| NET Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Finally then, brothers and sisters, we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us about how you must live and please God (as you are in fact living) that you do so more and more. | 1Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more. |
| 2For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus. | 2For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. |
| 3For this is God's will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality, | 3For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; |
| 4that each of you know how to possess his own body in holiness and honor, | 4each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, |
| 5not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. | 5not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God; |
| 6In this matter no one should violate the rights of his brother or take advantage of him, because the Lord is the avenger in all these cases, as we also told you earlier and warned you solemnly. | 6and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you. |
| 7For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. | 7For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness. |
| 8Consequently the one who rejects this is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. | 8Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit. |
| 9Now on the topic of brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. | 9Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. |
| 10And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, | 10And you are indeed showing this love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more |
| 11to aspire to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you. | 11and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you. |
| 12In this way you will live a decent life before outsiders and not be in need. | 12Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone. |
| 13Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope. | 13Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. |
| 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. | 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. |
| 15For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. | 15By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. |
| 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. | 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. |
| 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. | 17After that, we who are alive and remain 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. |
| 18Therefore encourage one another with these words. | 18Therefore encourage one another with these words. |
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