The Day of the Lord

5 Now concerning ^wthe times and the seasons, brothers,^{1 x}you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that ^ythe day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then ^zsudden destruction will come upon them ^aas labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you ^bare not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all ^cchildren² of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then ^dlet us not sleep, as others do, but let us ^ekeep awake and ^fbe sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, ^gare drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, ^hhaving put on the breastplate of ⁱfaith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for ^jwrath, but ^kto obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 ^lwho died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Final Instructions and Benediction

12 We ask you, brothers, ^mto respect those who labor among you and ⁿare over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. ^oBe at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish ^pthe idle,^{3 q}encourage the fainthearted, ^rhelp the weak, ^sbe patient with them all. 15 See that ^tno one repays anyone evil for evil, but always ^useek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 ^vRejoice always, 17 ^wpray without ceasing, 18 ^xgive thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 ^yDo not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise ^zprophecies, 21 but ^atest everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

23 Now may ^bthe God of peace himself ^csanctify you completely, and may your ^dwhole ^espirit and soul and body be kept blameless at ^fthe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 ^gHe who calls you is faithful; ^hhe will surely do it.

25 ⁱBrothers, pray for us.

26 ^jGreet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have ^kthis letter read to all the brothers.

28 ^lThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

2 Thessalonians

Greeting

1 ^aPaul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

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

Thanksgiving

3 ^bWe ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,¹ as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore ^cwe ourselves boast about you ^din the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith ^ein all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ’s Coming

5 This is ^fevidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be ^gconsidered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it ^hjust ⁱto repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant ^jrelief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when ^kthe Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven ^lwith his mighty angels 8 ^min flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ⁿwho do not know God and on those who ^odo not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of ^peternal destruction, ^qaway from² the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 ^rwhen he comes on ^sthat day ^tto be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^utestimony to you ^vwas believed. 11 To this end we ^walways pray for you, that our God may ^xmake you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^ywork of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^zmay be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Man of Lawlessness

2 Now concerning ^athe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^bbeing gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,¹ 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^calarmed, either ^dby a spirit or a ^espoken word, or ^ea letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^fthe day of the Lord has come. 3 ^gLet no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^hunless the rebellion comes first, and ⁱthe man of lawlessness² is revealed, ^jthe son of destruction,³ 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^kproclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For ^lthe mystery of lawlessness ^mis already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then ⁿthe lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^owill kill with ^pthe breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^qthe appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^rwith all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for ^sthose who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore ^tGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^uwhat is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned ^vwho did not believe the truth but ^whad pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

13 But ^xwe ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^ybrothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^zas the firstfruits^{4 a}to be saved, ^bthrough sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through ^cour gospel, ^aso that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, ^dstand firm and hold to ^ethe traditions that you were taught by us, either ^fby our spoken word or by ^four letter.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, ^gwho loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good ^hhope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and ⁱestablish them in every good work and word.

Pray for Us

3 Finally, brothers,^{1 j}pray for us, that ^kthe word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,² as happened among you, 2 and ^lthat we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For ^mnot all have faith. 3 But ⁿthe Lord is faithful. He will establish you and ^oguard you against ^pthe evil one.³ 4 And ^qwe have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord ^rdirect your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

6 Now we command you, brothers, ^sin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^tthat you keep away from any ^ubrother ^vwho is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know ^whow you ought to imitate us, because ^xwe were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but ^ywith toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was ^znot because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves ^aan example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: ^bIf anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you ^cwalk in idleness, not busy at work, but ^dbusybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.⁴

13 As for you, brothers, ^edo not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and ^fhave nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 ^gDo not regard him as an enemy, but ^hwarn him as a brother.

Benediction

16 Now may ⁱthe Lord of peace himself ^jgive you peace at all times in every way. ^kThe Lord be with you all.

17 I, Paul, write ^lthis greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 ^mThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

1 Timothy

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby command of ^cGod our Savior and of Christ Jesus ^dour hope,

2 To Timothy, ^emy true child in the faith:

^fGrace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Warning Against False Teachers

3 ^gAs I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not ^hto teach any different doctrine, 4 nor ⁱto devote themselves to myths and endless ^jgenealogies, which promote ^kspeculations rather than the stewardship¹ from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love ^lthat issues from a pure heart and ^ma good conscience and ⁿa sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by ^oswerving from these, have wandered away into ^pvain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, ^qwithout understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

8 Now we know that ^rthe law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the ^slaw is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,² liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to ^tsound³ doctrine, 11 in accordance with ^uthe gospel of the glory of ^vthe blessed God ^wwith which I have been entrusted.

Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners

12 I thank him ^xwho has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, ^yappointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, ^zpersecutor, and insolent opponent. But ^aI received mercy ^bbecause I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and ^cthe grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the ^dfaith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is ^etrustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus ^fcame into the world to save sinners, ^gof whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To ^hthe King of the ages, ⁱimmortal, ^jinvisible, ^kthe only God, ^lbe honor and glory forever and ever.⁴ Amen.

18 This charge ^mI entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with ⁿthe prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may ^owage the good warfare, 19 ^pholding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have ^qmade shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are ^rHymenaeus and ^sAlexander, whom I ^thave handed over to Satan that they may learn not to ^ublaspheme.