1 Thessalonians Cross References - Goodspeed

¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; God bless you and give you peace. ² We always thank God for you all when we mention you in our prayers, ³ for we can never forget before our God and Father your energetic faith, your loving service, and your unwavering expectation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, brothers whom God so loves, that he has chosen you, ⁵ for our preaching of the good news did not come to you as mere words but with power and the holy Spirit and full conviction—you know the kind of life we lived among you for your good. ⁶ And you followed the example set by us and by the Lord, for though our message brought you great trouble, you welcomed it with joy inspired by the holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you set an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Greece. ⁸ For the Lord's message has rung out from you not only over Macedonia and Greece, but the story of your belief in God has gone everywhere, so that we never need to mention it. ⁹ For when people speak of us, they tell what a welcome you gave us, and how you turned from idols to God, to serve a true and living God, ¹⁰ and to wait for the coming from heaven of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, our deliverer from God's coming wrath.

²¹ She will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for it is he who is to save his people from their sins."

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming?

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to go with me, he must disregard himself and take his cross and follow me.

²⁹ Jesus said, "I tell you, there is no one who has given up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for me and for the good news, ³⁰ but will receive now in this life a hundred times as much in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands, though not without persecution—and in the coming age eternal life.

²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed their message by the signs that attended it.

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Symeon, an upright, devout man, who was living in expectation of the comforting of Israel, and under the influence of the holy Spirit.

⁷ So he would say to the crowds that came out there to be baptized by him, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to fly from the wrath that is coming?

²⁷ You must not work for the food that perishes, but for that which lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for God the Father has authorized him to do so." ²⁸ Then they said to him, "What must we do to carry out God's work?" ²⁹ Jesus answered them, "The work God has for you is to believe in the messenger that he has sent to you."

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again and said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not have to walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

¹³ You call me Teacher and Master, and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Master and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet too. ¹⁵ For I have set you an example, in order that you may do what I have done to you.

¹⁵ "If you really love me, you will observe my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you always. ¹⁷ It is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot obtain that Spirit, because it does not see it or recognize it; you recognize it because it stays with you and is within you. ¹⁸ I am not going to leave you friendless. I am coming back to you.

²¹ It is he who has my commands and observes them that really loves me, and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and show myself to him." ²² Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said to him, "Master, how does it happen that you are going to show yourself to us and not to the world?" ²³ Jesus answered, "Anyone who loves me will observe my teaching, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and live with him.

¹⁰ If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love.

⁷ Yet it is only the truth when I tell you that it is better for you that I should go away. For if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will bring conviction to the world about sin and uprightness and judgment; ⁹ about sin, as shown in their not believing in me; ¹⁰ about uprightness, as shown by my going away to the Father, where you can no longer see me; ¹¹ and about judgment, as shown by the condemnation of the evil genius of this world. ¹² I have much more to tell you, but you cannot take it in now, ¹³ but when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth, for he will not speak for himself but will tell what he hears, and will announce to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will do honor to me, for he will take what is mine and communicate it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has belongs to me. That is why I said that he will take what is mine and communicate it to you.

¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, are you more devoted to me than these others are?" Peter said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my lambs!" ¹⁶ Again Jesus said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you devoted to me?" He said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep!" ¹⁷ Jesus said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because the third time Jesus asked him if he loved him, and he answered, "Master, you know everything, you can see that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my sheep!

¹¹ and said to them, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into the sky? This very Jesus who has been caught up from you into heaven will come in just the way that you have seen him go up to heaven."

¹³ When they entered the city they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. There were Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alpheus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James.

²⁴ But God set aside the pain of death and raised him up, for death could not control him.

³³ So he has been exalted to God's right hand, and has received from his Father and poured over us the holy Spirit that had been promised, as you see and hear.

¹⁵ and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify.

¹⁹ So repent and turn to God, to have your sins wiped out, and happier times will come from the presence of the Lord,

²¹ Yet he must remain in heaven till the time for the universal reformation of which God told in ancient times by the lips of his holy prophets.

¹⁰ you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well.

³⁰ The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. ³¹ God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

⁴¹ So they went out from before the council, glad that they had been thought worthy to bear disgrace for the sake of Jesus,

³¹ So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace and became established. It lived in reverence for the Lord and, stimulated by the holy Spirit, it grew steadily in numbers.

³¹ and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your charities have been recalled to mind by God.

⁴⁰ But God raised him to life on the third day and caused him to be plainly seen, ⁴¹ not by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had designated beforehand, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen from the dead.

⁴⁴ Before Peter had finished saying these words, the holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to his message. ⁴⁵ The Jewish believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the holy Spirit had been showered upon the heathen too, ⁴⁶ for they heard them speaking in foreign languages and declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter said,

¹⁵ When I began to speak to them, the holy Spirit fell upon them just as it did upon us at the beginning, ¹⁶ and I remembered the saying of the Lord, 'John baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the holy Spirit.' ¹⁷ So if God had given them the same gift that we received when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, to be able to interfere with God?" ¹⁸ When they heard this, they made no further objection, but they gave honor to God, and said, "Then God has given even the heathen repentance and the hope of life!"

²¹ The Lord's hand was with them, and there were a great many who believed and turned to the Lord.

⁵² But the disciples continued to be full of joy and of the holy Spirit.

¹⁵ and shouting, "Friends, why are you doing this? We are only human beings like you, and we bring you the good news that you should turn from these follies to a living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that they contain.

²⁷ So we send Judas and Silas to you, to give you this same message by word of mouth.

³² Judas and Silas were themselves prophets, and gave the brothers much encouragement and strength by their words. ³³ After they had stayed some time, the brothers let them go, with a greeting to those who had sent them.

⁴⁰ But Paul selected Silas and set out, the brothers commending him to the Lord's favor.

¹ He went to Derbe and Lystra also. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy whose mother was a Jewish Christian while his father was a Greek, ² and who was highly thought of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wished to take this man on with him, and so on account of the Jews in that district he had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

¹² From there we went to Philippi, a Roman garrison town, and the principal place in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed for some days.

¹⁴ One of our hearers was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods, from the town of Thyatira. She was a believer in God, and the Lord touched her heart, and led her to accept Paul's teaching.

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hopes of profits were gone, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them to the public square, to the authorities,

²⁵ But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

²⁹ Then he called for lights and rushed in, and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.

¹ After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they reached Thessalonica, where the Jews had a synagogue. ² Paul went to it as he was accustomed to do, and for three Sabbaths he discussed the Scriptures with them, ³ explaining them and showing that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "Jesus," he said, "of whom I am telling you, is the Christ!" ⁴ He convinced some of them, and they joined Paul and Silas, along with a great many devout Greeks and a number of the principal women. ⁵ This offended the Jews and they gathered some unprincipled loafers, formed a mob and started a riot in the town. They attacked Jason's house, to find them and bring them out among the people.

⁵ This offended the Jews and they gathered some unprincipled loafers, formed a mob and started a riot in the town. They attacked Jason's house, to find them and bring them out among the people. ⁶ As they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "The men who have made trouble all over the world have come here too,

⁶ As they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the town magistrates, shouting, "The men who have made trouble all over the world have come here too, ⁷ and Jason has taken them in. They all disobey the emperor's decrees, and claim that someone else called Jesus is king."

⁷ and Jason has taken them in. They all disobey the emperor's decrees, and claim that someone else called Jesus is king." ⁸ The crowd and the magistrates were very much excited at hearing this,

⁸ The crowd and the magistrates were very much excited at hearing this, ⁹ and they put Jason and the others under bonds before they let them go.

⁹ and they put Jason and the others under bonds before they let them go. ¹⁰ The brothers sent Paul and Silas away immediately, in the course of the following night, to Berea. On arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ The Jews there were more high-minded than those at Thessalonica, and received the message with great eagerness and studied the Scriptures every day, to find out whether it was true.

¹³ But when the Jews at Thessalonica found out that God's message had been delivered at Berea by Paul, they came there too, to excite and stir up the populace. ¹⁴ Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed behind. ¹⁵ The men who went with Paul took him all the way to Athens, and came back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him as soon as possible.

³¹ since he has fixed a day on which he will justly judge the world through a man whom he has appointed, and whom he has guaranteed to all men by raising him from the dead."

¹ After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.

⁵ By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

²² He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed on for a while in Asia.

⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus, from Asia.

¹⁸ When they came, he said to them, "You know well enough how I lived among you all the time from the first day I set foot in Asia, ¹⁹ and how I served the Lord most humbly and with tears, through all the trials that I encountered because of the plots of the Jews.

³³ I have never coveted anyone's gold or silver or clothes. ³⁴ You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions. ³⁵ I showed you in every way that by hard work like that we must help those who are weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, 'It makes one happier to give than to be given to.' "

¹⁷ I will save you from your people and from the heathen, to whom I will send you ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's control to God, so that they may have their sins forgiven and have a place among those who are consecrated through faith in me.'

⁴ and decisively declared Son of God in his holiness of spirit, by being raised from the dead—Jesus Christ our Lord,

⁷ to all those in Rome whom God loves, who are called to be his people; God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace. ⁸ First I thank my God through Jesus Christ about you all, because the news of your faith is spreading all over the world.

⁸ First I thank my God through Jesus Christ about you all, because the news of your faith is spreading all over the world. ⁹ As God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in spreading the good news of his Son, I never fail to mention you when I pray,

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the good news, for it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who has faith, of the Jew first and then of the Greek.

⁷ Those who by persistently doing right strive for glory, honor, and immortality will have eternal life,

¹⁶ on that Day when, as the good news I preach teaches, God through Christ Jesus judges what men have kept secret,

²⁵ who was given up to death to make up for our offenses, and raised to life to make us upright.

³ More than that, we ought to glory in our troubles, for we know that trouble produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance, character, and character, hope, ⁵ and hope will not disappoint us. For, through the holy Spirit that has been given us, God's love has flooded our hearts.

⁹ So if we have already been made upright by his death, it is far more certain that through him we shall be saved from God's anger! ¹⁰ If, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, it is far more certain that now that we are reconciled we shall be saved through sharing in his life!

¹⁷ But, thank God! though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from your hearts to the standard of teaching that you received,

¹⁶ The Spirit itself testifies with our spirits that we are God's children, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also; heirs of God, and fellow-heirs with Christ, if we really share his sufferings in order to share his glory too. ¹⁸ For I consider what we suffer now not to be compared with the glory that is to burst upon us.

²³ More than that, we ourselves, though we have in the Spirit a foretaste of the future, groan to ourselves as we wait to be declared God's sons, through the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ It was in this hope that we were saved. But a hope that can be seen is not a hope, for who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But when we hope for something that we do not see, we wait persistently for it.

²⁸ We know that in everything God works with those who love him, whom he has called in accordance with his purpose, to bring about what is good. ²⁹ For those whom he had marked out from the first he predestined to be made like his Son, so that he should be the eldest of many brothers; ³⁰ and those whom he has predestined he calls, and those whom he calls he makes upright, and those whom he makes upright he glorifies.

³⁴ who can condemn them? Christ Jesus who died, or rather who was raised from the dead, is at God's right hand, and actually pleads for us.

²⁵ Just as he says in Hosea, "I will call a people that was not mine, my people, And her who was not beloved, my beloved, ²⁶ And in the very place where they were told, 'You are no people of mine,' They shall be called sons of the living God."

¹⁴ But how are they to call upon him if they have not believed in him? And how are they to believe him if they have never heard him? And how are they to hear unless someone preaches to them? ¹⁵ And how are men to preach unless they are sent to do it? As the Scripture says, "How welcome is the coming of those who bring good news!" ¹⁶ It is true, they have not all accepted the good news, for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what we have told?" ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing what is told, and that hearing comes through the message about Christ. ¹⁸ But I ask, had they no opportunity to hear it? On the contrary, "Their voices have gone all over the earth, And their words to the ends of the world."

⁵ So too at the present time there is a remnant selected by God's mercy. ⁶ But if it is by his mercy, it is not for anything they have done. Otherwise, his mercy would not be mercy at all. ⁷ What follows? Israel failed to get what it sought, but those whom God selected got it.

¹² Be happy in your hope, steadfast in time of trouble, persistent in prayer.

⁴ For everything that was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that by being steadfast and through the encouragement the Scriptures give, we might hold our hope fast.

¹³ May God, the source of hope, fill you with perfect happiness and peace in your faith, so that you may have overflowing hope through the power of the holy Spirit.

¹⁸ For I will venture to speak only of what Christ has accomplished through me in winning the heathen to obedience, by word and action, ¹⁹ by the force of signs and marvels, and by the power of the holy Spirit, with the result that I have completed the preaching of the good news of Christ all the way from Jerusalem around to Illyricum.

⁶ Remember me to Mary, who has worked so hard for you.

¹⁹ Everyone has heard of your obedience, and I am very happy about you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and guileless about what is bad.

²⁶ and at the command of the eternal God made known through the writings of the prophets to all the heathen, to lead them to obedience and faith—

² to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated by union with Christ Jesus, and called as God's people, like all those anywhere who call on the name of Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours;

⁴ I am always thanking God about you, for the blessing God has given you through Christ Jesus.

⁷ and there is no gift that you lack even while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to reappear,

²⁴ but to those whom God has called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is God's power and God's wisdom.

² for I resolved, while I was with you, to forget everything but Jesus Christ and his crucifixion. ³ For my part, I came among you in weakness and with a great deal of fear and trembling, ⁴ and my teaching and message were not put in plausible, philosophical language, but they were attended with convincing spiritual power, ⁵ so that your faith might rest, not on human philosophy, but on the power of God.

⁶ I did the planting, Apollos the watering, but it was God who made the plants grow.

¹⁶ Do you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit makes its home in you?

⁹ For it seems to me, God has exhibited us apostles at the very end of the procession, like the men condemned to die in the arena. For we have become a spectacle to the whole universe, angels as well as men. ¹⁰ We are made fools of, for the sake of Christ, while you are men of sense, through being united with him. We are weak, you are strong. You are distinguished, we are despised. ¹¹ To this day we have gone hungry, thirsty, and ill-clad; we have had rough usage, we have had no home, ¹² we have worked with our hands for a living. When people abuse us, we bless them, when they persecute us, we put up with it, ¹³ when they slander us, we try to conciliate them. We have come to be like the scum of the earth, the dregs of the world, and we are so now.

¹⁶ So I urge you, follow my example.

²⁰ For the reign of God is not a matter of words but of power.

¹⁹ Though I am free from anyone's control, I have made myself everyone's slave, so as to win over all the more. ²⁰ To the Jews I have become like a Jew, to win Jews over; to men under the Law I have become like a man under the Law, though I am not myself under the Law, so as to win over those who are under the Law. ²¹ To those who have no law I have become like a man without any law—though I am not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ—so as to win over those who are without any law. ²² To the overscrupulous I have become overscrupulous, so as to win the overscrupulous; I have become everything to everybody, so as by all means to save some of them. ²³ And I do it all for the sake of the good news, so that I may share in its blessings along with the rest.

³³ just as I for my part try to please everyone in all I do, not aiming at my own advantage, but at that of people generally, in order that they may be saved.

¹ You must follow my example in this, as I am following Christ's.

² You know that when you were heathen you would stray off, as impulse directed, to idols that could not speak.

⁷ Each one is given his spiritual illumination for the common good. ⁸ One man receives through the Spirit the power to speak wisely, another, by the same Spirit, receives the power to express knowledge, ⁹ another, from his union with the same Spirit receives faith, another, by one and the same Spirit, the ability to cure the sick, ¹⁰ another, the working of wonders, another, inspiration in preaching, another, the power of distinguishing the true Spirit from false ones, another, various ecstatic utterances, and another, the ability to explain them. ¹¹ These are all produced by one and the same Spirit, and apportioned to each of us just as the Spirit chooses.

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not envious or boastful. It does not put on airs. ⁵ It is not rude. It does not insist on its rights. It does not become angry. It is not resentful. ⁶ It is not happy over injustice, it is only happy with truth. ⁷ It will bear anything, believe anything, hope for anything, endure anything.

¹³ So faith, hope, and love endure. These are the great three, and the greatest of them is love.

³⁶ Did God's message start from you Corinthians? Or are you the only people it has reached?

⁴ that he was buried, that on the third day he was raised from the dead, as the Scriptures foretold, ⁵ and that he was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve. ⁶ After that he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, although some of them have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, ⁸ and finally he was seen by me also, as though I were born at the wrong time. ⁹ For I am the least important of the apostles, and am not fit to be called an apostle, because I once persecuted God's church. ¹⁰ But by God's favor I have become what I am, and the favor he showed me has not gone for nothing, but I have worked harder than any of them, although it was not really I but the favor God showed me. ¹¹ But whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. ¹² Now if what we preach about Christ is that he was raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ was not raised, ¹⁴ and if Christ was not raised, there is nothing in our message; there is nothing in our faith either, ¹⁵ and we are found guilty of misrepresenting God, for we have testified that he raised Christ, when he did not do it, if it is true that the dead are never raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are never raised, Christ was not raised; ¹⁷ and if Christ was not raised, your faith is a delusion; you are still under the control of your sins. ¹⁸ Yes, and those who have fallen asleep in trust in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If we have centered our hopes on Christ in this life, and that is all, we are the most pitiable people in the world. ²⁰ But the truth is, Christ was raised from the dead, the first to be raised of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since it was through a man that we have death, it is through a man also that we have the raising of the dead.

⁵⁸ So my dear brothers, be firm and unmoved, and always devote yourselves to the Lord's work, for you know that through the Lord your labor is not thrown away.

¹ Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, and all God's people all over Greece;

¹⁹ The Son of God, Christ Jesus, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus, Timothy, and I, you have not found wavering between "Yes" and "No." With him it has always been "Yes,"

¹⁷ For I am no peddler of God's message, like most men, but like a man of sincerity, commissioned by God and in his presence, in union with Christ I utter his message.

⁴ Such is the confidence that I have through Christ in my relations to God.

⁶ and he has qualified me to serve him in the interests of a new agreement, not in writing but of spirit. For what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life.

¹ So since by the mercy of God I am engaged in this service, I never lose heart. ² I disown disgraceful, underhanded ways. I refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's message. It is by the open statement of the truth that I would commend myself to every human conscience in the sight of God. ³ If the meaning of my preaching of the good news is veiled at all, it is so only in the case of those who are on the way to destruction.

¹⁴ It is Christ's love that controls me, for I have become convinced that as one has died for all, all have died, ¹⁵ and he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again.

³ I put no obstacles in anyone's path, so that no fault may be found with my work. ⁴ On the contrary, as a servant of God I try in every way to commend myself to them, through my great endurance in troubles, difficulties, hardships, ⁵ beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger, ⁶ through my purity of life, my knowledge, my patience, my kindness, my holiness of spirit, my genuine love, ⁷ the truth of my teaching, and the power of God; with the weapons of uprightness for the right hand and the left, ⁸ in honor or dishonor, in praise or blame; considered an imposter, when I am true, ⁹ obscure, when I am well known, at the point of death, yet here I am alive, punished, but not dead yet, ¹⁰ pained, when I am always glad, poor, when I make many others rich, penniless, when really I own everything.

¹⁶ What bargain can a temple of God make with idols? For we are a temple of the living God, just as God said, "I will live in them and move among them, And I will be their God and they will be my people." ¹⁷ Therefore, "Come out from them, And separate from them, says the Lord, And touch nothing that is unclean. Then I will welcome you,

¹ I must tell you, brothers, how the favor of God has been shown in the churches of Macedonia, ² for in spite of a severe ordeal of trouble, their extraordinary gladness, combined with their extreme poverty, has overflowed in a wealth of generosity.

⁵ They did far more than I hoped, for first in obedience to God's will, they gave themselves to the Lord, and to me.

⁷ Just as you excel in everything else—faith, expression, knowledge, perfect devotion, and the love we have awakened in you—you must excel in this generous undertaking too. ⁸ I do not mean this as a command. I only want to test the genuineness of your love by the devotion of others. ⁹ You know how gracious the Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was rich, he became poor for your sake, in order that by his poverty you might become rich.

² for I know how willing you are to help in it; I boast of you for it to the people in Macedonia, telling them that Greece has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has been a stimulus to most of them.

⁴ for the weapons I use are not earthly ones, but divinely strong for destroying fortresses. ⁵ I destroy arguments and every obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, and I take captive every thought and make it obey Christ,

⁹ And when I was with you and wanted money, I did not burden any of you, for when the brothers came from Macedonia they supplied what I needed. So I kept myself, as I shall always do, from being a burden to you in any way. ¹⁰ By the truth of Christ that is in me, this boast of mine shall not be silenced anywhere in Greece.

² and all the brothers who are here with me, to the churches of Galatia;

⁴ who to save us from the present wicked world gave himself for our sins at the will of our God and Father.

⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven preach to you good news that contradicts the good news we have preached to you, a curse upon him! ⁹ We have said it before, and I repeat it now—if anyone is preaching to you good news that contradicts the good news you have already received, a curse upon him! ¹⁰ Is that appealing to men's weaknesses, or to God? Is that trying to suit men? If I were still doing that, I would be no slave of Christ. ¹¹ For I tell you plainly, brothers, that the good news that I preached is not a human affair. ¹² I did not receive it from any man, and I was not taught it, but it came to me through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

²² I was still personally unknown to the Christian churches of Judea;

² It was in obedience to a revelation that I went. I laid before them the good news that I preach to the heathen, presenting it privately to the leaders, for fear my efforts might be or might have been futile.

² This is all I want to ask you: Did you receive the Spirit through doing what the Law commands, or through believing the message you heard? ³ Are you so senseless? Did you begin with the Spirit only to end now with the flesh? ⁴ Have you gone through so much, all for nothing?—if it really is for nothing! ⁵ When he supplies you with the Spirit and works wonders among you, is it because you do what the Law commands, or because you believe the message you heard?

¹³ Christ ransomed us from the Law's curse by taking our curse upon himself (for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who is hung on a tree")

⁸ But formerly, in your ignorance of God, you were slaves to gods that really did not exist, ⁹ but now that you know God, or rather have come to be known by him, how can you turn back to the old, crude notions, so poor and weak, and wish to become slaves to them again?

⁵ But we, by the Spirit, through faith wait for the uprightness we hope for. ⁶ For in union with Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor the want of it counts for anything, but only faith acting through love.

¹³ For you, brothers, have been called to freedom; only do not make your freedom an excuse for the physical, but in love be slaves to one another.

²² But what the Spirit produces is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²² But what the Spirit produces is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. There is no law against such things!

⁹ Let us not get tired of doing right, for at the proper time we shall reap, if we do not give out.

² God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.

⁴ Through him he chose us out before the creation of the world, to be consecrated and above reproach in his sight in love.

¹⁵ This is why I, for my part, since I have heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus that prevails among you and among all God's people, ¹⁶ never cease to thank God for you when I mention you in my prayers. ¹⁷ The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, grant you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation through the knowledge of himself, ¹⁸ enlightening the eyes of your mind so that you may know what the hope is to which he calls you, and how gloriously rich his inheritance is among God's people, ¹⁹ and how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe; like the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted in raising Christ from the dead, and seating him at his right hand in heaven,

⁴ But God is so rich in mercy that because of the great love he had for us, ⁵ he made us, dead as we were through our offenses, live again with the Christ. It is by his mercy that you have been saved.

¹⁰ For he has made us, creating us through our union with Christ Jesus for the life of goodness which God had predestined us to live.

²⁰ To him who by the exertion of his power within us can do unutterably more than all we ask or imagine,

¹ So follow God's example, like his dear children,

¹ Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the devoted adherents of Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the superintendents and assistants;

³ I never think of you without thanking my God, ⁴ and always whenever I pray for you all I do it with joy,

⁶ For I am certain that he who has begun the good work in you will finish it for the Day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ And I have a right to feel in this way about you all, because both when I am in prison and when I am defending and vindicating our right to preach the good news, I have you in my heart as all sharing that privilege with me.

¹³ For it is God who in his good will is at work in your hearts, inspiring your will and your action.

¹⁷ Follow my example, brothers, all of you, and notice those who follow the pattern we have set you.

²⁰ But the commonwealth to which we belong is in heaven, and from it we are eagerly awaiting the coming of a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹ Do the things that you learned, received, and heard from me, and that you saw me do. Then God who gives peace will be with you.

¹ Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy,

³ We never pray for you without thanking God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁸ He is the head of the church, it is his body; for he is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead—that he might come to stand first in everything.

² that your hearts may be cheered. I want you to be united by love, and to have all the benefit of assured knowledge in coming to know Christ—

¹² As persons chosen by God, then, consecrated and dearly loved, you must clothe yourselves with tenderness of heart, kindness, humility, gentleness, forbearance.

³ for we can never forget before our God and Father your energetic faith, your loving service, and your unwavering expectation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵ for our preaching of the good news did not come to you as mere words but with power and the holy Spirit and full conviction—you know the kind of life we lived among you for your good. ⁶ And you followed the example set by us and by the Lord, for though our message brought you great trouble, you welcomed it with joy inspired by the holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you set an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Greece. ⁸ For the Lord's message has rung out from you not only over Macedonia and Greece, but the story of your belief in God has gone everywhere, so that we never need to mention it.

¹ You know yourselves, brothers, that our visit to you was far from ineffectual.

¹ You know yourselves, brothers, that our visit to you was far from ineffectual. ² We had just been through ill-treatment and insults at Philippi, as you remember, but, in the face of great opposition, we took courage by the help of our God, and told you God's good news. ³ For our appeal does not rest on a delusion, nor spring from any impure motive; there is no fraud about it. ⁴ God has thought us fit to be intrusted with the good news, and so we tell it, making no effort to please men, but to please God, who tests our hearts. ⁵ We never used flattery, as you know, or found pretexts for making money, as God is our witness. ⁶ We never sought praise from men, either from you or anyone else, though as Christ's apostles we might have stood on our dignity. ⁷ We were children when we were with you; we were like a mother nursing her children.

⁷ We were children when we were with you; we were like a mother nursing her children. ⁸ That was the kind of affection we had for you, which made us ready to share with you not only God's good news but our own lives too, because you were so dear to us. ⁹ You remember, brothers, how we toiled and labored. We worked night and day, when we preached the good news to you, in order not to be a burden to any of you. ¹⁰ You will testify, and God will, how pure and upright and irreproachable our relations were with you who believed. ¹¹ You know how, like a father with his children, we used to urge, encourage, and implore you

¹³ We for our part constantly thank God for another reason too—because when you received God's message from our lips, you welcomed it not as the message of men but as the message of God, as it really is, which does its work in the hearts of you believers.

¹³ We for our part constantly thank God for another reason too—because when you received God's message from our lips, you welcomed it not as the message of men but as the message of God, as it really is, which does its work in the hearts of you believers. ¹⁴ For you, brothers, followed the example of God's churches in Judea that are in union with Christ Jesus, for you in your turn had to bear the same ill-treatment from your neighbors as they did from the Jews,

¹⁶ try to keep us from speaking to the heathen so that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has overtaken them at last!

² and I sent my brother Timothy, a servant of God in preaching the good news of the Christ, to strengthen you in your faith ³ and encourage you not to be led astray, any of you, in all these troubles. You know yourselves that this is what we must expect, ⁴ for when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were going to have trouble, and it came true, as you know.

⁶ But now that Timothy has just come back to me from you, and brought me good news of your faith and love, and told me how kindly you think of me and that you long to see me just as much as I long to see you,

¹⁰ and you are doing it to all the brothers all over Macedonia. But we do entreat you, brothers, to surpass yourselves

¹⁶ For the Lord himself, at the summons, when the archangel calls and God's trumpet sounds, will come down from heaven, and first those who died in union with Christ will rise; ¹⁷ then those of us who are still living will be caught up with them on clouds into the air to meet the Lord, and so we shall be with the Lord forever.

⁹ For God has not destined us for his wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;

³ We always have to thank God for you, brothers, as it is right that we should, because your faith is growing so wonderfully and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. ⁴ As a result, we ourselves speak of you with pride in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in the face of all the persecutions and troubles you are having to endure.

¹¹ To this end we always pray for you too, asking our God to find you worthy of the call he has given you, and by his power to fulfil every desire you may have for goodness, and every effort of your faith,

¹³ We always have to thank God for you, brothers whom the Lord so loves, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved through consecration by the Spirit and through faith in the truth, ¹⁴ and called you to it through our preaching of the good news, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹ Now, brothers, pray for us, that the Lord's message may spread rapidly and gloriously as it did among you,

⁷ For you know yourselves what you must do to follow my example, for I was not idle when I was with you; ⁸ I did not eat anybody's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor I worked night and day, in order not to be a burden to any of you. ⁹ Not that I had not a right to my support, but to give you in my own conduct an example to imitate.

⁹ Not that I had not a right to my support, but to give you in my own conduct an example to imitate.

² to Timothy, my true child in faith; God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord bless you and be merciful to you, and give you peace.

³ It is right to do this, and it pleases God our Savior,

¹⁰ It is for this that we toil and struggle, for we have fixed our hopes on the living God, the Savior of all men, especially those who believe.

¹² Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set those who believe an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

¹² Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set those who believe an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, preaching, and teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, that was given you with predictions of your work, when the elders laid their hands upon you. ¹⁵ Cultivate these things, devote yourself to them, so that everyone will see your progress. ¹⁶ Look out for yourself and for your teaching. Persevere in your work, for if you do you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.

² to my dear child Timothy; God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord bless you and be merciful to you and give you peace. ³ I thank God, whom I, like my forefathers, worship with a clear conscience, when I remember you, as I constantly do, in my prayers. ⁴ When I remember the tears you shed I long night and day to see you again, and have the perfect happiness ⁵ of being reminded of your genuine faith, a faith that was seen first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice; I am sure it is in you also.

⁹ He saved us and called us to a consecrated life, not for anything we had done, but of his own accord and out of the mercy which he bestowed upon us ages ago through Christ Jesus, ¹⁰ which has now been revealed through the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has taken away the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the good news,

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ as risen from the dead, and descended from David, as I preach the good news,

¹⁰ For that reason I am ready to submit to anything for the sake of those whom God has chosen, so that they too may gain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and brings eternal glory.

¹ I charge you in the sight of God and Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom,

⁷ In every way set them an example of good conduct yourself. Teach with sincerity and seriousness,

¹³ while we wait for the fulfilment of our blessed hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus.

⁴ But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior were revealed, ⁵ he saved us, not for any upright actions we had performed, but from his own mercy, through the bath of regeneration and renewal by the holy Spirit,

⁵ he saved us, not for any upright actions we had performed, but from his own mercy, through the bath of regeneration and renewal by the holy Spirit, ⁶ which he has poured out upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

⁴ I never mention you in my prayers without thanking my God ⁵ for what I hear of the love and faith you have in the Lord Jesus and all his people, ⁶ and I pray that through coming to know every good thing about us as Christians they may effectually share your faith. ⁷ I have been greatly pleased and encouraged over your love, for the hearts of God's people have been cheered, my brother, by you.

³ how can we escape if we pay no attention to such a salvation as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and it was guaranteed to us by those who heard him, ⁴ while God himself corroborated their testimony with signs, portents, and various wonders, and by impartations of the holy Spirit when he saw fit.

¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to be admitted to that Rest, so that none of us may fail through such disobedience as theirs.

¹⁰ For God is not so unjust as to forget the work you have done and the love you have showed for his cause, in giving help to your fellow-Christians as you still do. ¹¹ But we want each of you to exhibit this same earnestness to the very end with regard to your confidence in your hope,

¹¹ But we want each of you to exhibit this same earnestness to the very end with regard to your confidence in your hope,

¹⁵ And so after waiting patiently, he received what God had promised him.

¹⁸ so that by these two unalterable things, which make it impossible for God to break his promise, we who have taken refuge with him may be greatly encouraged to seize upon the hope that is offered to us. ¹⁹ This hope is like an anchor for our souls. It reaches up secure and strong into the sanctuary behind the heavenly curtain,

²⁸ so the Christ too, after being offered in sacrifice once for all to carry away the sins of many, will appear again but without any burden of sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him to come and save them.

²² let us draw near to God in sincerity of heart and with perfect faith, with our hearts cleansed from the sense of sin, and our bodies washed with clean water.

²⁷ but only the dreadful prospect of judgment and that blazing indignation which is to devour God's enemies.

³⁴ For you showed sympathy with those who were in prison, and you put up with it cheerfully when your property was taken from you, for you knew that you had in yourselves a greater possession that was lasting.

³⁶ but you will need endurance if you are to carry out God's will and receive the blessing he has promised.

⁷ Faith led Noah, when he was warned by God of things no one then saw, in obedience to the warning to build an ark in which to save his family, and by such faith he condemned the world, and came to possess that uprightness which faith produces. ⁸ Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going.

¹⁷ Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son,

²⁴ Faith made Moses, when he was grown up, refuse to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ for he preferred sharing the hardships of God's people to a short-lived enjoyment of sin, ²⁶ and thought such contempt as the Christ endured was truer wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the coming reward. ²⁷ Faith made him leave Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he saw him who is unseen. ²⁸ Faith made him institute the Passover and splash the blood upon the door-posts, to keep the angel that destroyed the firstborn from touching them. ²⁹ Faith enabled them to cross the Red Sea as though it were dry land, although the Egyptians when they tried to follow them across it were drowned. ³⁰ Faith made the walls of Jericho fall, after they had marched around them each day for seven days. ³¹ Faith saved Rahab the prostitute from being destroyed with those who disobeyed God, because she had given a friendly welcome to the scouts. ³² And why should I go on? For my time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, ³³ who by their faith conquered kingdoms, attained uprightness, received new promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ put out furious fires, escaped death by the sword, found strength in their time of weakness, proved mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

²² But you have come up to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless angels,

²¹ fit you by every blessing to do his will, and through Jesus Christ carry out in us what will please him. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²³ You must know that our brother Timothy has been released from prison. If he comes here soon, we will see you together.

³ for you know that the testing of your faith leads to steadfastness, ⁴ and steadfastness must have full play, so that you may be fully and perfectly developed without any defects.

¹⁶ Do not be misled, my dear brothers. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect present is from heaven, and comes down from the Father of the heavenly lights, about whom there is no variation of changing shadow. ¹⁸ Of his own accord he brought us into being through the message of truth, so that we might be a kind of first-fruits among his creatures.

¹⁷ So faith by itself, if it has no good deeds to show, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone may say, "You have faith, and I good deeds." Show me your faith without any good deeds, and I will show you my faith by my good deeds. ¹⁹ Do you believe in one God? Very well! So do the demons, and they shudder. ²⁰ But do you want proof, my senseless friend, that faith without good deeds amounts to nothing? ²¹ Was not our forefather Abraham made upright for his good deeds, for offering his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that in his case faith and good deeds worked together; faith found its highest expression in good deeds, ²³ and so the Scripture came true that says, "Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as uprightness, and he was called God's friend." ²⁴ You see a man is made upright by his good deeds and not simply by having faith. ²⁵ Was not even Rahab the prostitute made upright for her good deeds, in entertaining the scouts and sending them off by a different road? ²⁶ Just as the body without the spirit is dead, faith is dead without good deeds.

⁷ So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer has to wait for the precious crop from the ground, and be patient with it, until it gets the early and the late rains. ⁸ You must have patience too; you must keep up your courage, for the coming of the Lord is close at hand.

² whom God the Father has chosen and predestined by the consecration of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ, and to be sprinkled with his blood; God bless you and give you perfect peace. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has caused us to be born anew to a life of hope through Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead,

⁶ Rejoice over this, although just now perhaps distressed by various trials;

⁸ You must love him, though you have not seen him, but since you believe in him though you do not now see him, rejoice with triumphant, unutterable joy

¹² It was disclosed to them that they were serving not themselves but you in dealing with these things, which have now been told you by those who through the holy Spirit sent from heaven brought you the good news; things into which angels long to look!

²¹ for the sake of you who through him trust in God, who raised him from the dead and showed him honor; and so your faith and hope rest on God.

²¹ That is the life to which you have been called, for Christ himself suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow his footsteps.

⁴ yours must be the inner beauty of character, the imperishable attraction of a quiet and gentle spirit, which has great value in the sight of God.

¹³ And who is there that can hurt you if you are eager to do what is right?

¹⁸ For Christ himself died once for all, for sin, an upright man for unrighteous men, to bring us to God, and was physically put to death, but he was made alive in the Spirit.

³ and not as tyrannizing over those in your charge but proving models for the flock;

¹² By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I think him, I have written you this short letter to encourage you and bear my testimony that this is what the true mercy of God means. Stand fast in it.

¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, make all the greater efforts to make God's call and choice of you certain. For if you have these qualities, you will never stumble,

¹⁹ So we have the message of the prophets more fully guaranteed. Please pay attention to that message as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

¹² while you await and hasten the coming of the Day of God, which will cause the heavens to burn up and dissolve and the heavenly bodies to blaze and melt.

¹⁴ Therefore, dear friends, while waiting for this, make every effort to be found by him unstained, irreproachable, and at peace.

³ it is what we have seen and heard that we announce to you also, so that you may share our fellowship, for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ,

³ And everyone who possesses this hope in him tries to make himself as pure as he is.

¹⁸ Dear children, let us love not with words or lips only but in reality and truth.

²¹ Dear friends, if our consciences do not condemn us, we approach God with confidence,

³ For loving God means obeying his commands, and his commands are not burdensome,

¹¹ Dear friend, do not follow bad examples, but good ones. The man who does right is a child of God; the man who does wrong has never seen God. ¹² Everybody testifies to Demetrius; the truth itself does; I testify to him too, and you know that my testimony to him is true.

¹ Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James, to those who have been called, who are dear to God the Father and have been kept through union with Jesus Christ;

⁷ See! He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see him, even the men who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will lament over him. So it is to be, Amen.

¹⁸ the living one. I was dead, yet here I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys of death and the underworld.

² I know what you have done; your hard work and your endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, and that you have tested those who claimed to be apostles when they were not, and have found them to be impostors. ³ You show endurance; you have undergone much for my sake, and you have not grown weary. ⁴ But I hold it against you that you do not love as you did at first.

¹⁹ I know the things you do, your love and faithfulness and helpfulness and endurance, and I know that you are now doing more than you did at first.

¹⁰ Because you have kept in mind the message of what I endured, I also will keep you safe in the time of testing that is going to come upon the whole world, to test the inhabitants of the earth.

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying in midair, with eternal good news to announce to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

² in whose idolatry the kings of the earth have joined, and with the wine of whose idolatry the inhabitants of the earth have been intoxicated."

¹⁷ "Come," say the Spirit and the bride. Let everyone who hears this say, "Come!" Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wants it come and take without cost living water.