1 Thessalonians 1-5

Complete Jewish Bible

1 From: Sha’ul, Sila and Timothy

To: The Messianic Community of the Thessalonians, united with God the Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah:

Grace to you and shalom.

² We always thank God for all of you, regularly mentioning you in our prayers, ³ calling to mind before God our Father what our Lord Yeshua the Messiah has brought about in you — how your trust produces action, your love hard work, and your hope perseverance. ⁴ We know, brothers, that God has loved and chosen you; ⁵ that the Good News we brought did not become for you a matter only of words, but also one of power, the Ruach HaKodesh and total conviction — just as you know how we lived for your sakes when we were with you. ⁶ You, indeed, became imitators of us and of the Lord; so that even though you were going through severe troubles, you received the Word with joy from the Ruach HaKodesh.

⁷ Thus you became a pattern for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia; ⁸ for the Lord’s message sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but everywhere your trust toward God became known. The result is that we don’t need to say anything; ⁹ since they themselves keep telling us about the welcome we received from you and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the true God, the one who is alive, ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son Yeshua, whom he raised from the dead, to appear from heaven and rescue us from the impending fury of God’s judgment.

2 You yourselves know, brothers, that our visit to you was not fruitless. ² On the contrary, although we had already suffered and been outraged in Philippi, as you know, we had the courage, united with our God, to tell you the Good News even under great pressure. ³ For the appeal we make does not flow from error or from impure motives, neither do we try to trick people. ⁴ Instead, since God has tested us and found us fit to be entrusted with Good News, this is how we speak: not to win favor with people but with God, who tests our hearts. ⁵ For, as you know, never did we employ flattering talk, nor did we put on a false front to mask greed — God is witness. ⁶ Nor did we seek human praise — either from you or from others. ⁷ As emissaries of the Messiah, we could have made our weight felt; but instead, we were gentle when we were with you, like a mother feeding and caring for her children. ⁸ We were so devoted to you that we were glad to share with you not only God’s Good News but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. ⁹ For you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship, how we worked night and day not to put a burden on any of you while we were proclaiming God’s Good News to you. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless our behavior was in the sight of you believers; ¹¹ for you know that we treated each one of you the way a father treats his children — ¹² we encouraged you and comforted you and appealed to you to lead lives worthy of God, who calls you into his Kingdom and glory.

¹³ Another reason we regularly thank God is that when you heard the Word of God from us, you received it not merely as a human word, but as it truly is, God’s Word, which is at work in you believers. ¹⁴ For, brothers, you came to be imitators of God’s congregations in Y’hudah that are united with the Messiah Yeshua — you suffered the same things from your countrymen as they did from the Judeans who ¹⁵ both killed the Lord Yeshua and the prophets, and chased us out too. They are displeasing God and opposing all mankind ¹⁶ by trying to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles, so that they may be delivered. Their object seems to be always to make their sins as bad as possible! But God’s fury will catch up with them in the end.

¹⁷ And as for us, brothers, when we were deprived of your company for a short time — in person, but not in thought — we missed you and tried hard to come and see you. ¹⁸ We wanted so much to come to you — I, Sha’ul, tried more than once — but the Adversary stopped us. ¹⁹ For when our Lord Yeshua returns, what will be our hope, our joy, our crown to boast about? Won’t it be you? ²⁰ Yes, you are our glory and our joy!

3 So when we could no longer stand it, we agreed to be left in Athens alone ² and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker for the Good News of the Messiah, to make you solid and encourage you in your trust; ³ so that none of you would let these persecutions unsettle him. For you yourselves know that these are bound to come to us; ⁴ even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were about to be persecuted; and indeed it has happened, as you know. ⁵ That is the reason why, after I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your trust. I was afraid that somehow the Tempter had tempted you, and our hard work had been wasted.

⁶ But now Timothy has come to us from you, bringing good news about your trust and love, and telling us that you remember us well and are always longing to see us, just as we long to see you. ⁷ Because of this, brothers, in spite of all our trouble and distress, we were comforted over you — because of your trust; ⁸ so that now we are alive; since you continue to stand fast, united with the Lord.

⁹ Indeed, how can we thank God enough for you or express to our God all the joy we feel because of you? ¹⁰ Night and day we pray as hard as we can that we will be able to see you face to face and supply whatever shortcomings there may be in your trust. ¹¹ May God our Father and our Lord Yeshua direct our way to you.

¹² And as for you, may the Lord make you increase and overflow in love toward each other, indeed, toward everyone, just as we do toward you; ¹³ so that he may give you the inner strength to be blameless, by reason of your holiness, when you stand before God our Father at the coming of our Lord Yeshua with all his angels.

4 Therefore, brothers, just as you learned from us how you had to live in order to please God, and just as you are living this way now, we ask you — indeed, united with the Lord Yeshua, we urge you — to keep doing so more and more. ² For you know what instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Yeshua. ³ What God wants is that you be holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality, ⁴ that each of you know how to manage his sexual impulses in a holy and honorable manner, ⁵ without giving in to lustful desires, like the pagans who don’t know God. ⁶ No one should wrong his brother in this matter or take advantage of him, because the Lord punishes all who do such things — as we have explained to you before at length. ⁷ For God did not call us to live an unclean life but a holy one. ⁸ Therefore, whoever rejects this teaching is rejecting not a man but God, indeed, the One who gives you the Ruach HaKodesh, which is his.

⁹ Concerning love for the brothers we do not need to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other; ¹⁰ and you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do it even more.

¹¹ Also, make it your ambition to live quietly, to mind your own business and to earn your living by your own efforts — just as we told you. ¹² Then your daily life will gain the respect of outsiders, and you will not be dependent on anyone.

¹³ Now, brothers, we want you to know the truth about those who have died; otherwise, you might become sad the way other people ¹⁴ do who have nothing to hope for. For since we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, we also believe that in the same way God, through Yeshua, will take with him those who have died. ¹⁵ When we say this, we base it on the Lord’s own word: we who remain alive when the Lord comes will certainly not take precedence over those who have died. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God’s shofar; those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise; ¹⁷ then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ So encourage each other with these words.

5 But you have no need to have anything written to you, brothers, about the times and dates when this will happen; ² because you yourselves well know that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ When people are saying, “Everything is so peaceful and secure,” then destruction will suddenly come upon them, the way labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there is no way they will escape.

⁴ But you, brothers, are not in the dark, so that the Day should take you by surprise like a thief; ⁵ for you are all people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We don’t belong to the night or to darkness, ⁶ so let’s not be asleep, like the rest are; on the contrary, let us stay alert and sober. ⁷ People who sleep, sleep at night; and people who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us stay sober, putting on trust and love as a breastplate and the hope of being delivered as a helmet.^{[a] 9} For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, ¹⁰ who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ¹¹ Therefore, encourage each other, and build each other up — just as you are doing.

¹² We ask you, brothers, to respect those who are working hard among you, those who are guiding you in the Lord and confronting you in order to help you change. ¹³ Treat them with the highest regard and love because of the work they are doing. Live at peace among yourselves; ¹⁴ but we urge you, brothers, to confront those who are lazy, your aim being to help them change, to encourage the timid, to assist the weak, and to be patient with everyone.

¹⁵ See that no one repays evil for evil; on the contrary, always try to do good to each other, indeed, to everyone.

¹⁶ Always be joyful. ¹⁷ Pray regularly. ¹⁸ In everything give thanks, for this is what God wants from you who are united with the Messiah Yeshua.

¹⁹ Don’t quench the Spirit, ²⁰ don’t despise inspired messages. ²¹ But do test everything — hold onto what is good, ²² but keep away from every form of evil.

²³ May the God of shalom make you completely holy — may your entire spirit, soul and body be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. ²⁴ The one calling you is faithful, and he will do it.

²⁵ Brothers, keep praying for us.

²⁶ Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

²⁷ I charge you in the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

²⁸ The grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you.