HOLY BIBLE: 1 Thessalonians 1

1 Παῦλος καὶ Σιλουανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεσσαλονικέων ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ καὶ κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ: χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη. 2 Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ θεῷ πάντοτε περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν, μνείαν ποιούμενοι ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν ἡμῶν, ἀδιαλείπτως 3 μνημονεύοντες ὑμῶν τοῦ ἔργου τῆς πίστεως καὶ τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης καὶ τῆς ὑπομονῆς τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἡμῶν, 4 εἰδότες, ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν, 5 ὅτι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐγενήθη εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐν λόγῳ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν δυνάμει καὶ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ [ἐν] πληροφορίᾳ πολλῇ, καθὼς οἴδατε οἷοι ἐγενήθημεν [ἐν] ὑμῖν δι' ὑμᾶς. 6 καὶ ὑμεῖς μιμηταὶ ἡμῶν ἐγενήθητε καὶ τοῦ κυρίου, δεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον ἐν θλίψει πολλῇ μετὰ χαρᾶς πνεύματος ἁγίου, 7 ὥστε γενέσθαι ὑμᾶς τύπον πᾶσιν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ. 8 ἀφ' ὑμῶν γὰρ ἐξήχηται ὁ λόγος τοῦ κυρίου οὐ μόνον ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ, ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἐξελήλυθεν, ὥστε μὴ χρείαν ἔχειν ἡμᾶς λαλεῖν τι: 9 αὐτοὶ γὰρ περὶ ἡμῶν ἀπαγγέλλουσιν ὁποίαν εἴσοδον ἔσχομεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ πῶς ἐπεστρέψατε πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων δουλεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῷ, 10 καὶ ἀναμένειν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, Ἰησοῦν τὸν ῥυόμενον ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς ἐρχομένης. 1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church assembled at Thessalonica in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; 2 Grace be yours and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you continually in our prayers; 3 such memories we have of your active faith, your unwearied love, and that hope in our Lord Jesus Christ which gives you endurance, in the sight of him who is our God and Father. 4 Brethren, God loves you, and we are sure that he has made choice of you. 5 Our preaching to you did not depend upon mere argument; power was there, and the influence of the Holy Spirit, and an effect of full conviction; you can testify what we were to you and what we did for you. 6 And on your side, you followed our example, the Lord’s example. There was great persecution, and yet you welcomed our message, rejoicing in the Holy Spirit; 7 and now you have become a model to all the believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia. 8 Yes, the Lord’s message has echoed out from you, and not only in Macedonia and Achaia; your faith in God has overflowed everywhere,[1] so that we do not need to speak a word; 9 our friends[2] themselves tell the story of our journey, and how we first came among you. They describe how you have turned away from idolatry to the worship of God, so as to serve a living God, a God who really exists, 10 and to wait for the appearing of his Son from heaven, Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, our Saviour from the vengeance that is to come. 1 Paulus, et Silvanus, et Timotheus ecclesiæ Thessalonicensium in Deo Patre, et Domino Jesu Christo. 2 Gratia vobis, et pax.

Gratias agimus Deo semper pro omnibus vobis, memoriam vestri facientes in orationibus nostris sine intermissione,

3 memores operis fidei vestræ, et laboris, et caritatis, et sustinentiæ spei Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ante Deum et Patrem nostrum: 4 scientes, fratres dilecti a Deo, electionem vestram: 5 quia Evangelium nostrum non fuit ad vos in sermone tantum, sed et in virtute, et in Spiritu Sancto, et in plenitudine multa, sicut scitis quales fuerimus in vobis propter vos. 6 Et vos imitatores nostri facti estis, et Domini, excipientes verbum in tribulatione multa, cum gaudio Spiritus Sancti: 7 ita ut facti sitis forma omnibus credentibus in Macedonia, et in Achaia. 8 A vobis enim diffamatus est sermo Domini, non solum in Macedonia, et in Achaia, sed et in omni loco fides vestra, quæ est ad Deum, profecta est ita ut non sit nobis necesse quidquam loqui. 9 Ipsi enim de nobis annuntiant qualem introitum habuerimus ad vos: et quomodo conversi estis ad Deum a simulacris, servire Deo vivo, et vero, 10 et exspectare Filium ejus de cælis (quem suscitavit a mortuis) Jesum, qui eripuit nos ab ira ventura.

[1] ‘Everywhere’; that is, in Thessaly, and perhaps also in Epirus and Illyricum (Rom. 15.19); in continuing his journey towards ‘the coast’, St Paul may well have travelled in those parts before he reached Athens (Ac. 17.15).

[2] ‘Our friends’; in the original simply ‘they’, but evidently the Apostle has some definite persons in mind. It seems simplest to suppose that these were the Christians from Macedonia who escorted him on the journey which finished up at Athens (Ac. 17.15). It is usually understood to mean ‘people’ generally in Thessaly, etc.; but it is difficult to see how these persons should have heard the story of St Paul’s earlier travels, or why they should have been at pains to describe them to St Paul himself. It is more natural to suppose that it was friends from Thessalonica, travelling in St Paul’s company, who spread the story of his earlier preaching wherever they went. Two Thessalonians are St Paul’s travelling companions in Ac. 20.4.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd