1 Thessalonians 5
Contemporary English Version
5 I don't need to write you about the time or date when all this will happen. 2 (A) You surely know that the Lord's return[a] will be as a thief coming at night. 3 People will think they are safe and secure. But destruction will suddenly strike them like the pains of a woman about to give birth. And they won't escape.
4 My dear friends, you don't live in darkness, and so that day won't surprise you like a thief. 5 You belong to the light and live in the day. We don't live in the night or belong to the dark. 6 Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert. 7 People sleep during the night, and some even get drunk. 8 (B) But we belong to the day. So we must stay sober and let our faith and love be like a suit of armor. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet.
9 God doesn't intend to punish us, but wants us to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 Christ died for us, so we could live with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. 11 This is why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.
Final Instructions and Greetings
12 My friends, we ask you to be thoughtful of your leaders who work hard and tell you how to live for the Lord. 13 Show them great respect and love because of their work. Try to get along with each other. 14 My friends, we beg you to warn anyone who isn't living right. Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone. 15 Don't be hateful to people, just because they are hateful to you. Rather, be good to each other and to everyone else.
16 Always be joyful 17 and never stop praying. 18 Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.
19 Don't turn away God's Spirit 20 or ignore prophecies. 21 Put everything to the test. Accept what is good 22 and don't have anything to do with evil.
23 I pray that God, who gives peace, will make you completely holy. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept healthy and faultless until our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 24 The one who chose you can be trusted, and he will do this.
25 Friends, please pray for us.
26 Give the Lord's followers a warm greeting.
27 In the name of the Lord I beg you to read this letter to all his followers.
28 I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you!
Footnotes
- 5.2 the Lord's return: The Greek text has “the day of the Lord.”
Isaiah 23-24
Contemporary English Version
The City of Tyre Will Be Punished
23 (A) This is a message from distant islands about the city of Tyre:[a]
Cry, you seagoing ships![b]
Tyre and its houses
lie in ruins.[c]
2 Mourn in silence,
you shop owners of Sidon,[d]
you people on the coast.
Your sailors crossed oceans,
making your city rich.
3 Your merchants sailed the seas,
making you wealthy by trading
with nation after nation.
They brought back grain
that grew along the Nile.[e]
4 Sidon, you are a mighty fortress
built along the sea.
But you will be disgraced
like a married woman
who never had children.[f]
5 When Egypt hears about Tyre,
it will tremble.
6 All of you along the coast
had better cry and sail
far across the ocean.[g]
7 Can this be the happy city
that has stood for centuries?
Its people have spread
to distant lands;
8 its merchants were kings
honored all over the world.
Who planned to destroy Tyre?
9 The Lord All-Powerful planned it
to bring shame and disgrace
to those who are honored
by everyone on earth.
10 People of Tyre,[h]
your harbor is destroyed!
You will have to become farmers
just like the Egyptians.[i]
Tyre Will Be Forgotten
11 The Lord's hand has reached
across the sea,
upsetting the nations.
He has given a command
to destroy fortresses
in the land of Canaan.
12 The Lord has said
to the people of Sidon,
“Your celebrating is over—
you are crushed.
Even if you escape to Cyprus,
you won't find peace.”
13 Look what the Assyrians have done to Babylonia! They have attacked, destroying every palace in the land. Now wild animals live among the ruins.[j] 14 Not a fortress will be left standing, so tell all the seagoing ships[k] to mourn.
15 The city of Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years, which is the lifetime of a king. Then Tyre will be like that evil woman in the song:
16 You're gone and forgotten,
you evil woman!
So strut through the town,
singing and playing
your favorite tune
to be remembered again.
17 At the end of those 70 years, the Lord will let Tyre get back into business. The city will be like a woman who sells her body to everyone of every nation on earth, 18 but none of what is earned will be kept in the city. That money will belong to the Lord, and it will be used to buy more than enough food and good clothes for those who worship the Lord.
The Earth Will Be Punished
24 The Lord is going to twist the earth out of shape and turn it into a desert. Everyone will be scattered, 2 including ordinary people and priests, slaves and slave owners, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, the rich and the poor. 3 The earth will be stripped bare and left that way. This is what the Lord has promised.
4 The earth wilts away;
its mighty leaders melt
to nothing.[l]
5 The earth is polluted
because its people
disobeyed the laws of God,
breaking their agreement
that was to last forever.
6 The earth is under a curse;
its people are dying out
because of their sins.
7 Grapevines have dried up:
wine is almost gone—
mournful sounds are heard
instead of joyful shouts.
8 No one plays tambourines
or stringed instruments;
all noisy celebrating
has come to an end.
9 They no longer sing
as they drink their wine,
and it tastes sour.
10 Towns are crushed and in chaos;
houses are locked tight.
11 Happy times have disappeared
from the earth,
and people shout in the streets,
“We're out of wine!”
12 Cities are destroyed;
their gates are torn down.
13 Nations will be stripped bare,
like olive trees or vineyards
after the harvest season.
Praise the God of Justice
14 People in the west shout;
they joyfully praise
the majesty of the Lord.
15 And so, everyone in the east
and those on the islands
should praise the Lord,
the God of Israel.
16 From all over the world
songs of praise are heard
for the God of justice.[m]
But I feel awful,
terribly miserable.
Can anyone be trusted?
So many are treacherous!
There's No Escape
17 Terror, traps, and pits
are waiting for everyone.
18 If you are terrified and run,
you will fall into a pit;
if you crawl out of the pit,
you will get caught in a trap.
The sky has split apart
like a window thrown open.
The foundations of the earth
have been shaken;
19 the earth is shattered,
ripped to pieces.
20 It staggers and shakes
like a drunkard
or a hut in a windstorm.
It is burdened down with sin;
the earth will fall,
never again to get up.
21 On that day the Lord
will punish the powers
in the heavens[n]
and the kings of the earth.
22 He will put them in a pit
and keep them prisoner.
Then later on,
he will punish them.
23 Both the moon and sun will
be embarrassed and ashamed.
The Lord All-Powerful will rule
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
where he will show its rulers
his wonderful glory.
Footnotes
- 23.1 Tyre: A fortress city built on an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of what is now Lebanon.
- 23.1 seagoing ships: See the note at 2.16.
- 23.1 Tyre … ruins: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 23.2 Sidon: A coastal city just north of Tyre.
- 23.3 along the Nile: The Hebrew text has “grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile,” but Shihor is probably a name for a region near the lower part of the Nile.
- 23.4 children: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 23.6 far across the ocean: The Hebrew text has “to Tarshish,” probably meaning a long distance.
- 23.10 People of Tyre: The Hebrew text has “the people of Tarshish,” which stands for the colonies of Tyre.
- 23.10 Egyptians: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 10.
- 23.13 ruins: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
- 23.14 seagoing ships: See the note at 2.16.
- 24.4 its … to nothing: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 24.16 God of justice: Or “people who do right.”
- 24.21 the powers in the heavens: In ancient times the stars were thought of as powerful spiritual beings, and sometimes they stood for pagan gods.
Psalm 116
Contemporary English Version
When the Lord Saves You from Death
1 I love you, Lord!
You answered my prayers.
2 You paid attention to me,
and so I will pray to you
as long as I live.
3 Death attacked from all sides,
and I was captured
by its painful chains.
But when I was really hurting,
4 I prayed and said, “Lord,
please don't let me die!”
5 You are kind, Lord,
so good and merciful.
6 You protect ordinary people,
and when I was helpless,
you saved me
7 and treated me so kindly
that I don't need
to worry anymore.
8 You, Lord, have saved
my life from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9 Now I will walk at your side
in this land of the living.
10 (A) I was faithful to you
when I was suffering,
11 though in my confusion I said,
“I can't trust anyone!”
12 What must I give you, Lord,
for being so good to me?
13 I will pour out an offering
of wine to you,
and I will pray in your name
because you
have saved me.
14 I will keep my promise to you
when your people meet.
15 You are deeply concerned
when one of your loyal people
faces death.
16 I worship you, Lord,
just as my mother did,
and you have rescued me
from the chains of death.
17 I will offer you a sacrifice
to show how grateful I am,
and I will pray.
18 I will keep my promise to you
when your people
19 gather at your temple
in Jerusalem.
Shout praises to the Lord!
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