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I, Paul, am writing this letter. Silas and Timothy join me in writing.

We are sending this letter to you, the members of the church in Thessalonica. You belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Prays and Gives Thanks

Brothers and sisters, we should always thank God for you. That is only right, because your faith is growing more and more. We also thank God that the love you all have for one another is increasing. So among God’s churches we brag about the fact that you don’t give up easily. We brag about your faith in all the suffering and testing you are going through.

All of this proves that when God judges, he is fair. So you will be considered worthy to enter God’s kingdom. You are suffering for his kingdom. God is fair. He will pay back trouble to those who give you trouble. He will help you who are troubled. And he will also help us. All these things will happen when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come in blazing fire. He will come with his powerful angels. He will punish those who don’t know God. He will punish those who don’t obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. They will be destroyed forever. They will be shut out of heaven. They will never see the glory of the Lord’s strength. 10 All these things will happen when he comes. On that day his glory will be seen in his holy people. Everyone who has believed will be amazed when they see him. This includes you, because you believed the witness we gave you.

11 Keeping this in mind, we never stop praying for you. Our God has chosen you. We pray that he will make you worthy of his choice. We pray he will make every good thing you want to do come true. We pray that he will do this by his power. We pray that he will make perfect all that you have done by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus will receive glory through what you have done. We also pray that you will receive glory through what he has done. We pray all these things in keeping with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Man of Sin

Brothers and sisters, we want to ask you something. It has to do with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It concerns the time when we will go to be with him. What if you receive a message that is supposed to have come from us? What if it says that the day of the Lord has already come? If it does, we ask you not to become easily upset or alarmed. Don’t be upset whether that message is spoken or written or prophesied. Don’t let anyone trick you in any way. That day will not come until people rise up against God. It will not come until the man of sin appears. He is a marked man. He is headed for ruin. He will oppose everything that is called God. He will oppose everything that is worshiped. He will give himself power over everything. He will set himself up in God’s temple. He will announce that he himself is God.

Don’t you remember? When I was with you, I used to tell you these things. Now you know what is holding back the man of sin. He is held back so that he can make his appearance at the right time. The secret power of sin is already at work. But the one who now holds back that power will keep doing it until he is taken out of the way. Then the man of sin will appear. The Lord Jesus will overthrow him with the breath of his mouth. The glorious brightness of Jesus’ coming will destroy the man of sin. The coming of the man of sin will fit how Satan works. The man of sin will show his power through all kinds of signs and wonders. These signs and wonders will lead people astray. 10 So people who are dying will be fooled by this evil. These people are dying because they refuse to love the truth. The truth would save them. 11 So God will fool them completely. Then they will believe the lie. 12 Many will not believe the truth. They will take pleasure in evil. They will be judged.

Remain Strong in the Faith

13 Brothers and sisters, we should always thank God for you. The Lord loves you. That’s because God chose you as the first to be saved. Salvation comes through the Holy Spirit’s work. He makes people holy. It also comes through believing the truth. 14 He chose you to be saved by accepting the good news that we preach. And you will share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 Brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Hold on to what we taught you. We passed our teachings on to you by what we preached and wrote.

16 Our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father loved us. By his grace God gave us comfort that will last forever. The hope he gave us is good. May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father 17 comfort your hearts. May they make you strong in every good thing you do and say.

Paul Asks for Prayer

Now I want to talk about some other matters. Brothers and sisters, pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread quickly. Pray that others will honor it just as you did. And pray that we will be saved from sinful and evil people. Not everyone is a believer. But the Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you. He will guard you from the evil one. We trust in the Lord. So we are sure that you are doing the things we tell you to do. And we are sure that you will keep on doing them. May the Lord fill your hearts with God’s love. May Christ give you the strength to go on.

Paul Warns Those Who Do Not Want to Work

Brothers and sisters, here is a command we give you. We give it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep away from every believer who doesn’t want to work and makes trouble. Keep away from any believer who doesn’t live up to the teaching you received from us. You know how you should follow our example. We worked when we were with you. We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. In fact, it was just the opposite. We worked night and day. We worked very hard so that we wouldn’t cause any expense to any of you. We worked, even though we have the right to receive help from you. We did it in order to be a model for you to follow. 10 Even when we were with you, we gave you a rule. We said, “Anyone who won’t work shouldn’t be allowed to eat.”

11 We hear that some people among you don’t want to work and are making trouble. They aren’t really busy. Instead, they are bothering others. 12 We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. So we strongly command people like that to settle down. They have to earn the food they eat. 13 Brothers and sisters, don’t ever get tired of doing what is good.

14 Keep an eye on anyone who doesn’t obey the teachings in our letter. Don’t have anything to do with that person. Then they will feel ashamed. 15 But don’t think of them as an enemy. Instead, warn them as you would warn another believer.

Final Greetings

16 May the Lord who gives peace give you peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with all of you.

17 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own handwriting. That’s how I prove that I am the author of all my letters. I always do it that way.

18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

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