1 Thessalonians 1

¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers,

³ remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.

⁴ We know, brothers loved by God, that you are chosen,

⁵ and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake.

⁶ You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,

⁷ so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.

⁸ For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we need not say anything.

⁹ For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,

¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Around 1 Thessalonians 1

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

1 Thessalonians 1 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

This may be the earliest letter in the New Testament, and it begins with gratitude. Paul, Silvanus and Timothy write to the assembly of the Thessalonians. They always give thanks for them, remembering “your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”.

They know the Thessalonians are chosen, because the Good News came to them not in word only but in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. And the Thessalonians became imitators of Paul and of the Lord, receiving the word in much affliction, with joy.

Their story had spread. They became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and Achaia, and the word of the Lord sounded out from them. People everywhere report how they “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God”, and how they “wait for his Son from heaven”, whom God raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Background

Paul writes with Silvanus and Timothy to the young church in Thessalonica, which Paul had visited (see Acts 17). It is usually dated around AD 50 or 51, and many scholars count it among the earliest writings of the New Testament. Tradition holds that Paul wrote it. Christians read the coming of the Son from heaven in different ways, and the later chapters of the letter say more about it.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 17 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes