The Party’s Over

47 1-3 “Get off your high horse and sit in the dirt,
    virgin daughter of Babylon.
No more throne for you—sit on the ground,
    daughter of the Chaldeans.
Nobody will be calling you ‘charming’
    and ‘alluring’ anymore. Get used to it.
Get a job, any old job:
    Clean gutters, scrub toilets.
Pawn your gowns and scarves,
    put on your working pants—the party’s over.
Your nude body will be on public display,
    exposed to vulgar taunts.
It’s vengeance time, and I’m taking vengeance.
    No one gets let off the hook.”

You’re Acting Like the Center of the Universe

4-13 Our Redeemer speaks,
    named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, The Holy of Israel:
“Shut up and get out of the way,
    daughter of Chaldeans.
You’ll no longer be called
    ‘First Lady of the Kingdoms.’
I was fed up with my people,
    thoroughly disgusted with my progeny.
I turned them over to you,
    but you had no compassion.
You put old men and women
    to cruel, hard labor.
You said, ‘I’m the First Lady.
    I’ll always be the pampered darling.’
You took nothing seriously, took nothing to heart,
    never gave tomorrow a thought.
Well, start thinking, party girl.
    You’re acting like the center of the universe,
Smugly saying to yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.
    I’ll never be a widow, I’ll never lose my children.’
Those two things are going to hit you both at once,
    suddenly, on the same day:
Spouse and children gone, a total loss,
    despite your many enchantments and charms.
You were so confident and comfortable in your evil life,
    saying, ‘No one sees me.’
You thought you knew so much, had everything figured out.
    What delusion!
    Smugly telling yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.’
Ruin descends—
    you can’t charm it away.
Disaster strikes—
    you can’t cast it off with spells.
Catastrophe, sudden and total—
    and you’re totally at sea, totally bewildered!
But don’t give up. From your great repertoire
    of enchantments there must be one you haven’t yet tried.
You’ve been at this a long time.
    Surely something will work.
I know you’re exhausted trying out remedies,
    but don’t give up.
Call in the astrologers and stargazers.
    They’re good at this. Surely they can work up something!

14-15 “Fat chance. You’d be grasping at straws
    that are already in the fire,
A fire that is even now raging.
    Your ‘experts’ are in it and won’t get out.
It’s not a fire for cooking venison stew,
    not a fire to warm you on a winter night!
That’s the fate of your friends in sorcery, your magician cronies
    you’ve been colluding with all your life.
They reel, confused, bumping into one another.
    None of them bother to help you.”

Tested in the Furnace of Affliction

48 1-11 “And now listen to this, family of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name Israel:
Who got you started in the loins of Judah,
    you who use God’s name to back up your promises
    and pray to the God of Israel?
But do you mean it?
    Do you live like it?
You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;
    you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,
    named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
For a long time now, I’ve let you in on the way I work:
    I told you what I was going to do beforehand,
    then I did it and it was done, and that’s that.
I know you’re a bunch of hardheads,
    obstinate and flint-faced,
So I got a running start and began telling you
    what was going on before it even happened.
That is why you can’t say,
    ‘My god-idol did this.’
    ‘My favorite god-carving commanded this.’
You have all this evidence
    confirmed by your own eyes and ears.
    Shouldn’t you be talking about it?
And that was just the beginning.
    I have a lot more to tell you,
    things you never knew existed.
This isn’t a variation on the same old thing.
    This is new, brand-new,
    something you’d never guess or dream up.
When you hear this you won’t be able to say,
    ‘I knew that all along.’
You’ve never been good listeners to me.
    You have a history of ignoring me,
A sorry track record of fickle attachments—
    rebels from the womb.
But out of the sheer goodness of my heart,
    because of who I am,
I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper.
    I don’t wash my hands of you.
Do you see what I’ve done?
    I’ve refined you, but not without fire.
    I’ve tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.
Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.
    I have my reputation to keep up.
    I’m not playing second fiddle to either gods or people.

12-13 “Listen, Jacob. Listen, Israel—
    I’m the One who named you!
I’m the One.
    I got things started and, yes, I’ll wrap them up.
Earth is my work, handmade.
    And the skies—I made them, too, horizon to horizon.
When I speak, they’re on their feet, at attention.

14-16 “Come everybody, gather around, listen:
    Who among the gods has delivered the news?
I, God, love this man Cyrus, and I’m using him
    to do what I want with Babylon.
I, yes I, have spoken. I’ve called him.
    I’ve brought him here. He’ll be successful.
Come close, listen carefully:
    I’ve never kept secrets from you.
    I’ve always been present with you.”

Your Progeny, Like Grains of Sand

16-19 And now, the Master, God, sends me and his Spirit
    with this Message from God
    your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel:
“I am God, your God,
    who teaches you how to live right and well.
    I show you what to do, where to go.
If you had listened all along to what I told you,
    your life would have flowed full like a river,
    blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.
Children and grandchildren are like sand,
    your progeny like grains of sand.
There would be no end of them,
    no danger of losing touch with me.”

20 Get out of Babylon! Run from the Babylonians!
    Shout the news. Broadcast it.
Let the world know, the whole world.
    Tell them, “God redeemed his dear servant Jacob!”

21 They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
    He made water pour out of the rock;
    he split the rock and the water gushed.

22 “There is no peace,” says God, “for the wicked.”

A Light for the Nations

49 1-3 Listen, far-flung islands,
    pay attention, faraway people:
God put me to work from the day I was born.
    The moment I entered the world he named me.
He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.
    He kept his hand on me to protect me.
He made me his straight arrow
    and hid me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You’re my dear servant,
    Israel, through whom I’ll shine.”

But I said, “I’ve worked for nothing.
    I’ve nothing to show for a life of hard work.
Nevertheless, I’ll let God have the last word.
    I’ll let him pronounce his verdict.”

5-6 “And now,” God says,
    this God who took me in hand
    from the moment of birth to be his servant,
To bring Jacob back home to him,
    to set a reunion for Israel—
What an honor for me in God’s eyes!
    That God should be my strength!
He says, “But that’s not a big enough job for my servant—
    just to recover the tribes of Jacob,
    merely to round up the strays of Israel.
I’m setting you up as a light for the nations
    so that my salvation becomes global!”

God, Redeemer of Israel, The Holy of Israel,
    says to the despised one, kicked around by the nations,
    slave labor to the ruling class:
“Kings will see, get to their feet—the princes, too—
    and then fall on their faces in homage
Because of God, who has faithfully kept his word,
    The Holy of Israel, who has chosen you.”

8-12 God also says:

“When the time’s ripe, I answer you.
    When victory’s due, I help you.
I form you and use you
    to reconnect the people with me,
To put the land in order,
    to resettle families on the ruined properties.
I tell prisoners, ‘Come on out. You’re free!’
    and those huddled in fear, ‘It’s all right. It’s safe now.’
There’ll be foodstands along all the roads,
    picnics on all the hills—
Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty,
    shade from the sun, shelter from the wind,
For the Compassionate One guides them,
    takes them to the best springs.
I’ll make all my mountains into roads,
    turn them into a superhighway.
Look: These coming from far countries,
    and those, out of the north,
These streaming in from the west,
    and those from all the way down the Nile!”

13 Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead!
    Mountains, send up cheers!
God has comforted his people.
    He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people.

14 But Zion said, “I don’t get it. God has left me.
    My Master has forgotten I even exist.”

15-18 “Can a mother forget the infant at her breast,
    walk away from the baby she bore?
But even if mothers forget,
    I’d never forget you—never.
Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands.
    The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight.
Your builders are faster than your wreckers.
    The demolition crews are gone for good.
Look up, look around, look well!
    See them all gathering, coming to you?
As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—
    “you’re going to put them on like so much jewelry,
    you’re going to use them to dress up like a bride.

19-21 “And your ruined land?
    Your devastated, decimated land?
Filled with more people than you know what to do with!
    And your barbarian enemies, a fading memory.
The children born in your exile will be saying,
    ‘It’s getting too crowded here. I need more room.’
And you’ll say to yourself,
    ‘Where on earth did these children come from?
I lost everything, had nothing, was exiled and penniless.
    So who reared these children?
    How did these children get here?’”

22-23 The Master, God, says:

“Look! I signal to the nations,
    I raise my flag to summon the people.
Here they’ll come: women carrying your little boys in their arms,
    men carrying your little girls on their shoulders.
Kings will be your babysitters,
    princesses will be your nursemaids.
They’ll offer to do all your drudge work—
    scrub your floors, do your laundry.
You’ll know then that I am God.
    No one who hopes in me ever regrets it.”

24-26 Can plunder be retrieved from a giant,
    prisoners of war gotten back from a tyrant?
But God says, “Even if a giant grips the plunder
    and a tyrant holds my people prisoner,
I’m the one who’s on your side,
    defending your cause, rescuing your children.
And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves,
    killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction.
Then everyone will know that I, God,
    have saved you—I, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

The Fall of Babylon

47 “Go down, sit in the dust,(A)
    Virgin Daughter(B) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
    queen city of the Babylonians.[a](C)
No more will you be called
    tender or delicate.(D)
Take millstones(E) and grind(F) flour;
    take off your veil.(G)
Lift up your skirts,(H) bare your legs,
    and wade through the streams.
Your nakedness(I) will be exposed
    and your shame(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(K)
    I will spare no one.(L)

Our Redeemer(M)—the Lord Almighty(N) is his name(O)
    is the Holy One(P) of Israel.

“Sit in silence,(Q) go into darkness,(R)
    queen city of the Babylonians;(S)
no more will you be called
    queen(T) of kingdoms.(U)
I was angry(V) with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;(W)
I gave them into your hand,(X)
    and you showed them no mercy.(Y)
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
You said, ‘I am forever(Z)
    the eternal queen!’(AA)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect(AB) on what might happen.(AC)

“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security(AD)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.(AE)
I will never be a widow(AF)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,(AG) on a single day:
    loss of children(AH) and widowhood.(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries(AJ)
    and all your potent spells.(AK)
10 You have trusted(AL) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(AM)
Your wisdom(AN) and knowledge mislead(AO) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(AP) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly(AQ) come upon you.

12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,(AR)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!(AS)
    Let your astrologers(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble;(AV)
    the fire(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
15 That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save(AZ) you.

Stubborn Israel

48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name of Israel(BA)
    and come from the line of Judah,(BB)
you who take oaths(BC) in the name of the Lord(BD)
    and invoke(BE) the God of Israel—
    but not in truth(BF) or righteousness—
you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city(BG)
    and claim to rely(BH) on the God of Israel—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:(BI)
I foretold the former things(BJ) long ago,
    my mouth announced(BK) them and I made them known;
    then suddenly(BL) I acted, and they came to pass.
For I knew how stubborn(BM) you were;
    your neck muscles(BN) were iron,
    your forehead(BO) was bronze.
Therefore I told you these things long ago;
    before they happened I announced(BP) them to you
so that you could not say,
    ‘My images brought them about;(BQ)
    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
You have heard these things; look at them all.
    Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things,(BR)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
They are created(BS) now, and not long ago;(BT)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew(BU) of them.’
You have neither heard nor understood;(BV)
    from of old your ears(BW) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous(BX) you are;
    you were called a rebel(BY) from birth.
For my own name’s sake(BZ) I delay my wrath;(CA)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.(CB)
10 See, I have refined(CC) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested(CD) you in the furnace(CE) of affliction.
11 For my own sake,(CF) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?(CG)
    I will not yield my glory to another.(CH)

Israel Freed

12 “Listen(CI) to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called:(CJ)
I am he;(CK)
    I am the first and I am the last.(CL)
13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,(CM)
    and my right hand spread out the heavens;(CN)
when I summon them,
    they all stand up together.(CO)

14 “Come together,(CP) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold(CQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally(CR)
    will carry out his purpose(CS) against Babylon;(CT)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.[b]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called(CU) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed(CV) in his mission.

16 “Come near(CW) me and listen(CX) to this:

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;(CY)
    at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord(CZ) has sent(DA) me,
    endowed with his Spirit.(DB)

17 This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,(DC) the Holy One(DD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches(DE) you what is best for you,
    who directs(DF) you in the way(DG) you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention(DH) to my commands,
    your peace(DI) would have been like a river,(DJ)
    your well-being(DK) like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants(DL) would have been like the sand,(DM)
    your children like its numberless grains;(DN)
their name would never be blotted out(DO)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

20 Leave Babylon,
    flee(DP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy(DQ)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;(DR)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed(DS) his servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst(DT) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow(DU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.(DV)

22 “There is no peace,”(DW) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”(DX)

The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen(DY) to me, you islands;(DZ)
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born(EA) the Lord called(EB) me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.(EC)
He made my mouth(ED) like a sharpened sword,(EE)
    in the shadow of his hand(EF) he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow(EG)
    and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You are my servant,(EH)
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.(EI)
But I said, “I have labored in vain;(EJ)
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,(EK)
    and my reward(EL) is with my God.”(EM)

And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb(EN) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel(EO) to himself,
for I am[c] honored(EP) in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength(EQ)
he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant(ER)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.(ES)
I will also make you a light(ET) for the Gentiles,(EU)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”(EV)

This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel(EW)
to him who was despised(EX) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings(EY) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,(EZ)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,(FA)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen(FB) you.”

Restoration of Israel

This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor(FC) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;(FD)
I will keep(FE) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,(FF)
to restore the land(FG)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,(FH)
to say to the captives,(FI) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,(FJ) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.(FK)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,(FL)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.(FM)
He who has compassion(FN) on them will guide(FO) them
    and lead them beside springs(FP) of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways(FQ) will be raised up.(FR)
12 See, they will come from afar(FS)
    some from the north, some from the west,(FT)
    some from the region of Aswan.[d]

13 Shout for joy,(FU) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;(FV)
    burst into song, you mountains!(FW)
For the Lord comforts(FX) his people
    and will have compassion(FY) on his afflicted ones.(FZ)

14 But Zion(GA) said, “The Lord has forsaken(GB) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child(GC) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!(GD)
16 See, I have engraved(GE) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls(GF) are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste(GG) depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather(GH) and come to you.
As surely as I live,(GI)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear(GJ) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate(GK)
    and your land laid waste,(GL)
now you will be too small for your people,(GM)
    and those who devoured(GN) you will be far away.
20 The children born during your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
    give us more space to live in.’(GO)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?(GP)
I was bereaved(GQ) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.(GR)
    Who brought these(GS) up?
I was left(GT) all alone,(GU)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

22 This is what the Sovereign Lord(GV) says:

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner(GW) to the peoples;
they will bring(GX) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.(GY)
23 Kings(GZ) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.(HA)
They will bow down(HB) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust(HC) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;(HD)
    those who hope(HE) in me will not be disappointed.(HF)

24 Can plunder be taken from warriors,(HG)
    or captives be rescued from the fierce[e]?

25 But this is what the Lord says:

“Yes, captives(HH) will be taken from warriors,(HI)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;(HJ)
I will contend with those who contend with you,(HK)
    and your children I will save.(HL)
26 I will make your oppressors(HM) eat(HN) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,(HO) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know(HP)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,(HQ)
    your Redeemer,(HR) the Mighty One of Jacob.(HS)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5
  2. Isaiah 48:14 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 20
  3. Isaiah 49:5 Or him, / but Israel would not be gathered; / yet I will be
  4. Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim
  5. Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 25); Masoretic Text righteous

You’re God-Taught

1-3 One final word, friends. We ask you—urge is more like it—that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance. You know the guidelines we laid out for you from the Master Jesus. God wants you to live a pure life.

Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity.

4-5 Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God.

6-7 Don’t run roughshod over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. Their concerns are God’s concerns, and he will take care of them. We’ve warned you about this before. God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, grungy life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside.

If you disregard this advice, you’re not offending your neighbors; you’re rejecting God, who is making you a gift of his Holy Spirit.

9-10 Regarding life together and getting along with each other, you don’t need me to tell you what to do. You’re God-taught in these matters. Just love one another! You’re already good at it; your friends all over the province of Macedonia are the evidence. Keep it up; get better and better at it.

11-12 Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.

The Master’s Coming

13-14 And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus.

15-18 And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.

Living to Please God

As for other matters, brothers and sisters,(A) we instructed you how to live(B) in order to please God,(C) as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

It is God’s will(D) that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;(E) that each of you should learn to control your own body[a](F) in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust(G) like the pagans,(H) who do not know God;(I) and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.[b](J) The Lord will punish(K) all those who commit such sins,(L) as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.(M) Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.(N)

Now about your love for one another(O) we do not need to write to you,(P) for you yourselves have been taught by God(Q) to love each other.(R) 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia.(S) Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,(T) 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands,(U) just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders(V) and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Believers Who Have Died

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed(W) about those who sleep in death,(X) so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.(Y) 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,(Z) and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.(AA) 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,(AB) will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.(AC) 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,(AD) with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel(AE) and with the trumpet call of God,(AF) and the dead in Christ will rise first.(AG) 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left(AH) will be caught up together with them in the clouds(AI) to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord(AJ) forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another(AK) with these words.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Thessalonians 4:4 Or learn to live with your own wife; or learn to acquire a wife
  2. 1 Thessalonians 4:6 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.