1 Thessalonians 5

⁷Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.

⁹Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.

³⁶No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

³While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

³⁰Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.

³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

¹Now about the service to the saints, there is no need for me to write to you.

¹⁵“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

¹⁰But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

⁴²Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.

⁴³But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

³Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

¹³Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

³⁹But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

⁴⁰You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”

³⁴But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

³⁵For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.

³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

²⁶Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:

²⁷People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

⁷As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’

⁸Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

¹⁸Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.

¹⁹How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!

³how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

⁸Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.

¹⁶then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹⁵If, however, you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹³He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,

¹⁰But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

¹⁸to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

³⁶While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of light.” After Jesus had spoken these things, He went away and was hidden from them.

⁸The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

¹³Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁴²Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.

⁴⁶“Why are you sleeping?” He asked. “Get up and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.”

⁸Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

¹¹And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

¹²The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

¹⁵“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

¹³The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.

³⁴Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.

¹⁵These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only the third hour of the day!

⁴As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

⁵At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

³⁴But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

³⁵For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.

¹²The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

¹³Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.

¹⁷He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.

³⁵So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.

³⁶You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

¹⁰and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹⁰For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

⁴The Lord has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.

³so that none of you would be shaken by these trials. For you know that we are destined for this.

⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

⁹For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁸For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

¹⁵And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

²and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

²¹God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

²⁹Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

²Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

²⁵Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

¹³But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

¹⁹So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.

⁷Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

¹⁷Elders who lead effectively are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

¹⁸For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

¹⁸For they refreshed my spirit and yours as well. Show your appreciation, therefore, to such men.

¹⁶to submit to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

⁵⁰Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

¹⁴Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

⁶Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.

¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.

³⁴A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

³⁵By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

⁷Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?

⁸Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?

²Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.

¹Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.

³⁵In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

⁶Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.

⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you,

³Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!

⁴Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

²Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

¹⁸Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

¹¹Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.

¹⁸If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.

¹⁴Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

¹⁰sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.

²Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

¹Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

³⁶So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”

⁷The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.

²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

²¹saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

²Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

⁵¹You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

¹⁴Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you at the laying on of the hands of the elders.

¹⁰But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

¹¹Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.

³But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, encouragement, and comfort.

⁴The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.

¹Earnestly pursue love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

⁴Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.

²⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.

²⁶Two men, however, had remained in the camp—one named Eldad and the other Medad—and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp.

³⁷If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, let him acknowledge that what I am writing you is the Lord’s command.

³⁸But if anyone ignores this, he himself will be ignored.

²²Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers.

²³So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who are uninstructed or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

¹⁰Test and prove what pleases the Lord.

⁵⁷And why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?

¹¹Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.

⁹Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

³We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit our ministry.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.

²⁰We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this generous gift.

²¹For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men.

³¹So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

³²Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—

¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.

⁷Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

²⁴Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—

⁸He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

¹³so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

¹⁰And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.

²⁶to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

²⁷and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

³But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

¹⁹God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

⁹Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

⁹God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

¹⁰And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.

¹³if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

¹⁹because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, my distress will turn out for my deliverance.

¹⁸Pray for us; we are convinced that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

¹⁹And I especially urge you to pray that I may be restored to you soon.

¹¹as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.

²²In the meantime, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel,

³⁰Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

¹⁶Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send you greetings.

²⁰All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

¹⁶After this letter has been read among you, make sure that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

¹I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:

²¹I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality.

⁶³But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

¹⁶But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

¹³Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”

²⁰The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

⁷To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²³Gaius, who has hosted me and all the church, sends you greetings. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you greetings, as does our brother Quartus.