The New Testament

The New Testament › 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 1

1Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

2We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers, 3continually remembering your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father. 4We know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our good news came to you not in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know what we were like among you for your sake. 6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word amid great affliction with joy from the Holy Spirit, 7so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8For the word of the Lord has sounded out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone out everywhere, so that we have no need to say anything. 9For they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God as slaves 10and to wait for his Son from the heavens, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Translation notes 5

1:1 — Assembly and greeting. “Assembly” names the community, not a building. The Greek base ends the greeting with “peace”; some witnesses add “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1:2–3 — Faith, love, and hope. The compact expressions connect faith with work, love with labor, and hope with endurance. “Continually” can instead be attached to the preceding mention of prayer. The same three qualities return as armor in 5:8.

1:4 — Brothers. This family address includes the women of the community. The same applies to the letter's later addresses to “brothers.” God's choosing is recognized here through the reception of the message described in verses 5–6.

1:5 — Deep conviction. Or “full assurance.” The expression most naturally concerns the messengers' confident proclamation, though the hearers' response is closely connected with it.

1:9–10 — Service and expectation. “As slaves” makes the ownership language of the Greek verb visible. The coming wrath is divine judgment; the verse does not specify its timetable or the manner of rescue.