New Testament Plan

¹Now as to the periods and times, brothers and sisters, you have no need of anything to be written to you.

²For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night.

³While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁴But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief;

⁵for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;

⁶so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober.

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

⁸But since we are of the day, let’s be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

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

¹⁰who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.

¹¹Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing.

¹²But we ask you, brothers and sisters, to recognize those who diligently labor among you and are in leadership over you in the Lord, and give you instruction,

¹³and that you regard them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

¹⁴We urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

¹⁵See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.

¹⁶Rejoice always,

¹⁷pray without ceasing,

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

¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit,

²⁰do not utterly reject prophecies,

²¹but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good,

²²abstain from every form of evil.

²³Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it.

²⁵Brothers and sisters, pray for us.

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

²⁷I put you under oath by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.

²⁸May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

¹Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is only fitting, because your faith is increasing abundantly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another grows ever greater.

⁴As a result, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.

⁵This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering.

⁶For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

⁷and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels

⁸in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

⁹These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

¹⁰when He comes to be glorified among His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—because our testimony to you was believed.

¹¹To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will consider you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,

¹²so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, in accordance with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

¹Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

²that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

³No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

⁴who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

⁵Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

⁶And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time.

⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed.

⁸Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

⁹that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders,

¹⁰and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved.

¹¹For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,

¹²in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

¹³But we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

¹⁴It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

¹⁶Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,

¹⁷comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.