1 Thessalonians 4

A Life Pleasing to God

Finally, then, brothers
Or  brothers and sisters; also verses 10, 13
we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you b received from us c how you ought to walk and d to please God, just as you are doing, that you e do so more and more.
For f you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God g your sanctification:
Or  your holiness
i that you abstain from sexual immorality;
that each one of you know how to control his own j body
Or  how to take a wife for himself; Greek  how to possess his own vessel
in holiness and l honor,
not in m the passion of lust n like the Gentiles o who do not know God; that no one transgress and p wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is q an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For r God has not called us for s impurity, but in holiness. Therefore t whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God u who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Now concerning v brotherly love w you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been x taught by God y to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what z you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to aa do this more and more, 11 and to aspire ab to live quietly, and ac to mind your own affairs, and ad to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may ae walk properly before af outsiders and be dependent on no one.

The Coming of the Lord

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep ag that you may not grieve as others do ah who have no hope. 14 For ai since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him aj those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you ak by a word from the Lord
Or  by the word of the Lord
that am we who are alive, who are left until an the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For ao the Lord himself will descend ap from heaven aq with a cry of command, with the voice of ar an archangel, and as with the sound of the trumpet of God. And at the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be au caught up together with them av in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so aw we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

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