Greeting

¹ From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

To the ekklesia at Thessalonica united with theos our Father and the kyrios Jesus Christ.

² Good will  (Or “Grace.”) and peace from theos our Father and the kyrios Jesus Christ are yours!

Paul’s Prayer for the Thessalonians

³ We always have to thank theos for you, brothers and sisters. It’s right to do this because your faith is showing remarkable growth and your love for each other is increasing. ⁴ That’s why we brag in theos’s churches about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and suffering you are experiencing. ⁵ Your suffering proves that theos’s judgment is right and that you are considered worthy of his basileia.

⁶ Certainly, it is right for theos to give suffering to those who cause you to suffer. ⁷ It is also right for theos to give all of us relief from our suffering. He will do this when the kyrios Jesus is revealed, ⌞coming⌟ from heaven with his mighty angels in a blazing fire. ⁸ He will take revenge on those who refuse to acknowledge theos and on those who refuse to respond to the Good News about our kyrios Jesus. ⁹ They will pay the penalty by being destroyed forever, by being separated from the kyrios’s presence and from his glorious power. ¹⁰ ⌞This will happen⌟ on that day when he comes to be honored among all his holy people and admired by all who have believed in him. This includes you because you believed the testimony we gave you.

¹¹ With this in mind, we always pray that our theos will make you worthy of his call. We also pray that through ⌞his⌟ power he will help you accomplish every good desire and help you do everything your faith produces. ¹² That way the name of our kyrios Jesus will be honored among you. Then, because of the good will of Jesus Christ, our theos and kyrios, you will be honored by him.

2 Thessalonians 2

Don’t Be Deceived about the Day of the kyrios

¹ Brothers and sisters, we have this request to make of you about our kyrios Jesus Christ’s coming and our gathering to meet him. ² Don’t get upset right away or alarmed when someone claims that we said through some spirit, conversation, or letter that the day of the kyrios has already come. ³ Don’t let anyone deceive you about this in any way. ⌞That day cannot come unless⌟ a revolt takes place first, and the man of sin, the man of destruction, is revealed. ⁴ He opposes every so-called theos or anything that is worshiped and places himself above them, sitting in theos’s temple and claiming to be theos.

⁵ Don’t you remember that I told you about these things when I was still with you? ⁶ You know what it is that now holds him back, so that he will be revealed when his time comes. ⁷ The mystery of this sin is already at work. But it cannot work effectively until the person now holding it back gets out of the way. ⁸ Then the man of sin will be revealed and the kyrios Jesus will destroy him by what he says. When the kyrios Jesus comes, his appearance will put an end to this man.

⁹ The man of sin will come with the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous and wonderful signs. But they will be lies. ¹⁰ He will use everything that theos disapproves of to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. ¹¹ That’s why theos will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe a lie. ¹² Then everyone who did not believe the truth, but was delighted with what theos disapproves of, will be condemned.

Paul Encourages the Thessalonians

¹³ We always have to thank theos for you, brothers and sisters. You are loved by the kyrios and we thank theos that in the beginning he chose you to be saved through a life of spiritual devotion and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ With this in mind he called you by the Good News which we told you so that you would obtain the glory of our kyrios Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ Then, brothers and sisters, firmly hold on to the traditions we taught you either when we spoke to you or in our letter.

¹⁶ Theos our Father loved us and by his kindness  (Or “grace.”) gave us everlasting encouragement and good hope. Together with our kyrios Jesus Christ, ¹⁷ may he encourage and strengthen you to do and say everything that is good.

2 Thessalonians 3

Paul’s Final Instructions for the Thessalonians

¹ Finally, brothers and sisters, pray that we spread the kyrios’s word rapidly and that it will be honored the way it was among you. ² Also pray that we may be rescued from worthless and evil people, since not everyone shares our faith. ³ But the kyrios is faithful and will strengthen you and protect you against the evil one.

⁴ The kyrios gives us confidence that you are doing and will continue to do what we ordered you to do. ⁵ May the kyrios direct your lives as you show theos’s love and Christ’s endurance.

⁶ Brothers and sisters, in the name of our kyrios Jesus Christ we order you not to associate with any believer who doesn’t live a disciplined life and doesn’t follow the tradition you received from us. ⁷ You know what you must do to imitate us. We lived a disciplined life among you. ⁸ We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked hard and struggled night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you. ⁹ It’s not as though we didn’t have a right to receive support. Rather, we wanted to set an example for you to follow. ¹⁰ While we were with you, we gave you the order: “Whoever doesn’t want to work shouldn’t be allowed to eat.”

¹¹ We hear that some of you are not living disciplined lives. You’re not working, so you go around interfering in other people’s lives. ¹² We order and encourage such people by the kyrios Jesus Christ to pay attention to their own work so they can support themselves. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, we can’t allow ourselves to get tired of doing what is right.

¹⁴ It may be that some people will not listen to what we say in this letter. Take note of them and don’t associate with them so that they will feel ashamed. ¹⁵ Yet, don’t treat them like enemies, but instruct them like brothers and sisters.

Farewell

¹⁶ May the kyrios of peace give you his peace at all times and in every way. The kyrios be with all of you.

¹⁷ I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. In every letter that I send, this is proof that I wrote it.

¹⁸ The good will  (Or “grace.”) of our kyrios Jesus Christ be with all of you.