Chapter 4

¹Now, brothers, we ask and entreat you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, to live as you learned from us that you must live, to please God—as indeed you are doing, only do it more and more. ²For you remember what instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.

³It is God’s will that you should be consecrated, that you abstain from immorality, ⁴that each of you learn to take a wife for himself from pure and honorable motives, ⁵not to gratify his passion, like the heathen who know nothing of God. ⁶No one is to wrong or defraud his brother in this matter, for the Lord avenges all such things, as we told you before, in the most solemn terms. ⁷God has not called us to an unclean life, but to a pure one. ⁸So whoever disregards this is not disregarding man, but God, who gives you his holy Spirit.

⁹You do not need to have anyone write to you about brotherly love, for you have yourselves been taught by God to love one another, ¹⁰and you are doing it to all the brothers all over Macedonia.

But we do entreat you, brothers, to surpass yourselves ¹¹in striving to live quietly and mind your own affairs, and work with your hands, as we directed you, ¹²so that you may have the respect of the outsiders, and not be dependent upon anybody.

¹³We do not want you to be under any misapprehension, brothers, about those who are falling asleep. You must not grieve for them, as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then by means of Jesus God will bring back with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵For we can assure you, on the Lord’s own authority, that those of us who will still be living when the Lord comes will have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself, at the summons, when the archangel calls and God’s trumpet sounds, will come down from heaven, and first those who died in union with Christ will rise; ¹⁷then those of us who are still living will be caught up with them on clouds into the air to meet the Lord, and so we shall be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore, encourage one another with this truth.