1 Thessalonians 2
1 And ye yourselves, my brethren, know our entrance among you, that it was not in vain:
For you yourselves know, brothers, that my visit to you did not fail of its purpose;
2 but we first suffered and were treated with indignity, as ye know, at Philippi; and then, in a great agony, with confidence in our God, we addressed to you the gospel of the Messiah.
for you remember that although I had already borne ill-treatment and insult at Philippi, I took courage in my God to tell you the gospel of God, in the face of much opposition.
3 For our exhortation proceeded not from deceit, nor from impurity, nor in guile:
For my preaching was not grounded on a delusion, or on impure motives, on in deceit.
4 but as we had been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who searcheth our hearts.
But as my fitness to be entrusted with the gospel has been tested and approved by God, I so speak, not to please men, but to please God, who is testing my motives.
5 For at no time have we used flattering speech; as ye know; nor a cloak of cupidity, God is witness.
For as you well know, I never resorted to flattery, nor to any pretext for enriching myself. God is my witness!
6 Neither have we sought glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have been chargeable as legates of the Messiah.
Now was I seeking glory from men, either yourselves or others, although I might have exercised authority as Christ’s apostle.
7 But we were lowly among you; and like a nurse, who fondleth her children,
On the contrary I showed myself among you as gentle as a mother, when she tenderly nurses her own children.
8 so we also fondled you, and were desirous to impart to you, not the gospel of God merely, but also our own soul, because ye were dear to us.
So in my fond affection it was my joy to give you, not only the gospel of God, but my very life also, because you had become dear to me.
9 For ye recollect, brethren, that we labored and toiled, working with our own hands, by night and by day, that we might not be chargeable to any one of you.
You recall, brothers, my labor and toil; how, while working at my trade day and night, so as not to become a burden to any of you, I proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how we preached to you the gospel of God, purely, and uprightly, and were blameless towards all them that believe:
You are witnesses - and so is God - how pure and just and blameless was my behavior among you believers.
11 as yourselves know, we entreated each one of you, as a father his children, and comforted your hearts:
You know how I was wont to treat each of you as a father treats his children,
12 and we charged you, to walk as it becometh God, who hath called you to his kingdom and his glory.
exhorting and imploring and adjuring each one among you to lead a life worthy of the God who called you into his own kingdom and glory.
13 Therefore also we give thanks unceasingly to God, that the word of God which ye received from us, ye did not receive as the word of men, but as being truly the word of God, which worketh efficiently in you and in them that believe.
For this reason also I am giving continual thanks to God, because when you heard from me the spoken word of God, you received it not as the word of men, but as the word of God (which in truth it is), who himself is effectually at work in you believe.
14 For ye, my brethren, became assimilated to the churches of God in Judaea, the persons who are in Jesus the Messiah; in that ye so suffered, even ye from your own countrymen, as also they from the Jews,
For you, brothers, began to follow the example of the churches of God in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus; and you in your turn suffered at the hands of your fellow citizens persecutions like to those which they endured from the Jews -
15 the persons who slew our Lord Jesus the Messiah, and persecuted their own prophets and us; and they please not God, and are made hostile to all men;
The men who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out - they are displeasing to God, and are the enemies of all mankind.
16 and they forbid us to speak to the Gentiles, that they may have life; to fill up their sins at all times. And wrath cometh on them to the uttermost.
They forbid me to speak to the Gentiles with a view to their salvation. They continue always to fill up the measure of their sins; but the wrath of God is come upon them to the full!
17 But we, my brethren, have been bereaved of you for a short time, (in visible presence, not in our hearts, ) and have the more exerted ourselves, to behold your faces, with great affection.
But I, my brothers, although torn from you for a short season (in presence, not in heart), made eager efforts to behold you face to face with strong longing.
18 And we purposed to come to you, I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered me.
For that reason I would fain have visited you - I, Paul, again and again - but Satan hindered me.
19 For what is our hope, and our joy, and the crown of our glorying; unless it be ye, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
For what is my hope, or joy? What is the victor’s wreath in which I exult? What but your own selves in the presence of our Lord Jesus, at his coming!
20 For ye are our glory, and our joy.
For you are my pride and my delight.
