2 Thessalonians 1

1 [I], Paul, [am writing this letter]. Silas and Timothy [are with me. We are sending this letter] to [you]. You are the congregation [of God’s people] in Thessalonica [city]. You belong to God our Father, and you belong to Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 [We pray that] God our Father, and Jesus Christ our Lord, [will continue to] act kindly toward you and [will continue to cause you to have inner] peace.

May grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 [Our] fellow believers, we thank God very frequently [HYP] for you because we believers ought [to thank God for each other, and] specifically it is appropriate/right [that we should thank God for you. We thank him] that you are trusting in [the Lord Jesus] more and more, and that each one of you is loving [each of] the others more and more.

We should always give thanks to God for you, brothers. For this is appropriate, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love each of you has for one another increases.

4 As a result, we keep proudly telling about you to [other] congregations who [worship] God. [Specifically, we tell them] that you are being steadfast and that you [continue] believing [in the Lord Jesus], even though you are frequently suffering [DOU] as a result of people causing you trouble.

So we ourselves speak proudly about you among the churches of God. We talk about your patience and faith in all your persecutions. We talk about the afflictions that you endure.

5 [Your being steadfast] (shows/indicates to) [us] clearly that God will judge [all people] justly. [Specifically, he] will publicly declare that you are worthy [as his people to be in] that place where he will rule [forever, because] you also are suffering as a result of [telling others about letting] God rule your lives.

This is a sign of God's righteous judgment. The result is that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you suffer.

6 [God will certainly cause trouble for] those people who are troubling you, because he [considers] that it is just that he should punish such people for doing that to you.

It is righteous for God to return affliction to those who afflict you,

7 He also [considers] that it is the right thing to do to reward you who are being troubled, by (giving you relief/causing your suffering to end). He will do that for both you and us when our Lord Jesus will descend from heaven, together with his powerful angels and with blazing fire.

and relief to you who are afflicted with us. He will do this at the appearing of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power.

8 [Then he will] punish those people who do not [want to] know him and [those] who refuse to heed the message about our Lord Jesus.

In flaming fire he will take vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not respond to the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

9 [Our Lord Jesus] will forbid them from ever coming near to him and near to the glory which he has [because he is so] powerful (OR, the glory that is manifested by his power). He will cause those people to suffer forever. (aiōnios g166)

They will be punished with eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. (aiōnios g166)

10 [The Lord Jesus] will do this when he comes [back from heaven] at the time [that God has decided]. As a result, all we who are his people will praise him because of [what he has done for his own] people, and all we believers will marvel at our Lord because of [what he has done. And you will be there, too], because you believed what we testified to you.

He will do this when he comes on that day to be glorified by his people and to be marveled at by all those who believed. For our testimony to you was believed.

11 In order that you might [praise Jesus like this], we are also praying very frequently [HYP] for you. We pray that [you will be able to show] our God that you are worthy [to receive] that which he chose [you to receive]. We pray also that he would powerfully enable you to do good in every way that you desire, and that he would also enable you to do powerfully every [good] thing [that you do because] you believe [in Jesus Christ].

Because of this we also pray continually for you. We pray that our God will consider you worthy of your calling. We pray that he will fulfill every desire of goodness and every work of faith with power.

12 [We pray this because we want] you to praise our Lord Jesus, and we want him to honor you. This will happen because God, whom we [worship/serve], and our Lord Jesus Christ will keep acting kindly [toward you] in ways that you do not deserve.

We pray these things so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified by you. We pray that you will be glorified by him, because of the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.