1 Thessalonians 4

1 For the rest therefore, brethren, we pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received from us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more.

Moreover, brethren, as you learnt from our lips the lives which you ought to live, and do live, so as to please God, we beg and exhort you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live them more and more truly.

2 For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus.

For you know the commands which we laid upon you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should abstain from fornication;

For this is God's will--your purity of life, that you abstain from fornication;

4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour:

that each man among you shall know how to procure a wife who shall be his own in purity and honour;

5 Not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles that know not God:

that you be not overmastered by lustful cravings, like the Gentiles who have no knowledge of God;

6 And that no man overreach, nor circumvent his brother in business: because the Lord is the avenger of all these things, as we have told you before, and have testified.

and that in this matter there be no encroaching on the rights of a brother Christian and no overreaching him. For the Lord is an avenger in all such cases, as we have already taught you and solemnly warned you.

7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification.

God has not called us to an unclean life, but to one of purity.

8 Therefore, he that despiseth these things, despiseth not man, but God, who also hath given his holy Spirit in us.

Therefore a defiant spirit in such a case provokes not man but God, who puts His Holy Spirit into your hearts.

9 But as touching the charity of brotherhood, we have no need to write to you: for yourselves have learned of God to love one another.

But on the subject of love for the brotherhood it is unnecessary for me to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another;

10 For indeed you do it towards all the brethren in all Macedonia. But we entreat you, brethren, that you abound more:

and indeed you do love all the brethren throughout Macedonia. And we exhort you to do so more and more,

11 And that you use your endeavour to be quiet, and that you do your own business, and work with your own hands, as we commanded you:

and to vie with one another in eagerness for peace, every one minding his own business and working with his hands, as we ordered you to do:

12 and that you walk honestly towards them that are without; and that you want nothing of any man’s.

so as to live worthy lives in relation to outsiders, and not be a burden to any one.

13 And we will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope.

Now, concerning those who from time to time pass away, we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, lest you should mourn as others do who have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again; even so them who have slept through Jesus, will God bring with him.

For if we believe that Jesus has died and risen again, we also believe that, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who shall have passed away.

15 For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept.

For this we declare to you on the Lord's own authority--that we who are alive and continue on earth until the Coming of the Lord, shall certainly not forestall those who shall have previously passed away.

16 For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead who are in Christ, shall rise first.

For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud word of command, and with an archangel's voice and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord.

Afterwards we who are alive and are still on earth will be caught up in their company amid clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

18 Wherefore, comfort ye one another with these words.

And so we shall be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.