[This letter is from] Paul, and Silvanus and Timothy, [and is being sent] to the church of the Thessalonians [Note: This was a town in present-day northeastern Greece] in [fellowship with] God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God's unearned favor and peace be upon you.

For the word of the Lord has been sounded forth from you, and its sound has been heard not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place where the tidings of your faith toward God have been spread abroad, so that I have no need to speak of it.

Neither seeking glory of men, nor of you, nor of others, being able to be in weight, as the sent of Christ.

So, when we could not stand it any longer [Note: Paul's concern for the spiritual well-being of the Thessalonian Christians became unbearable], we [i.e., I, See verse 5] thought it best to be left behind, alone, at Athens [Note: Paul was willing to labor alone at Athens, so he could send his fellow-workers to minister to others. See Acts 17],

And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:

For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.

He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, which hath sent his holy spirit among you.

Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a word of authority, with the voice of the chief angel, with the sound of a horn: and the dead in Christ will come to life first;

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. {The end of the First Epistle unto the Thessalonians, Sent from Athens.}