Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A life that makes God happy

4 Christian friends, there are a few more things that we need to say. We have already taught you how to live in a way that pleases God. And we know that you are living in that way. Now we ask you to continue to live like that even more. On behalf of the Lord Jesus, we seriously ask you to do this. ² You surely remember what we taught you with the authority of the Lord Jesus.

³ This is how God wants you to live: As his own people, he wants you to be completely good. So you must not have sex in a way that is wrong. ⁴ Each of you men must learn to rule his own body properly. Then you will do only what is pure and right. ⁵ People who do not know God strongly want to have sex in a wrong way. They cannot control themselves. You must not be like those people. ⁶ No man among you should ever have sex with the wife of a Christian friend. That would be the same as if you robbed him. It would be a bad thing to do against him. Remember that the Lord will punish everyone who does things like that. We have already told you that. We warned you very seriously about it.

⁷ God has chosen us to belong to him. He does not want us to do disgusting things. As his people, he wants us to be holy. ⁸ So do not refuse to accept what I am saying. If you do, it is not just a person that you refuse to obey. You are refusing to obey God. And God is the one who has given his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ But I do not need to write to you about how you should love other believers. God himself has taught you how to love each other. ¹⁰ Certainly, you love all the believers in all the region of Macedonia. And now we ask you, as our Christian friends, ‘Please love each other more and more.’ ¹¹ Try very much to live at peace with other people. Work hard at your own job. We have already told you that you must do these things. ¹² If you live in this way, other people who are not believers will respect you. Also, you will not have to ask anyone else to give you the things that you need.

Jesus' return

¹³ Our Christian friends, we want you to understand properly about your friends who have died.^[a] Then you will not continue to be sad about them. People who do not hope for any life after death are sad when their friends die. But you should not be upset like those other people. ¹⁴ We believe that Jesus died and he rose again after death. So we also believe that people who have died as Christians will rise again. When God brings Jesus back, he will take the Christians to go with Jesus.

¹⁵ We are telling you the message that the Lord has given to us. This is what will happen when the Lord returns. Those of us who are still alive will not go to meet the Lord first. We will not go before those people who have already died. ¹⁶ On that day, the Lord himself will come down from heaven. He will shout with authority. People will hear the voice of the leader of God's angels. They will hear the sound of God's trumpet. Then those people who have died as Christians will become alive again. They will be the first people to rise up. ¹⁷ After that, those of us who are still alive will join together with them. God will suddenly take us up into the clouds. In that way, we will all meet the Lord in the sky. So we will all be with the Lord for ever. ¹⁸ Because this message is true, tell it to each other. Help one another to be strong, not sad.

We must be ready for Jesus to return

5 Friends, we do not need to write anything to you about the dates and times when these things will happen. ² You know very well about how the great day of the Lord will happen. That day will surprise people very much, like when a robber comes in the night. ³ At that time, people will be saying, ‘We are safe and there is no trouble for us.’ But then, when they are not ready for it, great punishment will suddenly happen to them. It will be impossible for them to run away. Pain will suddenly come to them, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.

⁴ But you, our Christian friends, know about these things. You are not like people who live in the dark. So when the great day of the Lord happens, it should not suddenly surprise you, like a robber might surprise you. ⁵ All of you are people who belong to the light and to the day. We who are believers do not belong to the night or to the dark. ⁶ So we must watch carefully. We should be like people who stay awake. We should not be like other people who are sleeping. ⁷ It is at night that people sleep. It is at night that people become drunk.

⁸ But we belong to the day, not to the night. So we should think clearly. We must prepare ourselves like a soldier who puts on his armour. We must continue to trust God and to love him. That will be like a metal shirt that keeps our body safe. We must also continue to hope that God will save us. That will be like a strong hat that keeps our head safe.

⁹ God did not choose us as his people so that he could be angry with us. He chose us so that he could save us because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done. ¹⁰ Jesus died on our behalf so that we can live together with him. It does not matter whether we are alive or dead when he returns. We will all go to live with him. ¹¹ Because of that, you should help each other to become stronger as believers. I know that you are already doing that.

Paul finishes his letter

¹² Our friends, we ask you to respect your leaders who work hard among you. They lead you and they teach you what is right on the Lord's behalf. ¹³ Show them how valuable they are to you. And love them very much because of the work that they do. Live at peace among yourselves.

¹⁴ Friends, you must warn lazy people that they should work.^[b] If people are afraid, help them to be brave. If people are weak, take care of them. Be patient with everyone.

¹⁵ If someone does something bad against you, do not do anything bad against them in return. Never do that. Instead, always try to do good things that will help one other and help everyone else.

¹⁶ Always be happy. ¹⁷ Pray at all times. ¹⁸ Whatever may happen to you, continue to thank God. God wants you to do that, because you belong to Christ Jesus. ¹⁹ Do not stop the work of God's Spirit. ²⁰ When people speak messages on God's behalf, do not refuse to listen. ²¹ Instead, think carefully about everything, to see if it is true. Remember to obey anything that is good. ²² But keep away from any kind of bad thing.

²³ I pray that God will help you to be completely good, as his people should be. He is the one who gives us peace in our minds. I pray that he will take care of you in every way, in your spirit, in your soul and in your body. Then you will not be guilty of anything that is bad, when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. ²⁴ God has chosen you to be his people. We can trust him to do what he has promised to do. So he will do all this for you.

²⁵ Our Christian friends, please pray for us. ²⁶ Say ‘hello’ to all the believers on our behalf, and kiss them as Christian brothers and sisters.

²⁷ I tell you very seriously on the Lord's behalf, please read this letter to all the believers there. ²⁸ I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be very kind to you.