1 Thessalonians 1
1 From: Paul and Silvanus and Timothy
To: The Assembly of Thessalonians with Father God and Lord Jesus Christ.
Good fortunea and peace to you!
2 We always give thanks to God about all of you while constantly making mention of you in our prayers. 3 We remember your faithful work, loving and troublesome labor,b and endurance in hope sourced inc our Lord Jesus Christ in view of our God and Father. 4 We have seen, Family loved by God, your selection 5 since our triumphant message did not exist for you in speech only but also with powerful actiond and with the Sacred Life-breath and with complete conviction (just like how we were toward you when we were among you). 6 And you became imitators of us and of the lord, taking upe the message with the joy of the Life-breath during terrible hardship. 7 As a result, you have become a model for all the faithful in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 You see, the Lord’s message has resounded from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place where your faithfulness to God is spoken. As a result, we do not have any need to speak 9 since they bring news about us, what type of arrival we had with you and how you turned toward God from idols to serve the God who is alive and realf 10 and to wait for his Son who is from the heavens, whom he woke up from among the dead, Jesus who is rescuingg us from the coming anger.
FOOTNOTES:
a Traditionally, ‘grace’
b Literally, ‘labor of love.’ Love is describing the character of the people doing the labor. The word here is not just labor in the sense of physical work but it emphasizes the intensity and costliness of the work.
c Most literally, ‘hope of.’ It’s trying to communicate something of where the hope is coming from or what it’s grounded in.
d Literally, ‘power’ or ‘ability.’ In other places, such as the Gospels, this word has sometimes traditionally been translated as ‘miracle.’
e Literally, the word is ‘take with the hand’ and can be used for receiving, welcoming, picking up, or a number of different meanings based on context.
f Traditionally, ‘true’
g This word is rhoumai, not sozo. It has a sense of pulling close to oneself, pulling out of danger.