3
1-2 I did not forget you, I was feeling worried about you. I kept wanting to go to see you. At last I sent Timothy to you. Timothy is one of us, he is God's messenger, he takes Jesus Christ’s message to people. I told him, “I will stay here in Athens. You go back to see the Christians in what's-its-name, in Thessalonica.” I sent him to you to persuade you strongly, so that you will believe in the Boss Jesus with firm/steady hearts and without fear all the time. 3-4 Others will put you in a bad way and they might frighten you, they might make you go in a different direction from following the Boss Jesus. When we were staying with you we told you they would do like that to you. Now you know we told you a true word. 5 Yes, I was thinking about you with worry. I was thinking, “Perhaps Satan has tempted them, as a result of that maybe they stopped following the Boss Jesus. Maybe we told them God's word for nothing.” That is what I was thinking. I wanted to know about you. That is why I sent Timothy to you to look and see. 6 Now Timothy has returned to me. He told me you are still trusting God and you are caring for each other well. You remember us kindly and you want to see us. Like that we also want to see you. 7-8 Yes, Timothy told me the message, he made me very happy. Here others were putting me in a bad way/making it hard for me. They made me upset. Now I know about you, you are still following the Boss Jesus. Because of that I am happy for you. 10 We talk to God about you constantly, we tell him we want to see you again, we will teach you (more) about God. In that way you will really know about him. 11 For that very reason we ask God our Father and Jesus our Boss, “Perhaps you might take us safely to return to the people in Thessalonica.” 12 We ask the Boss Jesus for you, you will really take good care of one another with love. We really love you, in the same sort of way you should with intensity love and take care of each other and other people also. 13 We want you to stay strong in your spirits, and to really stay without evil. In that way we ask the Boss Jesus to make you strong. When he returns from the sky with his angels you will be without badness in the presence of God our Father.