Midday Devotion

A Song of Ascents.
¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
² My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
³ He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴ Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵ The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
⁷ The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
⁸ The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
⁴ Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!
⁵ You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
⁶ In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
⁸ I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
⁹ I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
¹⁰ I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
¹¹ As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!
¹² For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.
¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!
¹⁴ Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
¹⁶ But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
¹⁷ As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (ESV)

Of David.
¹ To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
² O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
³ Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
⁴ Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
⁵ Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
⁶ Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
⁷ Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!
⁸ Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
⁹ He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
¹⁰ All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
¹¹ For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
¹² Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
¹³ His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.
¹⁴ The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
¹⁵ My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
¹⁷ The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses.
¹⁸ Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
¹⁹ Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
²⁰ Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
²¹ May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
²² Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

Of David.
¹ Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
² Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
³ For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.
⁴ I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites.
⁵ I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.
⁶ I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O LORD,
⁷ proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds.
⁸ O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.
⁹ Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
¹⁰ in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.
¹¹ But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me.
¹² My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.

Of David.
¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
² When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.
³ Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
⁴ One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
⁵ For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!
⁸ You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
⁹ Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!
¹⁰ For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in.
¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
¹² Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.
¹³ I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!
¹⁴ Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (ESV)

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”
¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
¹⁵ “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (ESV)

¹ Then Job answered and said:
² “Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³ For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.
⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
⁵ Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder?
⁶ Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?
⁷ My appetite refuses to touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me.
⁸ “Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹ that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰ This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹² Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
¹³ Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me? (ESV)

¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”
¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (ESV)

¹ Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’”
² The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”
³ And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.
⁴ But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—
⁵ “that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
⁶ Again, the LORD said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.
⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.
⁸ “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.
⁹ If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
¹⁰ But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
¹¹ Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
¹³ But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
¹⁴ Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do.
¹⁶ He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.
¹⁷ And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”
¹⁸ Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
¹⁹ And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”
²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
²¹ And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son,
²³ and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”
²⁴ At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death.
²⁵ Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”
²⁶ So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
²⁷ The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.
²⁸ And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do.
²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel.
³⁰ Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.
³¹ And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

¹ Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”
² But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”
³ Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.”
⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!”
⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen,
⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves.
⁸ But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’
⁹ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”
¹⁰ So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw.
¹¹ Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’”
¹² So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
¹³ The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.”
¹⁴ And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”
¹⁵ Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this?
¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”
¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’
¹⁸ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.”
¹⁹ The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.”
²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh;
²¹ and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
²² Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?
²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

¹ But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
² God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD.
³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
⁴ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.
⁵ Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
⁶ Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
⁷ I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
⁸ I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’”
⁹ Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
¹⁰ So the LORD said to Moses,
¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.”
¹² But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” (ESV)

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
³² But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
³³ Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”
³⁴ Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
³⁵ Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.
³⁶ Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”
³⁷ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
³⁸ Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”
³⁹ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
⁴⁰ And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?
⁴¹ Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
⁴² Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
⁴³ And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
⁴⁴ So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.
⁴⁵ Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
⁴⁶ Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” (ESV)

¹⁰ Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.
¹¹ I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
¹² When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³ Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.
¹⁴ Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.
¹⁵ Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶ For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸ But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble. (ESV)

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
² Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.
³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
⁴ Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
⁵ You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
⁸ You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
¹¹ Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
¹² But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
¹⁹ My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
²⁰ let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
² We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁴ For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
⁵ because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
⁸ For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
⁹ For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
¹ For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.
² But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.
³ For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive,
⁴ but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
⁵ For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.
⁶ Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.
⁷ But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.
⁸ So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
⁹ For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
¹⁰ You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.
¹¹ For you know how, like a father with his children,
¹² we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
¹³ And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
¹⁴ For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,
¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind
¹⁶ by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!
¹⁷ But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,
¹⁸ because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
¹⁹ For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
²⁰ For you are our glory and joy.
¹ Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone,
² and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith,
³ that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
⁴ For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.
⁵ For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
⁶ But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you—
⁷ for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
⁸ For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.
⁹ For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God,
¹⁰ as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,
¹² and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
¹³ so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (ESV)