1 Thessalonians 5

¹Regarding the chronological spans and the decisive moments, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. ²For you yourselves know with precise clarity that the Day of the Lord comes in the same way a thief comes in the night. ³Whenever people are saying, "Peace and security," then sudden destruction comes upon them like birth-throes upon a pregnant woman, and they will certainly not escape.

⁴But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the Day should catch you by surprise like a thief. ⁵For you are all children of light and children of day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶So then, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and stay sober. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. ⁹For God did not appoint us to experience wrath, but to the acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰who died for us so that whether we are alert or whether we sleep, we might live together with him. ¹¹Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

¹²Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to recognize those who toil among you—those who stand before you in the Lord and warn you. ¹³Regard them with extraordinary love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴And we urge you, brothers and sisters: warn the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, take hold of the weak, and be patient with everyone. ¹⁵See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for everyone.

¹⁶Rejoice always. ¹⁷Pray without ceasing. ¹⁸Give thanks in every circumstance; for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not extinguish the Spirit. ²⁰Do not treat prophecies with contempt. ²¹But test everything; hold tightly to what is good. ²²Keep away from every form of evil.

²³May the God of peace himself set you apart as holy in every way, and may your entire being—spirit, soul, and body—be kept blameless at the Royal Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will bring it to pass.

²⁵Brothers and sisters, pray for us. ²⁶Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. ²⁷I charge you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. ²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.