1 Now, brothers, we ask and entreat you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, to live as you learned from us that you must live, to please God??s indeed you are doing, only do it more and more.
2 For you remember what instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3 It is God's will that you should be consecrated, that you abstain from immorality,
4 that each of you learn to take a wife for himself from pure and honorable motives,
5 not to gratify his passion, like the heathen who know nothing of God.
6 No one is to wrong or defraud his brother in this matter, for the Lord avenges all such things, as we told you before, in the most solemn terms.
7 God has not called us to an unclean life, but to a pure one.
8 So whoever disregards this is not disregarding man, but God, who gives you his holy Spirit.
9 You do not need to have anyone write to you about brotherly love, for you have yourselves been taught by God to love one another,
10 and you are doing it to all the brothers all over Macedonia. But we do entreat you, brothers, to surpass yourselves
11 in striving to live quietly and mind your own affairs, and work with your hands, as we directed you,
12 so that you may have the respect of the outsiders, and not be dependent upon anybody.
13 We do not want you to be under any misapprehension, brothers, about those who are falling asleep. You must not grieve for them, as others do who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then by means of Jesus God will bring back with him those who have fallen asleep.
15 For we can assure you, on the Lord's own authority, that those of us who will still be living when the Lord comes will have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself, at the summons, when the archangel calls and God's trumpet sounds, will come down from heaven, and first those who died in union with Christ will rise;
17 then those of us who are still living will be caught up with them on clouds into the air to meet the Lord, and so we shall be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore, encourage one another with this truth.