Greeting

1 ^aPaul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

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

Thanksgiving

3 ^bWe ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,¹ as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore ^cwe ourselves boast about you ^din the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith ^ein all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ’s Coming

5 This is ^fevidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be ^gconsidered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it ^hjust ⁱto repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant ^jrelief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when ^kthe Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven ^lwith his mighty angels 8 ^min flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ⁿwho do not know God and on those who ^odo not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of ^peternal destruction, ^qaway from² the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 ^rwhen he comes on ^sthat day ^tto be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^utestimony to you ^vwas believed. 11 To this end we ^walways pray for you, that our God may ^xmake you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^ywork of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^zmay be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Man of Lawlessness

1 Now concerning ^athe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^bbeing gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,³ 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^calarmed, either ^dby a spirit or a ^espoken word, or ^ea letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^fthe day of the Lord has come. 3 ^gLet no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^hunless the rebellion comes first, and ⁱthe man of lawlessness⁴ is revealed, ^jthe son of destruction,⁵ 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^kproclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For ^lthe mystery of lawlessness ^mis already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then ⁿthe lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^owill kill with ^pthe breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^qthe appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^rwith all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for ^sthose who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore ^tGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^uwhat is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned ^vwho did not believe the truth but ^whad pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

13 But ^xwe ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^ybrothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^zas the firstfruits^{6 a}to be saved, ^bthrough sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through ^cour gospel, ^aso that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, ^dstand firm and hold to ^ethe traditions that you were taught by us, either ^fby our spoken word or by ^four letter.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, ^gwho loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good ^hhope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and ⁱestablish them in every good work and word.

Pray for Us

1 Finally, brothers,^{7 j}pray for us, that ^kthe word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,⁸ as happened among you, 2 and ^lthat we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For ^mnot all have faith. 3 But ⁿthe Lord is faithful. He will establish you and ^oguard you against ^pthe evil one.⁹ 4 And ^qwe have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord ^rdirect your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

6 Now we command you, brothers, ^sin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^tthat you keep away from any ^ubrother ^vwho is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know ^whow you ought to imitate us, because ^xwe were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but ^ywith toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was ^znot because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves ^aan example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: ^bIf anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you ^cwalk in idleness, not busy at work, but ^dbusybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.¹⁰

13 As for you, brothers, ^edo not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and ^fhave nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 ^gDo not regard him as an enemy, but ^hwarn him as a brother.

Benediction

16 Now may ⁱthe Lord of peace himself ^jgive you peace at all times in every way. ^kThe Lord be with you all.

17 I, Paul, write ^lthis greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 ^mThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever