1 We thought it best to remain in Athens by ourselves. But, because we couldn’t wait any longer ⌊for news about you⌋,
2 we sent our brother Timothy to you. He serves God by spreading the Good News about Christ. His mission was to strengthen and encourage you in your faith
3 so that these troubles don’t disturb any of you. You know that we’re destined to suffer persecution.
4 In fact, when we were with you, we told you ahead of time that we were going to suffer persecution. And as you know, that’s what happened.
5 But when I couldn’t wait any longer, I sent ⌊Timothy⌋ to find out about your faith. I wanted to see whether the tempter had in some way tempted you, making our work meaningless.