1 Thessalonians 4

1 FINALLY, brethren, we beseech you therefore, and conjure you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk, and please God, so ye would abound more and 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 ye know what commandments we gave 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, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from whoredom;

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

4 that every one of you may know how to possess his own 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 vile passion of lewdness, as the Gentiles which know not God;

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

6 that no man transgress against, or act dishonestly to his brother in this matter because the Lord is the avenger of all such things, as we have told you before, and 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 impurity, but unto holiness.

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

8 Therefore he that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit.

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

9 Now concerning brotherly love, I have no need to write unto you: for ye yourselves are divinely taught 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 And indeed ye practise it towards all the brethren that are throughout Macedonia: but we conjure you, brethren, to abound more and 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 make it your study to live peaceably, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we have enjoined 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 that ye walk becomingly towards those without, and need no assistance from any person.

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

13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are fallen asleep, that ye be not afflicted, as the rest of mankind 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, so also those that have fallen asleep for Jesus shall 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 I say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent those who are fallen asleep.

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 descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead 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 remain, shall be caught up together with them into the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we be ever 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 one another with these words.

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