⁴ But you aren’t in darkness, brothers and sisters, so the day won’t catch you by surprise like a thief. ⁵ All of you are children of light and children of the day. We don’t belong to night or darkness. ⁶ So then, let’s not sleep like the others, but let’s stay awake and stay sober. ⁷ People who sleep sleep at night, and people who get drunk get drunk at night. ⁸ Since we belong to the day, let’s stay sober, wearing faithfulness and love as a piece of armor that protects our body^[a] and the hope of salvation as a helmet. ⁹ God didn’t intend for us to suffer his wrath but rather to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ Jesus died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him. ¹¹ So continue encouraging each other and building each other up, just like you are doing already.

²⁴ Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win. ²⁵ Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies. ²⁶ So now this is how I run—not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing. ²⁷ Rather, I’m landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won’t be disqualified after preaching to others.