1 ThessaloniansChapter 2
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1Brothers and sisters, you know for yourselves that our visit to you was not wasted. 2You know that we had already suffered in Philippi. People there treated us shamefully. Many people were strongly against us. But our God made us brave. So we told you God's good news. 3When we ask you to believe, we are not lying to you. We don't have wrong reasons. We are not trying to trick you. 4Instead, God has approved us and trusted us with the good news. So we speak to please God, not people. God tests our hearts. 5You know we never used words to flatter you. We never used a cover to hide greed. God knows this is true! 6We did not try to get praise from you or from anyone else. As apostles of Christ, we had the right to ask for it. 7Instead, we were gentle with you. We were like a mother taking care of her nursing children. 8We cared about you so much. We were glad to share God's good news with you. But we also shared our own lives with you. You had become so dear to us. 9Brothers and sisters, you surely remember how hard we worked. We worked night and day so we would not be a burden to anyone. We did this while we preached God's good news to you. 10You saw how we lived among you believers. And God saw it too. We were holy and did what was right. No one could blame us. 11You know that we treated each of you like a father treats his own children. 12We encouraged you and comforted you. We urged you to live in a way that is worthy of God. He calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 13We keep thanking God for this. You heard God's word from us, and you took it in. You did not take it as just a human message. You took it as what it really is, God's word. And it is now at work in you who believe. 14Brothers and sisters, you became like the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. Your own people made you suffer. In the same way, the Jews made those churches suffer. 15Those Jews killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets. They drove us out too. They do not please God, and they are against all people. 16They try to stop us from telling the Gentiles how they can be saved. So they keep piling up their sins to the very top. God's full anger has come on them at last. 17Brothers and sisters, we were torn away from you for a short time. We were away in person, but not in heart. We wanted to see you face to face even more. 18We wanted to come to you. I, Paul, tried again and again. But Satan stopped us. 19Who is our hope, our joy, and the crown we will be proud of? It is you! You will be our crown when our Lord Jesus comes and we stand before him. 20Yes, you are our glory and our joy.