1 Thessalonians 1:8

1:8 For from you the message of the Lord¹ has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread,² so that we do not need to say anything.

1 Thessalonians 2:4

2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts.

1 Thessalonians 2:9

2:9 For you recall, brothers and sisters,³ our toil and drudgery: By working night and day so as not to impose a burden on any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

1 Thessalonians 2:16

2:16 because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins,⁴ but wrath⁵ has come upon them completely.⁶

1 Thessalonians 3:5

3:5 So⁷ when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

1 Thessalonians 4:10

4:10 And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters⁸ in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,⁹

1 Thessalonians 4:13

The Lord Returns for Believers

4:13 Now we do not want you to be uninformed,¹⁰ brothers and sisters,¹¹ about those who are asleep,¹² so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:17

4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left,¹³ will be suddenly caught up¹⁴ together¹⁵ with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

¹tn Or “the word of the Lord.”

sn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Here the phrase has been translated “the message of the Lord” because of the focus upon the spread of the gospel evident in the passage.

²tn Grk “your faith in God has gone out.”

³tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

⁴tn Grk “to fill up their sins always.”

⁵tc The Western text (D F G latt) adds τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) to ὀργή (orgh) to read “the wrath of God,” in emulation of the normal Pauline idiom (cf., e.g., Rom 1:18; Eph 5:6; Col 3:6) and, most likely, to clarify which wrath is in view (since ὀργή is articular).

tn Or “the wrath,” possibly referring back to the mention of wrath in 1:10.

⁶tn Or “at last.”

⁷tn Or “for this reason.”

⁸tn Grk “brothers”; this applies to the second occurrence as well. See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

⁹sn To do so more and more. See 1 Thess 4:1.

¹⁰tn Grk “ignorant.”

¹¹tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

¹²tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature emphasizes the hope of resurrection: Believers will one day “wake up” out of death. Here the term refers to death, but “sleep” was used in the translation to emphasize the metaphorical, rhetorical usage of the term. This word also occurs in vv. 14 and 15.

¹³tc The words οἱ περιλειπόμενοι (Joi perileipomenoi, “[the ones] who are left”) are lacking in F G {0226^vid} ar b as well as a few fathers, but the rest of the textual tradition has the words. Most likely, the Western mss omitted the words because of perceived redundancy with οἱ ζῶντες (Joi zwnte", “[the ones] who are alive”).

¹⁴tn Or “snatched up.” The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb “suddenly” to make this implicit notion clear.

¹⁵tn Or “simultaneously,” but this meaning does not fit as well in the parallel in 5:10.