Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

1 Paul, Silvanus,^[a] and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians that gathers in God our Father and in the Lord Jesus the Anointed. ² May grace and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus the Anointed be with you.

³ Brothers and sisters, we cannot help but thank God for you, which is only appropriate because your faith is growing and expanding and because the love demonstrated by each and every one of you is overflowing for one another. ⁴ So, of course, we’ve proudly bragged about you within circles of God’s people at other churches near and far because, even in the grip of much persecution and affliction, you’ve stood firm in your faith and have persevered. ⁵ Your sufferings prove that God’s judgment is right! The result: your sufferings have made you worthy—worthy of the kingdom of God, which is the very reason why you are suffering in the first place! ⁶ It is only right that God would repay with trouble those who have troubled you ^7-8 and give relief to all of you still bandaging your wounds, as well as to all the rest of us. On that day—when the clouds draw back displaying His powerful heavenly messengers in a fiery blaze, Jesus the Lord will appear from heaven dealing out perfect justice to anyone who doesn’t know God and anyone who disobeys the good news of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ And what’s to become of them? They’ll pay for what they’ve done; their punishment will be eternal destruction. And what’s worse? They’ll be banished from the Lord’s presence and glorious power. ¹⁰ On that day when He comes, all the saints in heaven and on earth will celebrate the glory of His power, and all who believe will stand and be amazed—this includes you because you believed us when we testified on His behalf. ¹¹ All this is why we are constantly praying for you, so God will make you worthy of the great calling you have received from Him and will give you the power to accomplish every good intention and work of faith. ¹² Then the great name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified through your lives, and you will be glorified in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, our Liberating King.

2 Since, brothers and sisters, we are on the topic of the coming of our Lord Jesus the Anointed and how we will all gather together to meet Him, we ask ² that you don’t let your minds get quickly rattled or become anxious because of someone else’s so-called “spiritual revelation” or because someone gave you a message or claimed to know of a letter allegedly from us reporting that the day of the Lord has already come! ³ Don’t be deceived by anyone! That day, that amazing day, won’t come until after the great rebellion and the unveiling of the rebellious one.^[b] As the spawn of death, he delights in destruction. ⁴ He sets himself up as the great adversary of God and vies for a place above all other so-called gods or objects of worship. If it were possible, he would even take a seat—yes, exalt himself—in the temple of the one true God, declaring that he himself is God! ⁵ Don’t you remember me telling you all this the last time we were together? ⁶ You know what restrains him now and what will hold him until the exact time when he will be revealed. ⁷ For the mystery of sin is already working its way through the world; He who holds him back now will continue to suppress him only until He is pulled out of the way. ⁸ It is then that this rebellious one will be finally unleashed. But the Lord will slay him with the breath of His mouth; and with the splendor of His coming, He will bring him to his predetermined end. ⁹ Still the rebellious one arrives with all sorts of power, performing signs and fake miracles sanctioned by Satan; ¹⁰ he employs every manner of wicked deception to wile away those who are destined for eternal death because they reject the love of the truth that leads to salvation. ¹¹ Because of this, God sends a deceptive influence over them so they will wander from the truth and believe the lie. ¹² As a result, God will judge all of those who did not entrust themselves to the truth when it faced them but instead reveled in wickedness.

¹³ But this is not you, dearly beloved brothers and sisters of the Lord. We cannot help but thank God for you at all times, because from the beginning He handpicked you for salvation through the Spirit’s sanctifying work and your belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to this when we shared our good news with you. Now you can take part in the glory of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. ¹⁵ So, brothers and sisters, all you need to do now is stand firm and hold tight to the line of teachings we have passed on to you, whether in person or in a letter. ^16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus (the Anointed One Himself) and God our Father (who has loved us, comforted us eternally, and given us a good hope by His grace) bring comfort to your hearts and strengthen your wills to accomplish every good work and word.

3 Brothers and sisters, having shared all this, let me ask you to pray for us. Pray that this message of the Lord will spread quickly and receive the praise and respect it deserves from others as it has with you. ² Pray also that we would all be rescued from the snares of harmful, wicked people—after all, not all people are believing. ³ Still, the Lord is true to His promises; He will hold you up and guard you against the evil one. ⁴ We do not doubt the Lord’s intentions for you; we are confident that you are carrying out, and will continue to carry out, the commands we are sending your way. ⁵ May the Lord guide your hearts into God’s pure love and keep you headed straight into the strong and sure grip of the Anointed One.

⁶ For the sake of the church, brothers and sisters, we insist in the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed that you withdraw from any brother or sister who is out of order and unwilling to work, who is straying from the line of teaching we passed on to all of you. ⁷ You know how essential it is to imitate us in the way we live life. We were never undisciplined ⁸ nor did we take charity from anyone while we were with you. Instead, you saw how we worked very hard day and night so we wouldn’t be a burden to even one person in the community. ⁹ We had the right to depend on your help and hospitality, as you know; but we wanted to give you a model you could follow, to lay a path of footprints for you to walk in. ¹⁰ This is exactly why, while with you, we commanded you: “Anyone not willing to work shouldn’t get to eat!” ¹¹ You see, we are hearing that some folks in the community are out of step with our teaching; they are idle, not working, but really busy doing nothing—and yet still expect to be fed! ¹² If this is you or someone else in the community, we insist and urge you in the Lord Jesus the Anointed that you go to work quietly, earn your keep, put food on your own table, and supply your own necessities. ¹³ And to the rest of you, brothers and sisters, never grow tired of doing good.

¹⁴ If someone disregards the instructions of this letter, make a note of who it is and don’t have anything to do with that person so that this one may be shamed. ¹⁵ Don’t consider someone like this an enemy (he is an enemy only to himself) but warn him as if you were redirecting your own brother.

¹⁶ And now, dear friends, may the Lord of peace Himself grace you with peace always and in everything. May the Lord be present with all of you.

¹⁷ This final greeting is by me, Paul, written by my own hand. This is my signature, letting you know that this is a genuine letter from me, and so I write to you:

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