2 Thessalonians 1

1-2 To the Church of Thessalonica

From Paul, Silas, and Timothy, in the name of God the Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ:

Grace to you, and peace.

3-5 The constant growth in your faith, and your love for one another, are the subject of our prayers every day. We even boast about you - especially about your steadfastness in the face of so much persecution. May your faith under trial prove your worthiness, for God will judge you in righteousness; and not only that, but when the world sees your immovable faith, your suffering actually becomes evidence of His righteousness.

6-9 Have no doubt: Those who sow affliction upon you will reap affliction from God; and we who suffer will reap the glories of the Kingdom of God. For when Christ is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, He will mete out justice in fiery flames to all those who refuse to accept Him and violate the commandments of His Gospel. They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, cut off for all eternity from the face of the Lord.

10 And on that day, those who have believed our testimony will be revealed as His saints, to marvel at His power and delight in His glory.

11-12 We pray on your behalf for this every day, asking God to hold you worthy of the calling you have received. May He, by His power, fulfill your every worthwhile desire and complete your works of faith, so that the name of Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to His grace.

1 Paul and Silas and Timothy to the church of Thessalonica, in God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Grace to you and peace, in God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We are obliged always to give thanks to God about you, brothers and sisters, which is fitting, for your faith grows greatly and your love for one another increases in each one of you. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God, regarding your steadfastness and faith during all the persecution against you, and the afflictions you endure, 5 which is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, for you thereby may be proven worthy of the Kingdom of God, as you suffer for it.

6 Since it is righteous in the sight of God that He repay those who afflict you with affliction, 7 and provide relief to you the afflicted, and to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven, with His mighty angels 8 in flames of fire, He will mete out punishment to those who do not know God and do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His power,10 when he comes to be glorified by his saints and adored by those who have believed -- those who on that day have believed our testimony to you.

11 We pray about this on your behalf constantly, that God may hold you worthy of our calling and fulfill every good desire and work of faith with power, 12 so that the name of Jesus might be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Paul and Silas and Timothy to the church of Thessalonica in god father of us and lord Jesus Christ.

2 Grace to you and peace from God father of us and lord Jesus Christ.

3 To give thanks we owe [a]By extension are obligated, alt. ought (this modifies the infinitive). to god always concerning you, brothers, as fitting is, for grows exceedingly the faith of you and increases the love of one each of all of you for one another,

4 therefore us ourselves about you to boast in the churches of god regarding the steadfastness of you and faith in [b]“In” could be a marker of time, during, or circumstance, despite, or both. all the persecutions of you and the afflictions in which you are enduring,

5 evidence of the righteous judgment of god in the [c]The literalism goes overboard here, because in the before an infinitive is a standard idiom - but what does it mean? It could indicate a result, i.e., they will be considered worthy as a result of God's righteousness, the choice made by most translations; it could indicate causation, i.e. God will be shown righteous by considering them worthy; or it could be explanatory, i.e. they are being worthy in order to be considered worthy. All three are perfectly plausible. to be considered worthy you of the kingdom of god, on account of which indeed you suffer,

6 since righteous with [d]Idiom, in the sight of. god to repay to the afflicting you with affliction

7 and to you the being afflicted relief with us, in the revelation of the lord Jesus from heaven with angels mighty of him

8 in fire of flame, giving punishment to the not knowing God and to the not obeying the gospel of the lord of us Jesus,

9 who [e][e] Lit. whoever, plural, giving the sense of multiple persons of undetermined identity. penalty will pay destruction eternal away from face of lord and from the glory of the power of him,

10 whenever he might come to be glorified by [f]Or in. the saints of him and to be marveled-at by all the having-believed, because was believed the testimony of us to you, in the day that.

11 And in which we pray always about you, that you might hold worthy of the calling the god [g]“God” is the subject of hold worthy and fulfill. of us and might fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith in power,

12 so that is glorified the name of the lord of us Jesus in you, and you in him, according to the grace of the god of us and of lord Jesus Christ.

Notes:

v3 – [a] By extension are obligated, alt. ought (this modifies the infinitive).
v4 – [b] “In” could be a marker of time, during, or circumstance, despite, or both.
v5 - [c] Lit. in the, idiomatic before an infinitive to show purpose, result, or explanation. This is probably a result clause but it is grammatically ambiguous.
v6 - [d] Idiom, in the sight of.
v9 – [e] Lit. whoever, plural, giving the sense of multiple persons of undetermined identity.
v10 – [f] Or in.
v.11 – [g] “God” is the subject of hold worthy and fulfill.

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Quickie Key (Text)

1. Italicized words are implied but not spelled out in the Greek.

2. Words are kept in original order, with rare exceptions.

3. Omissions are not noted and do not affect meaning.

4. Hyphenated terms represent either a single Greek word that must be translated as a phrase in English, or an adjectival phrase that has been moved in front of the noun it modifies (the not-knowing-god Gentiles) or both (the being-left-behind living).

Key (Footnotes)

1. or = indicates an alternate, equally sound translation.
2. alt. = alternately. A reasonable alternate translation, but the one given is slightly more sound.
3. poss. = possibly. A possible translation, but not as sound as the one used.
4. lit. = literal or literally. Used in cases where idiomatic English is used in the text, because it is simply too difficult to glean the meaning from direct translation.
5. by extension = indicates a meaning that is correct and fully understood in Greek and will be found as a meaning in a Greek-Engish lexicon, but was not the original meaning of the word. For example, the original Greek word unseen had been extended to mean unexpected by the time the NT was written.
6. by transfer = identical to “by extension”, but with a greater jump in meaning. Often an abstraction from a more concrete term.
7. most lit. = an older, more literal meaning; used when a Greek extension or transfer is given in the text. The opposite of “by extension/transfer,” i.e. the extended meaning is given in the text.
8. idiom = English meaning of a difficult Greek idiom. I.e. “not not” in Greek means “definitely not” in English. We translate the raw Greek “not not” and indicate the idiomatic meaning by footnote.
9. per ______ = an authority has another primary meaning; generally BDAG, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (3d ed.)
10. fyi = for your information; something that the reader might find interesting, not directly relevant to this translation.