1ስለዚህ መታገሥ ስላልቻልን ለጊዜው በአቴና ብቻችንን መቅረት መልካም መስሎ ታየን። 2በእምነታችሁ እንዲያጸናችሁና እንዲያበረታችሁ ወንድማችንንና በክርስቶስ ወንጌል ሥራ ከእኛ ጋር የእግዚአብሔር አገልጋይ3፥2 አንዳንድ ቅጆች ወንድማችንንና…ከእግዚአብሔር ጋር አብሮ የሚሠራ ሲሉ፣ ሌሎች ደግሞ ወንድማችንንና…የእግዚአብሔር አገልጋይ ይላሉ። የሆነውን ጢሞቴዎስን ልከንላችኋል፤ 3ይኸውም በዚህ ፈተና ማንም እንዳይናወጥ ነው። እኛም ለዚህ ነገር እንደ ተመደብን እናንተ ራሳችሁ ታውቃላችሁ። 4በርግጥ ከእናንተ ጋር በነበርንበት ጊዜ መከራ እንደሚደርስብን በየጊዜው እንነግራችሁ ነበር፤ እንደምታውቁትም እንዲሁ ደግሞ ሆኗል። 5ስለዚህ ምንም መታገሥ ባልቻልሁ ጊዜ ስለ እምነታችሁ ለማወቅ ላክሁ፤ ይህንም ያደረግሁት ምናልባት ፈታኙ ፈትኗችሁ ድካማችን ሁሉ ከንቱ ሆኗል ብዬ ስለ ፈራሁ ነው።
ጢሞቴዎስ ይዞት የመጣው የምሥራች
6አሁን ግን ጢሞቴዎስ ከእናንተ ዘንድ ወደ እኛ መጥቶ ስለ እምነታችሁና ስለ ፍቅራችሁ መልካም ዜና አሰምቶናል። ደግሞም እኛን ሁልጊዜ በመልካም እንደምታስታውሱንና እኛ እናንተን ለማየት የምንናፍቃችሁን ያህል እናንተም እኛን ለማየት እንደምትናፍቁ ነግሮናል። 7ስለዚህ ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ በጭንቀታችንና በመከራችን ሁሉ በእምነታችሁ ምክንያት በእናንተ ተጽናናን። 8በጌታ ጸንታችሁ ስለ ቆማችሁ በርግጥ አሁን በሕይወት እንኖራለን። 9በእናንተ ምክንያት በአምላካችን ፊት ስላገኘነው ደስታ ሁሉ ለእግዚአብሔር ምን ያህል ምስጋና ልናቀርብ እንችላለን? 10እንደ ገና ልናያችሁና በእምነታችሁ የጐደለውን ለማሟላት ሌሊትና ቀን እጅግ ተግተን እንጸልያለን።
11አሁንም ራሱ አምላካችንና አባታችን፣ ጌታችንም ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ወደ እናንተ እንድንመጣ መንገዳችንን ያቅናልን። 12እኛ ለእናንተ ፍቅር እንዳለን ሁሉ እርስ በርስ ያላችሁን ፍቅርና ለሌሎችም ያላችሁን ፍቅር ጌታ ያብዛላችሁ፤ ያትረፍርፍላችሁም። 13ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ከቅዱሳኑ ሁሉ ጋር በሚመጣበት ጊዜ በአምላካችንና በአባታችን ፊት ነቀፋ የሌለባችሁና ቅዱሳን ሆናችሁ እንድትገኙ ልባችሁን ያጽና።
1So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3so that no-one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labours might have been in vain.
Timothy’s encouraging report
6But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
11Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
