JB 2 THESSALONIANS Chapter 1
Address
1:1 From Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, to the Church in Thessalonika which is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;
1:2 wishing you grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and encouragement. The Last Judgement
1:3 We feel we must be continually thanking God for you, brothers; quite rightly, because your faith is growing so wonderfully and the love that you have for one another never stops increasing;
1:4 and among the churches of God we can take special pride in you for your constancy and faith under all the persecutions and troubles you have to bear.
1:5 It all shows that God's judgement is just, and the purpose of it is that you may be found worthy of the kingdom of God; it is for the sake of this that you are suffering now.
1:6 God will very rightly repay with injury those who are injuring you,
1:7 and reward you, who are suffering now, with the same peace as he will give us, when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with the angels of his power.
1:8 He will come in flaming fire to impose the penalty on all who do not acknowledge God[*a] and refuse to accept the Good News of our Lord Jesus.
1:9 It will be their punishment to be lost eternally, excluded from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength
1:10 on that day when he comes to be glorified among his saints and seen in his glory[*b] by all who believe in him; and you are believers, through our witness.
1:11 Knowing this, we pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by his power fulfil all your desires for goodness and complete all that you have been doing through faith;
1:12 because in this way the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you and you in him, by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
JB 2 THESSALONIANS Chapter 2
The coming of the Lord and the prelude to it
2:1 To turn now, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him:
2:2 please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived.
2:3 Never let anyone deceive you in this way. It cannot happen until the Great Revolt has taken place and the Rebel, the Lost One, has appeared.
2:4 This is the Enemy, the one who claims to be so much greater than all that men call 'god', so much greater than anything that is worshipped, that he enthrones himself in God's sanctuary and claims that he is God.
2:5 Surely you remember me telling you about this when I was with you?
2:6 And you know, too, what is still holding him back from appearing before his appointed time.
2:7 Rebellion is at its work already, but in secret, and the one who is holding it back has first to be removed
2:8 before the Rebel appears openly. The Lord will kill him with the breath of his mouth[*a] and will annihilate him with his glorious appearance at his coming.
2:9 But when the Rebel comes, Satan will set to work: there will be all kinds of miracles and a deceptive show of signs and portents,
2:10 and everything evil that can deceive those who are bound for destruction because they would not grasp the love of the truth which could have saved them.
2:11 The reason why God is sending a power to delude them and make them believe what is untrue
2:12 is to condemn all who refused to believe in the truth and chose wickedness instead.
Encouragement to persevere
2:13 But we feel that we must be continually thanking God for you, brothers whom the Lord loves, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctifying Spirit and by faith in the truth.
2:14 Through the Good News that we brought he called you to this so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2:15 Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
2:16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope,
2:17 comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.
JB 2 THESSALONIANS Chapter 3
3:1 Finally, brothers, pray for us; pray that the Lord's message may spread quickly, and be received with honour as it was among you;
3:2 and pray that we may be preserved from the interference of bigoted and evil people, for faith is not given to everyone.
3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will give you strength and guard you from the evil one,
3:4 and we, in the Lord, have every confidence that you are doing and will go on doing all that we tell you.
3:5 May the Lord turn your hearts towards the love of God and the fortitude of Christ.
Against idleness and disunity
3:6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge you, brothers, to keep away from any of the brothers who refuses to work or to live according to the tradition we passed on to you.
3:7 You know how you are supposed to imitate us: now we were not idle when we were with you,
3:8 nor did we ever have our meals at anyone's table without paying for them; no, we worked night and day, slaving and straining, so as not to be a burden on any of you.
3:9 This was not because we had no right to be, but in order to make ourselves an example for you to follow.
3:10 We gave you a rule when we were with you: not to let anyone have any food if he refused to do any work.
3:11 Now we hear that there are some of you who are living in idleness, doing no work themselves but interfering with everyone else's.
3:12 In the Lord Jesus Christ, we order and call on people of this kind to go on quietly working and earning the food that they eat.
3:13 My brothers, never grow tired of doing what is right.
3:14 If anyone refuses to obey what I have written in this letter, take note of him and have nothing to do with him, so that he will feel that he is in the wrong;
3:15 though you are not to regard him as an enemy but as a brother in need of correction.
Prayer and farewell wishes
3:16 May the Lord of peace himself give you peace all the time and in every way. The Lord be with you all.
3:17 From me, PAUL, these greetings in my own handwriting, which is the mark of genuineness in every letter; this is my own writing.
3:18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
END OF JB 2 THESSALONIANS [3 Chapters].