for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] love which you have for all the saints (God’s people);

as you learned it from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful minister of Jesus Christ in your behalf,

You then that formerly were alienated from God, and were enemies by your imaginations and wicked practices, even you has Jesus Christ now reconciled to the body of his church,

Whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in [union with] Him [reflecting His character in the things you do and say—living lives that lead others away from sin],

Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, salutes you, and Marcus, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, make him welcome), and Jesus surnamed Justas.

and from Jesus, who is called Justus. These are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision (Jewish Christians), and they have proved to be an encouragement and a comfort to me.

Epaphras, who is one of you and a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. [He is] always striving for you in his prayers, praying with genuine concern, [pleading] that you may [as people of character and courage] stand firm, [spiritually mature] and fully assured in all the will of God.

Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy,To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being from God].

recalling unceasingly before our God and Father your work energized by faith, and your service motivated by love and unwavering hope in [the return of] our Lord Jesus Christ.

so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

and to [look forward and confidently] wait for [the coming of] His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who [personally] rescues us from the coming wrath [and draws us to Himself, granting us all the privileges and rewards of a new life with Him].

You are witnesses, and so is God, how unworldly and just and blameless was our behavior toward you who believe [in our Lord Jesus Christ].

For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same [kind of] persecution from your own countrymen, as they did from the Jews,

who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and harassed and drove us out; and [they] continue to be highly displeasing to God and [to show themselves] hostile to all people,

For who is [the object of] our hope or joy or our victor’s wreath of triumphant celebration [when we stand] in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is it not you?

Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus guide my way to you!

so that He may strengthen your hearts to be faultless in purity in the sight of God, when our Lord Jesus comes back with all His consecrated ones.

Now, brothers, we ask and beg you, in the face of our union with the Lord Jesus, as you once received from us how you ought to live so as to please God -- as indeed you are living -- to continue to live this life better and better.

For you are aware of the instructions which we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then through Jesus, God will bring back with Him those who have fallen asleep.

For we say this to you by [the authority of] the word of the Lord [Note: Paul was either quoting what Jesus had previously said, or was giving a revelation he had received from the Lord. See I Cor. 14:37], that we [Christians] who are [still] alive, who are left [on earth] when the Lord returns, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. [Note: The point Paul is making is that the living will not be "changed" (I Cor. 15:51-52) and taken to heaven before the dead are raised].

For the Lord Himself [i.e., Jesus] will come down from heaven with a commanding shout [Note: This probably refers to Jesus' voice. See John 5:25, 28], [and] with the archangel's voice [i.e., Michael. See Jude 9] and with the sound of God's trumpet; [at this] the dead in [fellowship with] Christ will rise [from the dead] first.

but we must be sober, we who belong to the day, clad in faith and love as our coat of mail, with the hope of salvation as our helmet ??9 for God destined us not for Wrath but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

For God appointed us not to reap His wrath but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we may live together with him.

Make it a habit to give thanks for everything, for this is God's will for you through Christ Jesus.

May God Himself, who gave you peace, consecrate your whole being. May you be safely kept, spirit, soul, and body, so as to be blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back.

The spiritual blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

and to give rest to you who are being crushed with sorrows, along with us, at the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, with His mighty angels

in a flame of fire, who will take vengeance on those who do not know God, that is, those who will not listen to the good news of our Lord Jesus.

On that day Jesus will return to be honored by His saints [i.e., God's holy people] and to be marveled at [i.e., in reverence] by all those who had believed [in Him]. [This will happen] because you have believed our testimony to you [about Christ].

so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you through union with Him, in accordance with the favor of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our final muster before Him, we beg you, brothers,

we request that you people do not become shaken up in your mind, nor alarmed, either by a spirit [i.e., by some prophetic prediction], or by a report, or by a letter supposedly from us, that the day of the Lord [i.e., when Jesus returns] has already come.

Then the representative of lawlessness will be uncovered, and the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and put a stop to his operations by His appearance and coming;

and to this end He called you by our preaching of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and graciously given us encouragement that is eternal, and a hope that is well-founded,

may the Lord qualify your hearts with divine affection, and a patient expectation of Jesus Christ.

Now we charge you, brothers, on the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, to hold yourselves aloof from any brother who is living as a shirker instead of following the teachings you received from us.

Now on the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ we charge and exhort such persons to do their own work with quiet and eat their own bread.

I, Paul, add this greeting in my own handwriting, which is my token in every letter. Thus I write??18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

The spiritual blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope,

to Timothy my genuine child in faith: spiritual blessing, mercy, and peace be with you from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am always thanking Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me strength for it, for thinking me trustworthy and putting me into the ministry,

and the spiritual blessing of our Lord in increasing floods has come upon me, accompanied by faith and love inspired by union with Christ Jesus.

It is a saying to be trusted and deserves our fullest acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; and I am the foremost of them.

Yet, mercy was shown me for the very purpose that in my case as the foremost of sinners Jesus might display His perfect patience, to make me an example to those who in the future might believe on Him to obtain eternal life.

For there is but one God and one intermediary between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

the man Christ Jesus, Who gave himself a ransom for all,

For those who render good service win a good standing for themselves in their faith in Christ Jesus.

If you continue to put these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, ever feeding your own soul on the truths of the faith and of the fine teaching which you have followed.

I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels, to carry out these instructions without prejudice and with perfect impartiality.

If anyone teaches different doctrines and refuses to agree with the wholesome messages of our Lord Jesus Christ, the teaching that is in accordance with true religion,

Fight the good battle of the faith; take hold of never ending life, to which you were called [i.e., by the Gospel. See II Thess. 2:14], [when] you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. [Note: This "confession" probably refers to a person's acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord and Christ prior to his immersion. See Acts 2:36; Rom. 10:9-10].

Before God who preserves the life of all His creatures and before Christ Jesus who in testifying before Pontius Pilate made His good profession, I solemnly charge you

to keep His command stainless and irreproachable until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in accordance with the promise of the life that comes through union with Christ Jesus,

to my dearly loved child, Timothy: spiritual blessing, mercy, and peace be with you from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

For He saved us and called us with a holy call, not in accordance with anything that we had done, but in accordance with His own purpose and unmerited favor which was shown us through union with Christ Jesus eternal ages ago,

but has only recently been made known through the appearance of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who through the good news has put a stop to the power of death, and brought life and immortality to light.

For I am suffering these things [See verse 8] for this reason [i.e., because of being a Gospel preacher]. Yet I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed in [i.e., Jesus], and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him [i.e., Paul's spiritual well-being] until that day [i.e., the day of judgment].

Continue to be an example in wholesome instructions which you learned from me, in the faith and love that come through union with Christ Jesus.

So you, my son, must keep renewing your strength in the spiritual blessing that comes through union with Christ Jesus.

Take your share of hardships like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Continue to remember Jesus Christ as risen from the dead, and descended from David, in accordance with the good news that I preach,

For this reason I am bearing anything for the sake of His chosen people, so that they too may obtain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.

Yes, indeed, everyone who wants to live a godly life as a follower of Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

and that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures which can give you wisdom that leads to salvation through the faith that leans on Christ Jesus.

I solemnly charge you, before God and Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom,

Nevertheless the Lord Jesus stood by me, and strengthened my heart, that through me full proclamation of the gospel might be made, and the Gentiles might hear it; and I was rescued from the lion's jaws.

The Lord Jesus Christ is with thy spirit. Grace is with you. Truly.

Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to stimulate faith in God's chosen people and to lead them on to a full knowledge of religious truth,

serving in hope of the life eternal which God, who never lies, promised ages ago ??3 he gave effect to his word in due time by a proclamation with which I have been entrusted by command of God our Saviour: ??4 to Titus my lawful son in a faith we hold in common; grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

to Titus, my genuine child in our common faith: be spiritual blessing and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

while we are waiting for the realization of our blessed hope at the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus,

which He abundantly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Saviour,

through Jesus Christ our Saviour, That, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs, according to the hope of eternal life.

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and my brother Timothy, to our dearly loved fellow-worker Philemon,

to my sister Apphia, to my fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church which meets at Philemon's house. From Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and brother Timothy.

spiritual blessing be with you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, (Hearing of thy faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus,

because I continue to hear of the love and faith you have in the Lord Jesus and all His people,

so that the fellowship of thy faith may become potent (in the knowledge of every good thing in us) for Christ Jesus.

yet I prefer to appeal to you for love's sake, although I am such as I am, Paul an envoy of Christ Jesus but now a prisoner for Him too;

Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in the cause of Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you.

The spiritual blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

And again, when God sent the Firstborn One [i.e., Jesus. See Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18; Rev. 1:5] into the world, He said [Deut. 32:43 LXX], "And all of God's angels should worship Him."

But God says [this] about the Son [Psa. 97:7], "Your throne [i.e. kingdom], O God [Note: This term here is applied to Jesus], will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter [i.e., the standard for ruling] of your kingdom.

You made him a little bit lower than the angels [i.e., a little less exalted]. [Note: Although these Psalms passages referred to mankind, they are here applied to Jesus. See verse 9]. You crowned him with splendor and honor {{some ancient manuscripts add "and placed him as ruler over what you made"}}.

You placed everything under his feet [Note: This is true of both mankind (Gen. 1:26-28) and of Jesus (Eph. 1:22-23)]. For in subjecting everything to him, God did not leave anything that is not subject to him. But at the present time we do not see what all has been subjected to him.

but we do see Jesus, who was made inferior to the angels for a little while, crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by God's favor He might experience death for every human being.

For it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, in order to lead many [of His] children to glory [i.e., heaven], would make the author [or, pioneer] of their salvation [i.e., Jesus] completely [qualified] through [His] sufferings.

For, both the One who makes people holy [i.e., Jesus], and those who are made holy [i.e., Christians], all come from one [Father], and for this reason Christ is not ashamed to call them His brothers,

Therefore since these children referred to have the same mortal nature, Jesus also shared it, like them, in order that by his death he might dethrone the lord of death, the devil,

It was not, surely, to the help of the angels that Jesus came, but 'to the help of the descendants of Abraham.'