The Day of the Lord Is Coming

¹Now we don’t need to write to you, brothers and sisters, about times and dates.

²You know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

³People will be saying that everything is peaceful and safe, but then they will suddenly be destroyed. It will be like birth pains suddenly coming on a pregnant woman. None of them will escape.

⁴But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that day shouldn’t surprise you the way a thief would.

⁵All of you are children of the light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night or to the darkness.

⁶So let’s not be like the others, who are asleep. Instead, let’s be wide awake and sober.

⁷Those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

⁸But since we belong to the day, let’s stay sober. Let’s put on faith and love like armor and the hope of salvation like a helmet.

⁹God didn’t choose us to receive his anger but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁰Jesus died for us so that we might live with him, whether we are still alive on this earth or whether we have already died.

¹¹So encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Final Teachings

¹²Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to recognize the godly leaders who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and correct you.

¹³Respect them in love because of what they do. Live in peace with one another.

¹⁴And we urge you, brothers and sisters, to warn certain people who don’t want to work and who are being disruptive. Encourage those who have lost hope, help those who are weak, and be patient with everyone.

¹⁵Make sure that no one pays back one wrong act with another. Instead, always try to do what’s good for each other and for everyone else.

¹⁶Always be joyful,

¹⁷never stop praying,

¹⁸and give thanks no matter what happens, because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁹Don’t stifle the Holy Spirit.

²⁰Don’t treat prophecies as if they didn’t matter,

²¹but test them all. Hold on to what is good,

²²but get far away from every kind of evil.

²³May God himself, the God of peace, make you holy and complete. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes.

²⁴The one who has called you is faithful, and he will do all these things.

²⁵Brothers and sisters, pray for us.

²⁶Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss.

²⁷I command you in the name of the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.

²⁸May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.