We always thank God for you all when we mention you in our prayers,

For when people speak of us, they tell what a welcome you gave us, and how you turned from idols to God, to serve a true and living God,

We were children when we were with you; we were like a mother nursing her children.

You remember, brothers, how we toiled and labored. We worked night and day, when we preached the good news to you, in order not to be a burden to any of you.

We for our part constantly thank God for another reason too??ecause when you received God's message from our lips, you welcomed it not as the message of men but as the message of God, as it really is, which does its work in the hearts of you believers.

For our part, brothers, when we were separated from you for a little while??n person, though not in spirit??e were extremely eager and longed intensely to see you.

For what hope or happiness shall we have or what prize to be proud of in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes, except you?

So when I could not bear it any longer, I made up my mind to stay behind alone at Athens,

for when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were going to have trouble, and it came true, as you know.

That was why, when I could not bear it any longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for I was afraid that the tempter might have tempted you and all our labor might be lost.

so that your hearts may be strong and faultlessly pure in the sight of our God and Father, when our Lord Jesus appears with all his saints!

For we can assure you, on the Lord's own authority, that those of us who will still be living when the Lord comes will have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself, at the summons, when the archangel calls and God's trumpet sounds, will come down from heaven, and first those who died in union with Christ will rise;

When people say, "What peace and security!" then suddenly destruction will be upon them, like birth-pains upon a woman about to give birth to a child, and there will be no escape.

May God himself, the giver of peace, consecrate you through and through. Spirit, soul, and body, may you be kept sound, and be found irreproachable when our Lord Jesus Christ comes.