1 Finally then, brothers, we ask you and exhort you in the Lord Jesus {Kyrios Iesous, Guiding Lord}, that just as you received from us how it is necessary for you to walk and to please God {Theos, One To Please}, just as you are walking, so that you may abound more.
2 For you know what commands {parangelia: authoritative directions} we gave to you through the Lord Jesus {Kyrios Iesous, Source Of Commands}.
3 For this is what God {Theos, Divine Commander} desires: your sanctification {hagiasmos: consecrated state}, that you abstain from sexual immorality.
4 That each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification {hagiasmos: consecrated purity} and honor {time: dignified esteem}.
5 Not in the passion of desire {epithymia: intense craving}, just as the Gentiles who do not know God {Theos, True God}.
6 The command is not to overstep or take advantage of his brother in this matter, because the Lord {Kyrios, Righteous Avenger} is the avenger concerning all these things, just as we also told you beforehand {proeipamen: prior instruction} and solemnly warned you.
7 For God {Theos, Caller To Holiness} did not summon us to impurity {akatharsia: moral defilement}, but to holiness.
8 Therefore, the one who rejects {atheteo: treat as worthless} does not reject man, but God {Theos, Giver of Spirit}, who also gives His Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God {Theos, Divine Teacher} to love one another {agapan: selfless devotion}.
10 For indeed you are doing this toward all the brothers {adelphoi: fellow believers} who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to abound {perisseuein: excel beyond} still more.
11 And to strive earnestly {philotimeisthai: seek honorable aim} to live quietly, and to attend to your own affairs {idia: personal responsibilities}, and to work with your hands, just as we commanded you.
12 So that you may walk properly toward those who are outsiders {exo: outside community}, and have need of nothing {chreia: necessity or requirement}.
13 Yet we do not want you, brothers {adelphoi: united in faith}, to remain uninformed about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve as others do who lack hope {elpida: enduring expectation}.
14 For if we believe that Jesus {Iesous, Risen Messiah} died and rose again, thus also God {Theos, Restorer of His People} will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.
15 By the Lord’s {Kyrios, Returning Judge} word, we make this declaration to you: that we who are alive and who persist until the coming {parousia: royal arrival} of the Lord will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord {Kyrios, Returning Judge} Himself will descend from heaven with a commanding cry {keleusma: authoritative summons}, accompanied by the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God {Theos, Majestic Caller}; then the dead in Christ {Christos, Life-Giving Lord} will be the first to rise.
17 Then we, the living and remaining ones, will be caught up in the clouds {nephelai: visible heavenly vapors} along with them for a meeting with the Lord {Kyrios, Returning King} in the air, and in this way we will always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore, comfort {parakaleite: strengthening counsel} one another {allelous: mutual care} with these words.