The Man of Lawlessness

2 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters,^(A)

²⁷ Then he will send out the angels and gather the^[a] elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.^{[a](A) 15} For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.^{[b] 16} For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.^{(B) 17} Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever.^(C)

³¹ And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.^(A)

¹³ And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.^[a](A)

4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you:^(A)

¹⁹ For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?^(A)

³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,^(A)

¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.^(A)

The New Life in Christ

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.^(A)