Parallel Bible results for "1 thessalonians 2"

1 Thessalonians 2

New Living Translation NLT

1 You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure.

2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition.

3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.

4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.

5 Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money!

6 As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.

7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children.

8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.

9 Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you.

10 You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers.

11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children.

12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.

13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.

14 And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews.

15 For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity

16 as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last.

17 Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again.

18 We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.

19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you!

20 Yes, you are our pride and joy.

Common English Bible CEB

1 As you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, our visit with you wasn't a waste of time.

2 On the contrary, we had the courage through God to speak God's good news in spite of a lot of opposition, although we had already suffered and were publicly insulted, as you know.

3 Our appeal isn't based on false information, the wrong motives, or deception.

4 Rather, we have been examined and approved by God to be trusted with the good news, and that's exactly how we speak. We aren't trying to please people, but we are trying to please God, who continues to examine our hearts.

5 As you know, we never used flattery, and God is our witness that we didn't have greedy motives.

6 We didn't ask for special treatment from people—not from you or from others—

7 although we could have thrown our weight around as Christ's apostles. Instead, we were gentle with you like a nursing mother caring for her own children.

8 We were glad to share not only God's good news with you but also our very lives because we cared for you so much.

9 You remember, brothers and sisters, our efforts and hard work. We preached God's good news to you, while we worked night and day so we wouldn't be a burden on any of you.

10 You and God are witnesses of how holy, just, and blameless we were toward you believers.

11 Likewise, you know how we treated each of you like a father treats his own children.

12 We appealed to you, encouraged you, and pleaded with you to live lives worthy of the God who is calling you into his own kingdom and glory.

13 We also thank God constantly for this: when you accepted God's word that you heard from us, you welcomed it for what it truly is. Instead of accepting it as a human message, you accepted it as God's message, and it continues to work in you who are believers.

14 Brothers and sisters, you became imitators of the churches of God in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. This was because you also suffered the same things from your own people as they did from the Jews.

15 They killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out. They don't please God, and they are hostile to the entire human race

16 when they try to stop us from speaking to the Gentiles so they can be saved. Their sins are constantly pushing the limit. God's wrath has caught up with them in the end.

17 Brothers and sisters, we were separated from you for a while physically but not in our hearts. We made every effort in our desire to see you again face-to-face.

18 We wanted to come to you—I, Paul, tried over and over again—and Satan stopped us.

19 What is our hope, joy, or crown that we can brag about in front of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Isn't it all of you?

20 You are our glory and joy!