I Thessalonians 4-5

I Thessalonians 4

¹Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more.

²For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

³For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;

⁴each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,

⁵not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;

⁶and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.

⁷For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.

⁸Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.

⁹Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.

¹⁰And you are indeed showing this love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more

¹¹and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.

¹²Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.

¹³Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.

¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

¹⁵By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.

¹⁶For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise.

¹⁷After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

I Thessalonians 5

¹Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you.

²For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

³While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁴But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.

⁵For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

⁶So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.

⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

⁹For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁰He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.

¹¹Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.

¹²But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who preside over you in the Lord and give you instruction.

¹³In love, hold them in highest regard because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.

¹⁵Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.

¹⁶Rejoice at all times.

¹⁷Pray without ceasing.

¹⁸Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁹Do not extinguish the Spirit.

²⁰Do not treat prophecies with contempt,

²¹but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

²²Abstain from every form of evil.

²³Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

²⁵Brothers, pray for us as well.

²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

²⁷I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.