1 Thessalonians 2:18

2:18 For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again) ¹  but Satan thwarted us.

1 Thessalonians 5:9

5:9 For God did not destine us for wrath ²  but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹ tn Or “several times”; Grk, “both once and twice.” The literal expression “once and twice” is frequently used as a Greek idiom referring to an indefinite low number, but more than once (“several times”); see L&N 60.70.

² sn God did not destine us for wrath. In context this refers to the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth in the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:2-4).