It is not easy to represent, in English, the full meaning of the Greek words translated by we kept telling you.
The verb προελέγομεν
is in the imperfect tense, indicating a repeated action in the past. Paul’s team had not merely once but repeatedly taught the Thessalonian believers about the suffering they were to expect. The meaning of προελέγομεν is also significant. It refers not only to telling (as the ESV and NIV has it) but to prediction, and in many contexts also has the connotation of warning (see 2 Corinthians 13:2; Galatians 1:9; Galatians 5:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:6).1,2,3 While in Thessalonica, Paul solemnly forewarned the new believers that they would endure suffering for the sake of Christ.
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.