1 THESSALONIANS

1 Thessalonians 1 From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that God will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
²We thank God for you and always mention you in our prayers. Each time we pray, ³we tell God our Father about your faith and loving work and about your firm hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Thessalonians' Faith and Example

⁴My dear friends, God loves you, and we know he has chosen you to be his people. ⁵When we told you the good news, it was with the power and assurance that come from the Holy Spirit, and not simply with words. You knew what kind of people we were and how we helped you. ⁶So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example and the example of the Lord. You suffered, but the Holy Spirit made you glad.
⁷You became an example for all the Lord's followers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸And because of you, the Lord's message has spread everywhere in those regions. Now the news of your faith in God is known all over the world, and we don't have to say a thing about it. ⁹Everyone is talking about how you welcomed us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. ¹⁰They also tell how you are waiting for his Son Jesus to come from heaven. God raised him from death, and on the day of judgment Jesus will save us from God's anger.

Peace at Last

Isaiah 11 Like a branch that sprouts from a stump,
someone from David's family will someday be king.
²The Spirit of the LORD will be with him
to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight.
He will be powerful, and he will know
and honor the LORD.
³His greatest joy will be to obey the LORD.

This king won't judge by appearances or listen to rumors.
⁴The poor and the needy will be treated with fairness
and with justice.
His word will be law everywhere in the land,
and criminals will be put to death.
⁵Honesty and fairness will be his royal robes.

⁶Leopards will lie down with young goats,
and wolves will rest with lambs.
Calves and lions will eat together
and be cared for by little children.
⁷Cows and bears will share the same pasture;
their young will rest side by side.
Lions and oxen will both eat straw.

⁸Little children will play near snake holes.
They will stick their hands into dens of poisonous snakes
and never be hurt.

⁹Nothing harmful will take place
on the LORD's holy mountain.
Just as water fills the sea,
the land will be filled with people
who know and honor the LORD.

God's People Will Come Back Home

¹⁰The time is coming when one of David's descendants will be the signal for the people of all nations to come together. They will follow his advice, and his own nation will become famous.
¹¹When that day comes, the Lord will again reach out his mighty arm and bring home his people who have survived in Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the land along the coast. ¹²He will give a signal to the nations, and he will bring together the refugees from Judah and Israel, who have been scattered all over the earth. ¹³Israel will stop being jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be the enemy of Israel. ¹⁴Instead, they will get together and attack the Philistines in the west. Then they will defeat the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites in the east. They will rule those people and take from them whatever they want.
¹⁵The Lord will dry up the arm of the Red Sea near Egypt, and he will send a scorching wind to divide the Euphrates River into seven streams that anyone can step across. ¹⁶Then for his people who survive, there will be a good road from Assyria, just as there was a good road for their ancestors when they left Egypt.

A Song of Praise

Isaiah 12 At that time you will say, "I thank you, LORD!
You were angry with me, but you stopped being angry
and gave me comfort.
²I trust you to save me, LORD God, and I won't be afraid.
My power and my strength come from you,
and you have saved me."

³With great joy, you people will get water
from the well of victory.
⁴At that time you will say, "Our LORD, we are thankful,
and we worship only you.
We will tell the nations how glorious you are
and what you have done.
⁵Because of your wonderful deeds we will sing your praises
everywhere on earth."

⁶Sing, people of Zion! Celebrate the greatness
of the holy LORD of Israel.
God is here to help you.

Babylon Will Be Punished

Isaiah 13 This is the message that I was given about Babylon:
²From high on a barren hill give a signal, shout the orders,
and point the way to enter the gates
of Babylon's proud rulers.
³The LORD has commanded his very best warriors
and his proud heroes to show how angry he is.

⁴Listen to the noisy crowds on the mountains!
Kingdoms and nations are joining forces.
The LORD All-Powerful is bringing together
an army for battle.
⁵From a distant land the LORD is coming
fierce and furious--
he brings his weapons to destroy the earth.

⁶Cry and weep! The day is coming
when the mighty LORD will bring destruction.
^*7All people will be terrified. Hands will grow limp;
courage will melt away.
⁸Everyone will tremble with pain like a woman giving birth;
they will stare at each other with horror on their faces.

There Will Be No Mercy

⁹I, the LORD, will show no mercy or pity
when that time comes.
In my anger I will destroy the earth
and every sinner who lives on it.
¹⁰Light will disappear from the stars in the sky;
the dawning sun will turn dark,
and the moon will lose its glow.

¹¹I will punish this evil world and its people
because of their sins.
I will crush the horrible pride of those who are cruel.
¹²Survivors will be harder to find than the purest gold.
¹³I, the LORD All-Powerful, am terribly angry--
I will make the sky tremble and the earth shake loose.

¹⁴Everyone will run to their homelands,
just as hunted deer run,
and sheep scatter when they have no shepherd.
¹⁵Those who are captured will be killed by a sword.
¹⁶They will see their children beaten against rocks,
their homes robbed, and their wives abused.

¹⁷The Medes can't be bought off with silver or gold,
and I'm sending them to attack Babylonia.
¹⁸Their arrows will slaughter the young men;
no pity will be shown to babies and children.

The LORD Will Destroy Babylon

¹⁹The city of Babylon is glorious and powerful,
the pride of the nation.
But it will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
after I, the Lord, destroyed them.
²⁰No one will live in Babylon.
Even nomads won't camp nearby,
and shepherds won't let their sheep rest there.
²¹Only desert creatures, hoot owls, and ostriches
will live in its ruins, and goats will leap about.
²²Hyenas and wolves will howl from Babylon's fortresses
and beautiful palaces.
Its time is almost up!

Psalm 112
God Blesses His Worshipers

¹Shout praises to the LORD! The LORD blesses everyone
who worships him and gladly obeys his teachings.
²Their descendants will have great power in the land,
because the LORD blesses all who do right.
³They will get rich and prosper
and will always be remembered for their fairness.
⁴They will be so kind and merciful and good,
that they will be a light in the dark
for others who do the right thing.

⁵Life will go well for those who freely lend
and are honest in business.
⁶They won't ever be troubled,
and the kind things they do will never be forgotten.
⁷Bad news won't bother them;
they have decided to trust the LORD.
⁸They are dependable and not afraid,
and they will live to see their enemies defeated.
⁹They will always be remembered and greatly praised,
because they were kind and freely gave to the poor.
¹⁰When evil people see this,
they angrily bite their tongues and disappear.
They will never get what they really want.