But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children.

For you know that we treated each one of you like a father treats his own children, exhorting you, and comforting you,

for you know perfectly well that the day of the Lord [i.e., when He returns, See II Thess. 2:1-2] will arrive like a thief coming in the night.

[For] when people are saying, "Peace," and "Safety," then [is when] destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape it.

But you brothers are not in the dark about that day, so that it sneaks up on you like a thief,

So then, we should not be [spiritually] asleep, like the rest [i.e., the unsaved world], but we should be alert and sober [i.e., in control of our senses].