2 Thessalonians — The Coverdale Bible (1535)

2 Thessalonians is the letter on the day of the Lord and the duty of work. In Coverdale’s Bible of 1535 it stands in the New Testament under the heading “The seconde Epistle of the Apostle S. Paul to the Tessalonians”. Coverdale’s summary of the chapters stands before the text; the 1535 Bible has no verse numbers, so the text keeps its own paragraphs, in 3 chapters, with the marginal notes and references printed after each chapter.

The summe of this epistle.

• Chap. I. He thanketh God for their faith and loue, and prayeth for the increase of the same.
• Chap. II. He sheweth them that the daye of the LORDE shal not come, till the departinge frō the faith come first: and therfore he exhorteth them not to be disceaued, but to stonde stedfast in the thinges that he hath taught them.
• Chap. III. He desyreth them to praye for him that the gospell maye prospere, and geueth thē warnynge to reproue the ydle, and yf they wil not laboure with their handes, that they shal not eate.

Chapter 1

PAVL and Siluanus [A] and Timotheus.

To the congregacion of yᵉ Tessaloniās in God oure father and in the LORDE Iesus Christ.

Grace be with you, and peace from God oure father, and from the LORDE Iesus Christ.

We are bounde to thanke God allwayes for you brethren, as it is mete: because that youre faith groweth exceadingly, and the loue of euery one of you increaseth towarde another amōge youre selues, so that we oure selues make oure boast of you (in the congregacions of God) of youre paciēce and faith in all youre persecucions and troubles that ye suffre, which is a token of the righteous iudgment of God, that ye are counted worthy of the kyngdome of God, for the which ye also suffre.

For it is a righteous thinge with God, to recōpence tribulacion vnto thē yᵗ trouble you: but vnto you which are troubled, rest with vs, ⁽¹⁾ whā the LORDE Iesus shal shewe himselfe from heauen, with the angels of his power, and with flammynge ⁽²⁾ fyre, to geue vengeaūce vnto them that knowe not God, ⁽³⁾ and to them that obeye not the Gospell of oure LORDE Iesus Christ. ⁽⁴⁾ Which shalbe punyshed with euerlastinge damnacion, ⁽⁵⁾ from yᵉ presence of the LORDE, and from the glory of his power, whan he shal come to be glorified in his sayntes, and to be come maruelous in all them that beleue: because ye haue beleued oure testimony vnto you of the same daye. * Wherfore we praye allwayes for you, that oure God make you worthy of yᵉ callynge, and fulfill all delectacion of goodnes, and the worke of faith in power, that yᵉ name of oure LORDE Iesus Christ maye be praysed in you, and ye in him, acordinge to the grace of oure God, and of the LORDE Iesus Christ.

Notes to Chapter 1

⁽¹⁾ Mat 24. c and 25. c 2. Pet. 3. a

⁽²⁾ Mat 24. c and 25. c 2. Pet. 3. a

⁽³⁾ Rom. 2. a

⁽⁴⁾ Sap. 5.

⁽⁵⁾ Esa. 2. b

Chapter 2

[A] WE beseke you brethren by the commynge of oʳ LORDE Iesus Christ, and in that we shal assemble vnto him, that ye be not sodenly moued frō youre mynde, and be not troubled, nether by sprete, nether by wordes, ner yet by letter, which shulde seme to be sent from vs, as though yᵉ daye of Christ were at hande. Let noman disceaue you by eny meanes. For the LORDE commeth not, excepte the ⁽¹⁾ departynge come first, and that that Man of synne be opened, euen the sonne of perdicion, which is an aduersary, and is exalted aboue all yᵗ is called God or Gods seruyce, so that he sytteth as God in the ⁽²⁾ temple of God, ⁽³⁾ and boasteth himselfe to be God.

Remembre ye not, that whan I was yet with you, I tolde you these thinges? And now ye knowe what witholdeth it, euē that it mighte be vttered at his tyme. (⁽⁴⁾ For the mystery of the iniquyte worketh allready, tyll he which now onely letteth, be takē out [B] of the waye.) And then shal that wicked be vttered, ⁽⁵⁾ whom the LORDE shal cōsume with yᵉ sprete of his mouth, & shal destroye with the appearaunce of his commynge: euen him, whose commynge is after the workynge of Sathan ⁽⁶⁾ with all lyenge power, and signes and wonders,⁽⁷⁾ and with all deceauablenes of vnrighteousnes amonge them that perishe, because they receaued not the loue of yᵉ trueth, that they might haue bene saued▪ ⁽⁸⁾ Therfore shal God sende them strōge de⟨illegible⟩sion, that they shulde beleue lyes, yᵗ all they might be dāned, which beleued not the trueth, but had pleasure in vnrighteousnes.

But we are bounde to geue thankes allwaye vnto God for you, brethren be loued of the LORDE, because that God hath from the begynnynge chosen you to saluacion in the sanctifienge of the sprete and in beleuynge of the trueth, whervnto he hath called you by oure Gospell, to optayne the glory of oure LORDE Iesus Christ.

Therfore brethren stonde fast, and kepe the ordinaunces which ye haue lerned, whether it were by oure preachinge or by epistle. But oure LORDE Iesus Christ himselfe, and God oure father, which hath loued vs and geuen vs euerlastinge consolacion, and a good hope thorow grace, comforte youre hertes, and stablysh you in all doctryne & good doynge.

Notes to Chapter 2

⁽¹⁾ Dan. 9. e 1. Tim. 4. a

⁽²⁾ 1. Cor. 3. b

⁽³⁾ Dan. 11. e

⁽⁴⁾ 1. Ioh. 2. c

⁽⁵⁾ Iob 15. d Esa. 11. a Dan. 8. d

⁽⁶⁾ Deut. 13. a

⁽⁷⁾ Mat. 24. b

⁽⁸⁾ Zach. 5 a Rom. 1▪ d

Chapter 3

FVrthermore brethren⁽¹⁾ praye for vs,[A] that the worde of God maye haue fre passage and be glorified as it is with you, and that we maye be delyuered from vnreasonable and euell mē. ⁽²⁾ For faith is not euery mās. But the LORDE is faithfull, which shal stablyshe you and kepe you from euell. We haue confidence in the LORDE to you warde, that ye both do and wyll do that which we cōmaunde you. The LORDE gyde youre hertes vnto the loue of God and pacience of Christ.

⁽³⁾ But we requyre you brethren, in the name of oure LORDE Iesus Christ, that ye withdrawe youre selues from euery brother that walketh inordinatly, and not after the institucion which he receaued of vs. For ye yoʳ selues knowe, how ye oughte to folowe vs: for we behaued not oure selues inordinatly amonge you, nether toke we bred of eny man for naughte ⁽⁴⁾ but wrought wᵗ laboure and trauayle night and daye, lest we shulde be chargeable to eny of you. Not but that we had auctorite, but to geue oure selues for an ensample vnto you to folowe vs. And whan we were wᵗ you, this we warned you of, that yf there were eny which wolde not worke, yᵉ same shulde not eate. For we heare saye, that there are some which walke amonge you inordinatly, and worke not at all, but are busy bodies. ⁽⁵⁾ But them that are soche, we commaunde and exhorte by oure LORDE Iesus Christ, that they worke with quyetnes, and eate their awne bred.

Neuertheles brethren, ⁽⁶⁾ be not ye weery of well doynge. ⁽⁷⁾ But yf eny man obey not oure sayenges, sende vs worde of him by a letter, and haue nothinge to do with him, yᵗ he maye be ashamed. Yet counte him not as an enemye, but warne him as a brother. The very LORDE of peace geue you peace allwayes by all meanes. The LORDE be with you all. The salutacion of me Paul with myne awne hande: This is the token in all epistles, So I wryte, The grace of oure LORDE Iesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Sent from Athens.

Notes to Chapter 3

⁽¹⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽²⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽³⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁴⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁵⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁶⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁷⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

Colophon

This page is an archival transcription of the printed text, not a Good Works Translation. Source: Biblia the Byble, that is, the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully translated in to Englyshe (M.D.XXXV; STC 2063.3), translated by Myles Coverdale, the copy in Cambridge University Library, keyed and encoded by the Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP Phase I, text A10349, 2005) and released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 public-domain dedication.

1 place illegible in the Cambridge copy was filled from Samuel Bagster’s 1838 page-for-page reprint of the edition (archive.org, holyscriptures00cove), only where the reprint’s reading is certain; each fill is listed on this room’s Supplied Readings page; 8 places are still marked ⟨illegible⟩ (1 in the text, 7 in the marginal notes).

🌲