Paul wants to return to Thessalonica

17 Our friends, we have had to go away from you for a short time. But we continue to think about you. We have wanted more and more to see you again. 18 Yes, we really wanted to visit you. Certainly, I, Paul, tried many times to come to you, but Satan stopped us.

19 You are the people who make us very happy! We know that you will continue to trust God. So, when our Lord Jesus returns, we will be proud of you. You will be like a crown that he gives us when we stand in front of him. 20 You show the great results of our work. Yes, it is because of you that we are very happy.

1 Thessalonians 3

Timothy has brought news from Thessalonica to Paul

1-2 After a long time, we could not be patient any longer. So we sent our friend Timothy to come to you. We ourselves decided to stay here in Athens. Timothy serves God with us here. He tells people the good news about Christ. We sent him to you so that he could help you to trust Christ more and more. 3 You are suffering very much. We did not want anyone among you to turn away from Christ because of that. You already know that we who are believers must receive these kinds of troubles.

4 Even when we were there with you, we told you that people would cause us to suffer. Now it has really happened, so you know that it is true. 5 That is why I had to send Timothy to come to you. I could not wait to hear news about you any longer. I wanted to know whether you still trusted Christ. I was afraid that Satan had deceived you. If he had made you turn away from Christ, our work among you would have had no results.