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grace to you and peace from God [our] Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Thanksgiving. We ought to thank God always for you, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith flourishes ever more, and the love of every one of you for one another grows ever greater.
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Accordingly, we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God regarding your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and the afflictions you endure.
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This is evidence of the just judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering.
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For it is surely just on God’s part to repay with afflictions those who are afflicting you,
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and to grant rest along with us to you who are undergoing afflictions, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his mighty angels,
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when he comes to be glorified among his holy ones and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was believed.
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Prayer. To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith,
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that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
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II. Warning Against Deception Concerning the Parousia
Chapter 2
Christ and the Lawless One. We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him,
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not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.
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Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one doomed to perdition,
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do you not recall that while I was still with you I told you these things?
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And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time.
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But we ought to give thanks to God for you always, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth.
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To this end he has [also] called you through our gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.
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encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.
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III. Concluding Exhortations
Chapter 3
Request for Prayers. Finally, brothers, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified, as it did among you,
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But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
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We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you [both] are doing and will continue to do.
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May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ.
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Neglect of Work. We instruct you, brothers, in the name of [our] Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us.
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For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you,
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nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.