1 Thessalonians 1

1 To the Thessalonian church in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. May God bless you and give you peace.

Paul and Silas and Timothy. To the church of the Thessalonians which is in God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be to you, and peace.

2 We always mention you in our prayers and thank God for you all;

I am continually thanking God for all, always making mention of you in my prayers,

3 recalling continually before our God and Father the efforts that have resulted from your faith, the toil prompted by your love, and the patient endurance sustained by your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

as I call to mind your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of our God and Father.

4 Friends, whom God loves, we know that he has chosen you,

For I know, O brothers, beloved of God, that he has chosen you;

5 because the good news that we brought came home to you, not merely as so many words, but with a power and a fulness of conviction due to the Holy Spirit. For you know the life that we lived among you for your good.

for my gospel did not come to you in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. For you know also the manner in which I behaved myself among you for your sakes.

6 And you yourselves began to follow, not only our example, but the Master’s also; and, in spite of much suffering, you welcomed the message with a joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,

Moreover, you began to follow the pattern I set you, and the Lord’s also, receiving the word with joy in the Holy Spirit, although amid severe persecution.

7 and so became a pattern to all who believed in Christ throughout Macedonia and Greece.

Thus you became a pattern to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

8 For it was from you that the Lord’s message resounded throughout Macedonia and Greece; and, more than that, your faith in God has become known far and wide; so that there is no need for us to say another word.

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.

9 Indeed, in speaking about us, the people themselves tell of the reception you gave us, and how, turning to God from your idols, you became servants of the true and living God,

For others, of their own accord, tell about the welcome I had from you, and how you turned to God from your idols, to be slaved of a true and living God,

10 and are now awaiting the return from heaven of his Son whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, our deliverer from the coming wrath.

and to await for the coming of his Son from the heavens, the Son whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, our Deliverer from the wrath to come.