2 Thessalonians 1:4-8

1:4 As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring.

Encouragement in Persecution

1:5 This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, to make you worthy ¹  of the kingdom of God, for which in fact you are suffering. 1:6 For it is right ²  for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 1:7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed ³  from heaven with his mighty angels. ⁴  1:8 With flaming fire he will mete out ⁵  punishment on those who do not know God ⁶  and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

[1:5]  ¹ tn Grk “so that you may be made worthy.” The passive infinitive καταξιωθῆναι (kataxiwqhnai) has been translated as an active construction in English for stylistic reasons.

[1:6]  ² tn Grk “if in fact/since,” as a continuation of the preceding.

[1:7]  ³ tn Grk “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “angels of power,” translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “meting out,” as a description of Jesus Christ in v. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.

[1:8]  ⁶ sn An allusion to Jer 10:25, possibly also to Ps 79:6 and Isa 66:15.