Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. | Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. |
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. | Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. |
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God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. | He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. |
But test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. | But test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. |
See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. | See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. |
And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. | And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you. |
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 died will rise from their graves. 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. | For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. |
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. | For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. |
So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. | So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. |
God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. | For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. |