4
“This Is the Will of God”
1 And now, brothers and sisters, in light of all these things, we beg you and appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus,+ just as you received instruction from us about how you must live your lives so as to please God (as you are in fact doing), that you do so more and more.+
2 Indeed, you know what instructions we gave you by the authority+ of the Lord Jesus.
3 Indeed, this is the will of God: Your separation to God as a special holy possession,+ by keeping away from sexual immorality;
4 by each of you respecting his wife;+ by acquiring things in a holy and honorable way,
5 not in a greedy and covetous manner like the Gentiles who don’t know God,
6 so that no one wrongs or swindles his brother or sister in the matter.+ For the Lord is an avenger and will punish people for all such sins,+ just as we told you previously and solemnly warned.
7 It was not a life of impurity to which God summoned+ us, you see, but a life of holiness.+
8 For that very reason, then, if someone rejects this instruction, it isn’t a mere man whom he is rejecting, but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now as for brotherly love, you don’t really need anyone to write to you, since you yourselves are indeed taught by God, so that you may love one another,+
10 and since you do, in fact, conduct yourselves in this way toward all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. Even so, we exhort you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,
11 and to do all you can to not disturb the peace,+ to tend to your own affairs, and to work with your own hands—just as we instructed you—
12 so that your conduct may win the respect of outsiders,++ and so that you aren’t just eating other people’s food.+
“And So We Will Be, Forever and Ever, with the Lord”
13 Now we want to make sure you are clear,+ brothers, about what will happen to those who have died,+ so that you won’t grieve like the rest of men, who have no reason+ to hope.
14 If, as we are fully convinced+ and believe, Jesus did in fact die and rise to life, you see, this assures us that God will bring forth from the dead those who have died united with Jesus, and have them accompany him.+
15 Indeed, this we tell you in accordance with the Lord’s own teaching+: We who are still alive when the Lord comes will certainly not experience resurrection before+ those who have died.+
16 For the Lord himself: It is with a shout of command, with the cry of the archangel, and with the trumpet blast of God that he will descend from heaven,+ and the dead in union with the Messiah will rise to life first.
17 Then we who are still alive will be snatched up in the clouds together with them to welcome+ the Lord in the sky.+ And so we will be, forever and ever,+ with the Lord.
18 So then, constantly exhort and console+ one another with these words.