New King James Version

New Living Translation

Plea for Purity

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God;

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Live to Please God

Finally, dear brothers and sisters,a we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.

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for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

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For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

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For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;

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God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.

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that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

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Then each of you will control his own bodyb and live in holiness and honor —

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not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

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not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.

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that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.

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Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife,c for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before.

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For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.

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God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.

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Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who[a] has also given us His Holy Spirit.

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Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

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A Brotherly and Orderly Life

But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;

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But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other,d for God himself has taught you to love one another.

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and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;

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Indeed, you already show your love for all the believerse throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more.

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that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,

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Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.

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that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

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Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

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The Comfort of Christ’s Coming

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen [b]asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

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The Hope of the Resurrection

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have diedf so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.

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For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who [c]sleep in Jesus.

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For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

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For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are [d]asleep.

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We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.g

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For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

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For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have diedh will rise from their graves.

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Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

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Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

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Therefore comfort one another with these words.

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So encourage each other with these words.

Parallel

New King James Version

New Living Translation

1 Thessalonians 4

1 Thessalonians 4