1 Thessalonians 1:8-9

1:8 For from you the message of the Lord ¹  has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, ²  so that we do not need to say anything. 1:9 For people everywhere ³  report how you welcomed us ⁴  and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

1 Thessalonians 2:9

2:9 For you recall, brothers and sisters, ⁵  our toil and drudgery: By working night and day so as not to impose a burden on any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

1 Thessalonians 2:14

2:14 For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, ⁶  of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews,

1 Thessalonians 4:15

4:15 For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, ⁷  that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.

¹ tn Or “the word of the Lord.”

² tn Grk “your faith in God has gone out.”

³ tn Grk “they themselves,” referring to people in the places just mentioned.

⁴ tn Grk “what sort of entrance we had to you” (an idiom for how someone is received).

⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

⁹ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.