1Thessalonians 1-2; Psalms 15 - Prayer Tents

Greetings from Paul

1This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give you grace and peace.G3972G2532G4610G2532G5095G1577G2331G1722G2316G3962G2532G2962G2424G5547G5485G5213G2532G1515G575G2316G2257G3962G2532G2962G2424G5547

The Faith of the Thessalonian Believers

2We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly.G2168G2316G3842G4012G5216G3956G4160G3417G5216G1909G2257G4335 3As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.G3421G89G5216G2041G4102G2532G2873G26G2532G5281G1680G2257G2962G2424G5547G1715G2316G2532G2257G3962 4We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.G1492G80G25G5216G1589G5259G2316 5For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you.G3754G2257G2098G1096G3756G1519G5209G1722G3056G3440G235G2532G1722G1411G2532G1722G40G4151G2532G1722G4183G4136G2531G1492G3634G1096G1722G5213G1223G5209 6So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.G2532G5210G1096G3402G2257G2532G2962G1209G3056G1722G4183G2347G3326G5479G40G4151 7As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia.G5620G5209G1096G5179G3956G4100G1722G3109G2532G882 8And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don't need to tell them about it,G1063G575G5216G1837G3056G2962G3756G3440G1722G3109G2532G882G235G2532G1722G3956G5117G5216G4102G4314G2316G1831G5620G2248G5532G3361G2192G2980G5100 9for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God.G1063G518G846G518G4012G2257G3697G1529G2192G2192G4314G5209G2532G4459G1994G4314G2316G575G1497G1398G2198G2532G228G2316 10And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.G2532G362G846G5207G1537G3772G3739G1453G1537G3498G2424G3588G4506G2248G575G3709G2064

Paul Remembers His Visit

2You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure.G1063G846G80G1492G2257G1529G4314G5209G3754G1096G3756G2756 2You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition.G235G2532G4310G2532G5195G2531G1492G1722G5375G3955G1722G2257G2316G2980G4314G5209G2098G2316G1722G4183G73 3So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.G1063G2257G3874G3756G1537G4106G3761G1537G167G3777G1722G1388 4For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.G235G2531G1381G5259G2316G4100G2098G3779G2980G3756G5613G700G444G235G2316G1381G2257G2588 5Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money!G1063G3777G4218G1096G2850G1722G3056G2531G1492G3777G1722G4392G4124G2316G3144 6As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.G3777G1537G444G2212G1391G3777G575G5216G3777G575G243G1410G1511G1722G922G5613G652G5547 7As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children.G235G1096G2261G1722G3319G5216G5613G5162G302G2282G1438G5043 8We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God's Good News but our own lives, too.G3779G2442G5216G2106G3330G5213G3756G2098G2316G3440G235G2532G1438G5590G1360G1096G27G2254 9Don't you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God's Good News to you.G1063G3421G80G2257G2873G2532G3449G1063G2038G3571G2532G2250G4314G1912G3361G1912G5100G5216G2784G1519G5209G2098G2316 10You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers.G5210G3144G2532G2316G5613G3743G2532G1346G2532G274G1096G5213G4100 11And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children.G2509G1492G5613G3870G2532G3888G3140G1538G1520G5209G5216G5613G3962G1438G5043 12We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.G2532G1519G5209G4043G516G2316G2564G5209G1519G1438G932G2532G1391 13Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn't think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.G5124G1223G2532G2168G2249G2316G89G3754G3880G3056G2316G189G3844G2257G1209G3756G3056G444G235G2531G2076G230G3056G2316G3739G1754G2532G1722G5213G4100 14And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God's churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews.G1063G5210G80G1096G3402G1577G2316G3588G1722G2449G5607G1722G5547G2424G3754G5210G2532G3958G5024G5259G2398G4853G2532G2531G846G5259G2453 15For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanityG2532G615G2962G2424G2532G2398G4396G2532G1559G2248G2532G700G3361G2316G2532G1727G3956G444 16as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last.G2967G2248G2980G1484G2443G4982G1519G378G846G266G3842G1161G3709G5348G1909G846G1519G5056

Timothy’s Good Report about the Church

17Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again.G1161G2249G80G642G575G5216G4314G5610G2540G4383G3756G2588G4704G4056G1492G5216G4383G1722G4183G1939 18We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.G1352G2309G2064G4314G5209G3303G1473G3972G2532G530G2532G1364G2532G4567G1465G2248 19After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you!G1063G5101G2257G1680G2228G5479G2228G4735G2746G2228G3780G2532G5210G1715G2257G2962G2424G5547G1722G846G3952 20Yes, you are our pride and joy.G1063G5210G2075G2257G1391G2532G5479

15[A psalm of David.] Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?H4210H1732H3068H1481H168H7931H6944H2022 2Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.H1980H8549H6466H6664H1696H571H3824 3Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.H7270H3956H6213H7451H7453H5375H2781H7138 4Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the LORD, and keep their promises even when it hurts.H5869H3988H959H3513H3373H3068H7650H7489H4171 5Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.H5414H3701H5392H3947H7810H5355H6213H5769H4131