Restore Us, O God

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Lilies. A Testimony. Of ^(B)Asaph, a Psalm.

The Coming Day of the Lord

14 Behold, ^(A)a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. ² For ^(B)I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and ^(C)the city shall be taken ^(D)and the houses plundered ^(E)and the women raped. ^(F)Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. ^3 (G)Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. ^4 (H)On that day his feet shall stand ^(I)on ^(J)the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and ^(K)the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by ^(L)a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. ⁵ And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from ^(M)the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.^[a]

^6 (N)On that day ^(O)there shall be ^(P)no light, cold, or frost.^{[b] 7 (Q)}And there shall be a unique^[c] day, ^(R)which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but ^(S)at evening time there shall be light.

^8 (T)On that day ^(U)living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to ^(V)the eastern sea^[d] and half of them to ^(W)the western sea.^{[e] (X)}It shall continue in summer as in winter.

⁹ And ^(Y)the Lord will be king over all the earth. ^(Z)On that day the Lord will be ^(AA)one and ^(AB)his name one.

A Life Pleasing to God

4 Finally, then, brothers,^[a] we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you ^(A)received from us ^(B)how you ought to walk and ^(C)to please God, just as you are doing, that you ^(D)do so more and more. ² For ^(E)you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, ^(F)your sanctification:^{[b] (G)}that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own ^(H)body^[c] in holiness and ^(I)honor, ⁵ not in ^(J)the passion of lust ^(K)like the Gentiles ^(L)who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and ^(M)wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is ^(N)an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For ^(O)God has not called us for ^(P)impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore ^(Q)whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, ^(R)who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ Now concerning ^(S)brotherly love ^(T)you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been ^(U)taught by God ^(V)to love one another, ¹⁰ for that indeed is what ^(W)you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to ^(X)do this more and more, ¹¹ and to aspire ^(Y)to live quietly, and ^(Z)to mind your own affairs, and ^(AA)to work with your hands, as we instructed you, ¹² so that you may ^(AB)walk properly before ^(AC)outsiders and be dependent on no one.

The Coming of the Lord

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, ^(AD)that you may not grieve as others do ^(AE)who have no hope. ¹⁴ For ^(AF)since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him ^(AG)those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you ^(AH)by a word from the Lord,^[d] that ^(AI)we who are alive, who are left until ^(AJ)the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For ^(AK)the Lord himself will descend ^(AL)from heaven ^(AM)with a cry of command, with the voice of ^(AN)an archangel, and ^(AO)with the sound of the trumpet of God. And ^(AP)the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be ^(AQ)caught up together with them ^(AR)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ^(AS)we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.