Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.

We give thanks to God always concerning all of you, making mention constantly in our prayers,

[because we] remember your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,

knowing, brothers [dearly] loved by God, {that he has chosen you},

for from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything.

For [they] themselves report about us, what sort of welcome we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve [the] living and true God,

but [after we] had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, just as you know, we had the courage in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.

but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, thus we speak, not as pleasing people but God, who examines our hearts.

{For never} did we come with a word of flattery, just as you know, nor with a pretext of greediness (God [is] witness),

Longing for you in this way, we determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you had become dear to us.

For you remember, brothers, our labor and hardship: working by night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

You [are] witnesses, and [so is] God, how devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we became to you who believe,

exhorting and consoling you and insisting that you live in a manner worthy of God, who calls you to his own kingdom and glory.

And because of this we also give thanks to God constantly, that [when you] received God's word {that you heard} from us, you accepted [it] not [as the] word of men, but as [it] truly is, [the] word of God, which also is at work in you who believe.

For you became imitators, brothers, of the churches of God [which] are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because you also suffered the same [things] at the hands of your own people, just as [they] themselves [did] also at the hands of the Jews,

who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and who persecuted us, and [who are] not pleasing to God and [are] opposed to all people,

and we sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, in order to strengthen and to encourage you about your faith,

But now, [because] Timothy has come to us from you and has brought good news to us of your faith and love, and that {you always think kindly of us}, desiring to see us just as also we [desire to see] you,

For what thanks can we repay to God concerning you, because of all the joy [with] which we rejoice because of you before our God,

Now [may] our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you,

so that your hearts may be established blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Finally therefore, brothers, we ask you and appeal to [you] in the Lord Jesus that, just as you have received from us how it is necessary for you to live and to please God, just as indeed you are living, that you progress even more.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: [that] you abstain from sexual immorality;

not in lustful passion, just as also the Gentiles who do not know God;

For God did not call us to impurity, but in holiness.

Therefore the one who rejects [this] [is] not rejecting man, but God, [who] also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

But concerning brotherly love, I do not have need to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,

and to aspire to live a quiet life, and to attend to {your own business}, and to work with your hands, just as we commanded you,

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose [again], thus also God will bring those who have fallen asleep through Jesus together with him.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

because God did not appoint us for wrath, but for the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

See to it that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue good toward one another and toward all [people].

give thanks in everything; for this [is] the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

but examine all [things]; hold fast to [what is] good.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.