1 ThessaloniansChapter 4

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¹Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus. We taught you how to live in a way that pleases God. You are already living that way. Now do it even more. ²You know the teachings we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. ³God wants you to be holy. You must stay away from all sexual sin. ⁴Each of you must learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable. ⁵Do not give in to lustful desires like the Gentiles, who do not know God. ⁶No one should ever wrong a brother or take advantage of him in this matter. The Lord will punish people for all these things. We already told you this and warned you strongly. ⁷For God did not call us to live unclean lives. He called us to be holy. ⁸So anyone who turns away from this teaching is not turning away from a man. He is turning away from God. God is the one who gives you his Holy Spirit. ⁹You don't need anyone to write to you about loving each other as brothers and sisters. God himself has taught you to love one another. ¹⁰And you really do love all the brothers and sisters all over Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to love them more and more. ¹¹Make it your goal to live a quiet life. Mind your own business. Work with your own hands, just as we told you. ¹²Then you will live in a proper way in front of outsiders. And you will not need to depend on anyone. ¹³Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about those who have died. We don't want you to be sad like other people who have no hope. ¹⁴We believe that Jesus died and rose again. So we also believe God will bring with Jesus those who have died believing in him.a ¹⁵This is what the Lord has told us to say. Some of us will still be alive when the Lord comes. We will not go ahead of those who have died. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven. There will be a loud command, the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷After that, those of us who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds. We will meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸So encourage each other with these words.