American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are bound to give thanks to God always to you, brethren, even as it is meet, for that your faith growth exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all toward one another aboundeth;
so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your {Or, stedfastness}patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure;
which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God; to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
if so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you,
and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire,
rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere. See marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel of our Lord Jesus:
who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day.
To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every {Greek: good pleasure of goodness. Compare Romans 10:1.}desire of goodness and every work of faith, with power;
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men;
forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even {Or, them that exult in my majesty}my proudly exulting ones.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the host for the battle.
They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Wail ye; for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as destruction from {Hebrew: Shaddai. See Genesis 17:1.}the Almighty shall it come.
Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt:
and they shall be dismayed; {Or, they shall take hold of pangs and sorrows}pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they shall look in amazement one at another; their faces shall be faces of flame.
Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir.
Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
And it shall come to pass, that as the chased {Or, gazelle}roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land.
Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is {Or, joined thereunto}taken shall fall by the sword.
Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.
And {Hebrew: howling creatures.}wolves shall {Or, answer}cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and none hath escaped them.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as {Or, war-horses}horsemen, so do they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces are waxed pale.
They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks.
Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path; and {Or, when they fall around the weapons, they &c.}they burst through the weapons, and {Or, are not wounded}break not off their course.
They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.
The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Who knoweth whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal-offering and a drink-offering unto Jehovah your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly;
gather the people, sanctify the assembly, assemble the {Or, elders}old men, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Jehovah, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should {Or, use a byward against them}rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?
Then was Jehovah jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.
And Jehovah answered and said unto his people, Behold, I will send you grain, and new wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations;
but I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive it into a land barren and desolate, {Or, with its forepart}its forepart {Or, toward}into the eastern sea, and its hinder part {Or, toward}into the western sea; and its stench shall come up, and its ill savor shall come up, because it hath done great things.
Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice; for Jehovah hath done great things.
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth its fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength.
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain {Or in (or, for) righteousness}in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, {Or, at the first}in the first month.
And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.
And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of Jehovah your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be put to shame.
And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and there is none else; and my people shall never be put to shame.
{[Chapter 3:1 in Hebrew]}And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.
And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as Jehovah hath said, and {Or, in the remnant whom &c.}among the remnant those whom Jehovah doth call.
and in nothing affrighted by the adversaries: which is for them an evident token of perdition, but of your salvation, and that from God;
Now we beseech you, brethren, {Greek: in behalf of.}touching the {Greek: presence.}coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him;
to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand;
let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of {Many ancient authorities read lawlessness.}sin be revealed, the son of perdition,
he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or {Greek: an object of worship. Acts 17:23.}that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the {Or, sanctuary}temple of God, setting himself forth as God.
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season.
For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: {Or, only until he that now restraineth be taken &c.}only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord {Some ancient authorities omit Jesus.}Jesus shall {Some ancient authorities read consume.}slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his {Greek: presence.}coming;
even he, whose {Greek: presence.}coming is according to the working of Satan with all {Greek: power and signs and wonders of falsehood.}power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that {Or, are perishing}perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:
that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you {Many ancient authorities read as firstfruits.}from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and {Or, faith}belief of the truth:
whereunto he called you through our {Greek: good tidings: see chapter 1:8.}gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So then, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye were taught, whether by word, or by epistle of ours.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;