1From Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church at Thessalonica united with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Good will and peace are yours!

2We always thank God for all of you as we remember you in our prayers. 3In the presence of our God and Father, we never forget that your faith is active, your love is working hard, and your confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ is enduring. 4Brothers and sisters, we never forget this because we know that God loves you and has chosen you. 5We know this because the Good News we brought came to you not only with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with complete certainty. In the same way you know what kind of people we were while we were with you and the good things we did for you. 6You imitated us and the Lord. In spite of a lot of suffering, you welcomed God's word with the kind of joy that the Holy Spirit gives. 7This way, you became a model for all the believers in the province of Macedonia and Greece. 8From you the Lord's word has spread out not only through the province of Macedonia and Greece but also to people everywhere who have heard about your faith in God. We don't need to say a thing about it. 9They talk about how you welcomed us when we arrived. They even report how you turned away from false gods to serve the real, living God 10and to wait for his Son to come from heaven. His Son is Jesus, whom he brought back to life. Jesus is the one who rescues us from [God's] coming anger.