Chapter 5

The Day of the Lord

1 Now as to the atimes and the epochs, brethren, you bhave no need of anything to be written to you.

2 For you yourselves know full well that athe day of the Lord 1will come bjust like a thief in the night.

3 While they are saying, “aPeace and safety!” then 1bdestruction 2will come upon them suddenly like clabor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

4 But you, brethren, are not in adarkness, that the day would overtake you 1blike a thief;

5 for you are all asons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of bdarkness;

6 so then let us not asleep as 1bothers do, but let us be alert and 2csober.

7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get adrunk at night.

8 But since awe are of the day, let us bbe 1sober, having put on the cbreastplate of dfaith and love, and as a ehelmet, the fhope of salvation.

9 For God has not destined us for awrath, but for bobtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

10 awho died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.

11 Therefore 1encourage one another and abuild up one another, just as you also are doing.

Christian Conduct

12 But we request of you, brethren, that you 1aappreciate those bwho diligently labor among you, and chave charge over you in the Lord and give you 2instruction,

13 and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. aLive in peace with one another.

14 We urge you, brethren, admonish athe 1unruly, encourage bthe fainthearted, help cthe weak, be dpatient with everyone.

15 See that ano one repays another with evil for evil, but always bseek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

16 aRejoice always;

17 apray without ceasing;

18 in everything agive thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

19 aDo not quench the Spirit;

20 do not despise aprophetic 1utterances.

21 But aexamine everything carefully; bhold fast to that which is good;

22 abstain from every 1form of evil.

23 Now amay the God of peace bHimself sanctify you entirely; and may your cspirit and soul and body be preserved complete, dwithout blame at ethe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 aFaithful is He who bcalls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

25 Brethren, apray for us1.

26 aGreet all the brethren with a holy kiss.

27 I adjure you by the Lord to ahave this letter read to all the bbrethren.

28 aThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

The Second Letter of Paul to the

THESSALONIANS

Chapter 1

Thanksgiving for Faith and Perseverance

1 aPaul and bSilvanus and cTimothy,

To the dchurch of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2 aGrace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We ought always ato give thanks to God for you, bbrethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the clove of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;

4 therefore, we ourselves aspeak proudly of you among bthe churches of God for your 1perseverance and faith bin the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.

5 This is a aplain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be bconsidered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.

6 1For after all ait is only just 2for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted 1and to us as well 2awhen the Lord Jesus will be revealed bfrom heaven cwith 3His mighty angels din flaming fire,

8 dealing out retribution to those who ado not know God and to those who bdo not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

9 These will pay the penalty of aeternal destruction, baway from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

10 when He comes to be aglorified 1in His 2saints on that bday, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our ctestimony to you was believed.

11 To this end also we apray for you always, that our God will 1bcount you worthy of your ccalling, and fulfill every desire for dgoodness and the ework of faith with power,

12 so that the aname of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 2

Man of Lawlessness

1 Now we request you, abrethren, with regard to the 1bcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our cgathering together to Him,

2 that you not be quickly shaken from your 1composure or be disturbed either by a aspirit or a 2bmessage or a cletter as if from us, to the effect that dthe day of the Lord ehas come.

3 aLet no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the 1bapostasy comes first, and the cman of lawlessness is revealed, the dson of destruction,

4 who opposes and exalts himself above 1aevery so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, bdisplaying himself as being God.

5 Do you not remember that awhile I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

6 And you know awhat restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.

7 For athe mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only bhe who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

8 Then that lawless one awill be revealed whom the Lord will slay bwith the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the cappearance of His 1coming;

9 that is, the one whose 1coming is in accord with the activity of aSatan, with all power and 2bsigns and false wonders,

10 and with 1all the deception of wickedness for athose who perish, because they did not receive the love of bthe truth so as to be saved.

11 For this reason aGod 1will send upon them 2a bdeluding influence so that they will believe 3what is false,

12 in order that they all may be 1judged who adid not believe the truth, but 2btook pleasure in wickedness.

13 aBut we should always give thanks to God for you, bbrethren beloved by the Lord, because cGod has chosen you 1from the beginning dfor salvation 2ethrough sanctification 3by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

14 It was for this He acalled you through bour gospel, 1that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 So then, brethren, astand firm and bhold to the traditions which you were taught, whether cby word of mouth or cby letter 1from us.

16 aNow may our Lord Jesus Christ aHimself and God our Father, who has bloved us and given us eternal comfort and cgood hope by grace,

17 acomfort and bstrengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Chapter 3

Exhortation

1 aFinally, brethren, bpray for us that cthe word of the Lord will 1spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you;

2 and that we will be arescued from 1perverse and evil men; for not all have 2faith.

3 But athe Lord is faithful, 1and He will strengthen and protect you 2from bthe evil one.

4 We have aconfidence in the Lord concerning you, that you bare doing and will continue to do what we command.

5 May the Lord adirect your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

6 Now we command you, brethren, ain the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you 1bkeep away from every brother who 2leads an 3cunruly life and not according to dthe tradition which 4you received from us.

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to 1afollow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you,

8 nor did we aeat 1anyone’s bread 2without paying for it, but with blabor and hardship we kept cworking night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;

9 not because we do not have athe right to this, but in order to offer ourselves bas a model for you, so that you would 1follow our example.

10 For even awhen we were with you, we used to give you this order: bif anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

11 For we hear that some among you are aleading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like bbusybodies.

12 Now such persons we command and aexhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to bwork in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

13 But as for you, abrethren, bdo not grow weary of doing good.

14 If anyone does not obey our 1instruction 2ain this letter, take special note of that person 3band do not associate with him, so that he will be cput to shame.

15 Yet ado not regard him as an enemy, but 1badmonish him as a cbrother.

16 Now amay the Lord of peace bHimself continually grant you peace in every 1circumstance. cThe Lord be with you all!

17 1I, Paul, write this greeting awith my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

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