Greetings

1From Paul, Silas,1.1 Silas: The Greek text has “Silvanus”, which is another form of the name Silas. and Timothy.1.1: Ac 17.1.

To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

The Lord's return will bring justice

3My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time. 4That's why we boast about you to all God's churches. We tell them how patient you are and how you keep on having faith, even though you are going through a lot of trouble and suffering.

5All this shows that God judges fairly and that he is making you fit to share in his kingdom for which you are suffering. 6It is only right for God to punish everyone who is causing you trouble, 7but he will give you relief from your troubles. He will do the same for us, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with his powerful angels 8and with a flaming fire.

Our Lord Jesus will punish anyone who doesn't know God and won't obey his message. 9Their punishment will be eternal destruction, and they will be kept far from the presence of our Lord and his glorious strength.1.9: Is 2.10. 10This will happen on that day when the Lord returns to be praised and honoured by all who have faith in him and belong to him. This includes you, because you believed what we said.

11God chose you, and we keep praying that God will make you worthy of being his people. We pray for God's power to help you do all the good things that you hope to do and that your faith makes you want to do. 12Then, because God and our Lord Jesus Christ are so kind, you will bring honour to the name of our Lord Jesus, and he will bring honour to you.