1 Thessalonians 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

From Paul, Silas, and Timothy — to the gathered community in Thessalonica who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus, The One: Generous favor and peace to you.

We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you every time we pray.

We never stop remembering how your trust produces action, how your love drives you to work hard, and how your confident expectation in our Lord Jesus, The One, keeps you standing firm — all of this right in front of our God and Father.

Brothers and sisters loved by God — we know he's chosen you.

Because when we brought you the good news, it wasn't just words. It came with power, with the Breath of God, and with total certainty. And you saw how we lived among you — everything we did was for your sake.

You became people who followed our example — and the Lord's example — by embracing the message in the middle of intense hardship, with a joy that came from the Breath of God.

The result? You became an example for every believer in Macedonia and Achaia.

Starting from you, the Lord's message rang out — and not just in Macedonia and Achaia. Everywhere we go, people already know about your trust in God. We don't even need to say anything about it.

People themselves tell us about the kind of welcome you gave us when we arrived, and how you turned away from idols to serve the living, real God.

And now you're waiting for his Son to come back from the heavens — Jesus, the one God raised from the dead — who rescues us from the coming fury.