Journey Through God's Word

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹²For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

¹⁴Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness.

¹⁵As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

¹⁶With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

¹⁹Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,

²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

²¹So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus will tell you everything. He is a dear brother and a faithful minister in the Lord.

²²I am sending him to you for this very purpose, to let you know how we are, and to encourage your hearts.

²³Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.

²For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

³When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!

⁴But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;

⁵for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.

⁶So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober;

⁷for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.

⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

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

¹⁰who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.

¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

¹²But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you;

¹³esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

¹⁴And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.

¹⁵See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.

¹⁶Rejoice always,

¹⁷pray without ceasing,

¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit.

²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets,

²¹but test everything; hold fast to what is good;

²²abstain from every form of evil.

²³May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

²⁵Beloved, pray for us.

²⁶Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.

²⁷I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them.

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

¹Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you,

²and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith.

³But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

⁴And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command.

⁵May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

⁶Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us.

⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you,

⁸and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.

⁹This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate.

¹⁰For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.

¹¹For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.

¹²Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

¹³Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

¹⁴Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed.

¹⁵Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers.

¹⁶Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.

¹⁷I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.

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