World English Bible · Under Rome
1 Thessalonians 3
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Therefore when we couldn't stand it any longer, we thought it good to be left behind at alone, and sent , our brother and servant in the of Christ, to establish you and to comfort you concerning your , that no one would be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task. For most certainly, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, even as it happened, and you know. For this cause I also, when I couldn't stand it any longer, sent that I might know your , for fear that by any means the tempter had you, and our labor would have been in . But has now come to us from you, and brought us glad news of your and love, and that you have good memories of us always, to see us, even as we also long to see you. For this cause, brothers, we were comforted over you in all our distress and affliction through your . For now we live, if you stand in . For what can we give again to for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sakes before our , night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your and may perfect that which is lacking in your ? Now may our and himself, and our , direct our way to you. May make you to increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all men, even as we also do toward you, to the end he may establish your blameless in before our and at the coming of our with all his .
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.