1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

The Lord's Coming

 ¹³My friends, we want you to understand how it will be for those followers who have already died. Then you won't grieve over them and be like people who don't have any hope. ¹⁴We believe that Jesus died and was raised to life. We also believe that when God brings Jesus back again, he will bring with him all who had faith in Jesus before they died. ¹⁵Our Lord Jesus told us that when he comes, we won't go up to meet him ahead of his followers who have already died.

    ¹⁶With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God's trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life. ¹⁷Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Encourage each other with these words.

   

1 Thessalonians 5

 ¹I don't need to write you about the time or date when all this will happen. ²You surely know that the Lord's return will be as a thief coming at night. ³People will think they are safe and secure. But destruction will suddenly strike them like the pains of a woman about to give birth. And they won't escape. ⁴My dear friends, you don't live in darkness, and so that day won't surprise you like a thief. ⁵You belong to the light and live in the day. We don't live in the night or belong to the dark. ⁶Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert. ⁷People sleep during the night, and some even get drunk. ⁸But we belong to the day. So we must stay sober and let our faith and love be like a suit of armor. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet.

    ⁹God doesn't intend to punish us, but wants us to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰Christ died for us, so that we could live with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. ¹¹That's why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.