Greeting

1 ^(A)Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

^3 (B)We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,^[a] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore ^(C)we ourselves boast about you ^(D)in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith ^(E)in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ's Coming

⁵ This is ^(F)evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be ^(G)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— ⁶ since indeed God considers it ^(H)just ^(I)to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to grant ^(J)relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when ^(K)the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven ^(L)with his mighty angels ^8 (M)in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ^(N)who do not know God and on those who ^(O)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will suffer the punishment of ^(P)eternal destruction, ^(Q)away from^[b] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ^10 (R)when he comes on ^(S)that day ^(T)to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^(U)testimony to you ^(V)was believed. ¹¹ To this end we ^(W)always pray for you, that our God may ^(X)make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^(Y)work of faith by his power, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^(Z)may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Man of Lawlessness

2 Now concerning ^(AA)the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(AB)being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,^{[c] 2} not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^(AC)alarmed, either ^(AD)by a spirit or a ^(AE)spoken word, or ^(AF)a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^(AG)the day of the Lord has come. ^3 (AH)Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^(AI)unless the rebellion comes first, and ^(AJ)the man of lawlessness^[d] is revealed, ^(AK)the son of destruction,^{[e] 4} who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(AL)proclaiming himself to be God. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷ For ^(AM)the mystery of lawlessness ^(AN)is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸ And then ^(AO)the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^(AP)will kill with ^(AQ)the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^(AR)the appearance of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^(AS)with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with all wicked deception for ^(AT)those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ Therefore ^(AU)God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^(AV)what is false, ¹² in order that all may be condemned ^(AW)who did not believe the truth but ^(AX)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

¹³ But ^(AY)we ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^(AZ)brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^(BA)as the firstfruits^{[f] (BB)}to be saved, ^(BC)through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through ^(BD)our gospel, ^(BE)so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers, ^(BF)stand firm and hold to ^(BG)the traditions that you were taught by us, either ^(BH)by our spoken word or by ^(BI)our letter.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, ^(BJ)who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good ^(BK)hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and ^(BL)establish them in every good work and word.

Pray for Us

3 Finally, brothers,^{[g] (BM)}pray for us, that ^(BN)the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,^[h] as happened among you, ² and ^(BO)that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For ^(BP)not all have faith. ³ But ^(BQ)the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and ^(BR)guard you against ^(BS)the evil one.^{[i] 4} And ^(BT)we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. ⁵ May the Lord ^(BU)direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

⁶ Now we command you, brothers, ^(BV)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(BW)that you keep away from any ^(BX)brother ^(BY)who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know ^(BZ)how you ought to imitate us, because ^(CA)we were not idle when we were with you, ⁸ nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but ^(CB)with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ It was ^(CC)not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves ^(CD)an example to imitate. ¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: ^(CE)If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. ¹¹ For we hear that some among you ^(CF)walk in idleness, not busy at work, but ^(CG)busybodies. ¹² Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.^[j]

¹³ As for you, brothers, ^(CH)do not grow weary in doing good. ¹⁴ If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and ^(CI)have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. ^15 (CJ)Do not regard him as an enemy, but ^(CK)warn him as a brother.

Benediction

¹⁶ Now may ^(CL)the Lord of peace himself ^(CM)give you peace at all times in every way. ^(CN)The Lord be with you all.

¹⁷ I, Paul, write ^(CO)this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. ^18 (CP)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

¹² But when Gallio was ^(A)proconsul of Achaia, ^(B)the Jews^[a] made a united attack on Paul and ^(C)brought him before the tribunal, ¹³ saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to ^(D)the law.” ¹⁴ But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious ^(E)crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. ¹⁵ But ^(F)since it is a matter of questions about words and names and ^(G)your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” ¹⁶ And he drove them from the tribunal. ¹⁷ And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul Returns to Antioch

¹⁸ After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of ^(H)the brothers^[b] and set sail for Syria, and with him ^(I)Priscilla and Aquila. At ^(J)Cenchreae ^(K)he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. ¹⁹ And they came to ^(L)Ephesus, and he left them there, but ^(M)he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. ²¹ But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you ^(N)if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²² When he had landed at Caesarea, he ^(O)went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. ²³ After spending some time there, he departed and ^(P)went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, ^(Q)strengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

²⁴ Now a Jew named ^(R)Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, ^(S)competent in the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in ^(T)the way of the Lord. And ^(U)being fervent in spirit,^[c] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only ^(V)the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when ^(W)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him ^(X)the way of God more accurately. ²⁷ And when he wished to cross to ^(Y)Achaia, ^(Z)the brothers encouraged him and ^(AA)wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, ^(AB)he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures ^(AC)that the Christ was Jesus.

Paul in Ephesus

19 And it happened that while ^(AD)Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^(AE)through the inland^[d] country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ² And he said to them, ^(AF)“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, ^(AG)we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, ^(AH)“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^(AI)John's baptism.” ⁴ And Paul said, ^(AJ)“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(AK)to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, ^(AL)they were baptized in^[e] the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And ^(AM)when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and ^(AN)they began speaking in tongues and ^(AO)prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ And ^(AP)he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them ^(AQ)about the kingdom of God. ^9 (AR)But when some became stubborn and ^(AS)continued in unbelief, speaking evil of ^(AT)the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.^{[f] 10} This continued for ^(AU)two years, so that ^(AV)all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Sons of Sceva

¹¹ And ^(AW)God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, ^12 (AX)so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and ^(AY)the evil spirits came out of them. ¹³ Then some of the itinerant Jewish ^(AZ)exorcists ^(BA)undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ^(BB)“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered them, ^(BC)“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all^[g] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and ^(BD)the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸ Also many of those who were now believers came, ^(BE)confessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹ And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord ^(BF)continued to increase and prevail mightily.

A Riot at Ephesus

²¹ Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit ^(BG)to pass through ^(BH)Macedonia and Achaia and ^(BI)go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, ^(BJ)I must also see Rome.” ²² And having sent into Macedonia two of ^(BK)his helpers, ^(BL)Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia ^(BM)for a while.