Lord.

But you, my brothers, are not in the dark, for that day to overtake you like a thief:

For you are all sons of light and of the day: we are not of the night or of the dark.

For those who are sleeping do so in the night; and those who are the worse for drink are so in the night;

But let us, who are of the day, be serious, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and on our heads, the hope of salvation.

But we make this request to you, my brothers: give attention to those who are working among you, who are over you in the Lord to keep order among you;

And our desire is that you will keep control over those whose lives are not well ordered, giving comfort to the feeble-hearted, supporting those with little strength, and putting up with much from all.

I give orders in the name of the Lord that all the brothers are to be present at the reading of this letter.