1 Thessalonians 4-5; 2 Thessalonians 1-2

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.

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 care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.

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.

1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.

4That is why we boast among God’s churches about your perseverance and faith in the face of all the persecution and affliction you are enduring.

5All this is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment. And so you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

6After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

7and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels

8in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

9They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,

10on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony.

11To this end, we always pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of His calling, and that He will powerfully fulfill your every good desire and work of faith,

12so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers,

2not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come.

3Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.

4He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

5Do you not remember that I told you these things while I was still with you?

6And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way.

8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.

9The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,

10and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

11For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie,

12in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

13But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.

14To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.

16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,

17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.