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Written to the congregation in Thessaloniki, Greece on behalf of Paul (possibly in Aramaic) by either Timothy or Sylvanus between 52 and 54-CE.

Chapter 1

¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the called ones among the Thessalonians who are in God our Father and in the Lord Jesus the Anointed;
² May you have loving care and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus the Anointed.

³ We’re always obligated to give thanks to God for you, our brothers, which is appropriate because of the super growth of your faith and [because of] the love that you have for each other, which keeps on growing.
⁴ We also take special pride in you among all the called ones of God because of the endurance and faith that you’ve shown through all the persecutions and difficulties that you’ve been enduring.
⁵ So the righteous judgment of God is being revealed in that you’re being counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

⁶ And it’s a righteous thing for God to repay those that are persecuting you by crushing them, ⁷ while providing relief to you who are suffering this persecution (and to us also) when the Lord Jesus is revealed in the sky with his powerful messengers ⁸ in a flaming fire.
Then he’ll bring vengeance upon all those who don’t know God and those who aren’t obeying the good news about our Lord Jesus.
⁹ Yes, in justice, they’ll be repaid with age-long ruin away from the face of the Lord and the glory of his might ¹⁰ when he arrives to be glorified among his Holy Ones and to be marveled at by all of you who are found to be believers in that day…
Because you’ve put faith in the testimony that we provided.

¹¹ We’re always asking for this in our prayers for you:
That our God may count you worthy of the calling and that He might fulfill in you all [His] good intentions through powerful deeds of faith, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you (and you in him), through the loving care of our God and of the Lord Jesus the Anointed One.

Chapter 2

¹ However, brothers;
Regarding the appearance of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One and our being gathered to him:
We urge you ² not to quickly lose hope or to be disturbed by [something from the] spirit, or by words, or [by things written] in a letter that may have come through us, indicating that the Lord’s Day has arrived.
³ No, don’t allow anyone to mislead you in any way, because [that day] won’t arrive until after there has been a great turning away and a revealing of the lawless man (the son of destruction) ⁴ who opposes and puts himself higher than all others that are called gods or things of worship, and who seats himself in the Most Holy Place (gr. Naos) of The God, where he publicly displays himself as being a god.
⁵ Don’t you remember that I used to warn you of such things while I was still with you?

⁶ So understand that what’s holding everything up is the revealing of this one at the [proper] time.
⁷ Indeed, the mystery of this lawless one is already at work, for everything is being held up until he is no longer among us.
⁸ For that’s when this lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy and bring to nothing with the breath from his mouth when he arrives.

⁹ This one will come with the works of the Opposer, using great powers, lying signs, false wonders, ¹⁰ and with every sort of deceit of the unrighteous
(Those who will perish for not loving the truth that they received, which would have saved them)!
¹¹ For The God will send them delusions so they’ll start believing whatever is false, ¹² and they’ll prefer unrighteousness to believing the truth…
Which is what will condemn them.

¹³ However, we are obliged to always thank God for you brothers who are loved by the Lord, since God chose you for salvation from the beginning through the holiness of the Spirit [because of] your belief in the truth.
¹⁴ This is why He called you through the good news that we brought to you…
So that you might also receive the glory of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One.

¹⁵ Therefore, brothers;
Stand firm and hang onto the traditions that you were taught by word [of mouth] and in the letters that we sent to you.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus the Anointed One himself and God (our Father who loves us and kindly gave us comfort and good hope in this age) ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and make you firm in all good words and good deeds!

Chapter 3

¹ Finally brothers… pray for us!
Pray that the word of the Lord may be glorified and spread rapidly, just as it is currently being done among you.
² And [pray] that we might be delivered from unruly and wicked men, because the Faith isn’t for everyone.
³ However, you can trust that the Lord will make you firm and guard you from the Wicked One.

⁴ We also have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are following – and will continue to follow – the commandments that we’ve given to you.
⁵ So may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of The God and into the steadfast ways of the Anointed One.

⁶ Also brothers;
We’re warning you in the name of the Lord Jesus the Anointed One that you should draw away from any brother that is walking disorderly and not following the traditions that you’ve received from us, ⁷ since it’s important for you all to imitate us.

For you know very well that we weren’t lazy when we were among you, ⁸ and we didn’t ask anyone to provide us with food.
Rather, we worked hard day and night so we wouldn’t be a burden on any of you.
⁹ This isn’t because we aren’t authorized to [ask for such things], but because we wanted to set an example for you to imitate.
¹⁰ So when we were there with you, we told you:
‘If anyone isn’t willing to work, don’t feed him.’

¹¹ However, we’re now hearing that some among you aren’t following these instructions and they aren’t working at all… they’re meddling in other people’s affairs.
¹² So we are warning them and inviting them through the Lord Jesus the Anointed One to be quiet and go to work so they’ll be able to eat their own bread.

¹³ Brothers, don’t give up when it comes to doing what’s good!
¹⁴ But if there is anyone who isn’t willing to obey the things we’re writing about in this letter, take note of it and avoid him, so as to shame him.
¹⁵ However, don’t consider him an enemy; rather, council him as a brother.

¹⁶ Now, may the Lord of peace himself give you peace in every way throughout all time.
Yes, may the Lord be with all of you.

¹⁷ [Here’s] my greeting in my own (Paul’s) hand. Every letter proves it, because this is the way that I write.

¹⁸ May the loving care of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One be with all of you.

Note that this is the legacy version of the translation last updated in December 2020. You can also see the latest version.

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