How can we adequately thank God for you in return for our great joy over you in His presence?
Parallel translations
- WEB For what thanksgiving can we render again to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sakes before our God;
- KJV For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;
- NKJV For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God,
- NASB For what thanks can we give to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before our God,
- NLT How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul cannot thank God enough for the joy these believers bring him. Gratitude overflows beyond what he can express.
Overview
Paul asks what thanks could possibly match the joy he feels before God on their account. His joy is God-ward, rejoicing "before our God," recognizing God as the source of their faith. Overflowing thanksgiving is the fitting response when one sees God's grace at work in others.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 2 Cor 9:15Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
- Ps 96:12–13Let the fields exult, and all that is in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
- 1 Th 1:2–3We always thank God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers
- Ps 71:14–15But I will always hope and will praise You more and more.
- 1 Th 3:7–8For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we have been reassured about you, because of your faith.
- 2 Sam 7:18–20Then King David went in, sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?
- Deut 16:11and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
- Ps 98:8–9Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy
- 2 Sam 6:21But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD,
- 1 Th 2:19After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?
- Neh 9:5Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
- Deut 12:18Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,
- Deut 12:2Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Ps 68:3But the righteous will be glad and rejoice before God; they will celebrate with joy.
- 2 Cor 2:14But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.
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Christ at the center
The believer waits for God's Son from heaven, Jesus who delivers from the wrath to come and who will return to gather his people to himself.
How 1 Thessalonians 3:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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