1 Thessalonians 2:14
What does 1 Thessalonians 2:14 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 Thessalonians 2:14 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 Thessalonians 2:14 means
Their reception of the word led them to imitate “the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus,” particularly by enduring persecution. Just as Jewish believers in Judæa suffered at the hands of hostile Jews, so the Thessalonians suffered from their own countrymen. Suffering is not a sign of spiritual failure but a mark of joining the people of God across places and cultures. Shared affliction binds believers together in Christ. The Thessalonians’ experience mirrors a well-known pattern: when the Gospel takes root, opposition often follows, yet God sustains His people to remain faithful amid local hostility.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews;
KJV
King James Version · 1611For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews;
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949For you, my brothers, took as your examples the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; because you underwent the same things from your countrymen as they did from the Jews;
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862for ye became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because such things ye suffered, even ye, from your own countrymen, as also they from the Jews,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752For you, brethren, are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they have from the Jews:
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890For ye, brethren, have become imitators of the assemblies ofGod which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; for ye also have suffered the same things of your own countrymen as also they of the Jews,
Context
Verse 13’s affirmation of the word’s work flows into verse 14’s evidence: steadfastness under persecution in line with the Judean churches. This establishes solidarity and precedent, countering any suggestion that their trials were abnormal. Verses 15–16 will expand on the opposition’s character, explaining its gravity and end. The flow confirms that the Thessalonians’ path is part of the larger story of the church’s endurance under pressure.
v.13And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe.
v.14This passage
v.15who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men;
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Acts 9:1
But Saul, yet breathing threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
- Acts 17:13
But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.
- Acts 8:3
But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:1
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
- 2 Corinthians 8:1
Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God which hath been given in the churches of Macedonia;
- 2 Thessalonians 1:4
so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure;
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