1 Thessalonians 4
1 Now, my fellow believers, [I want to write] about some other matters. Because we all have a close relationship with the Lord Jesus, we(exc) strongly urge you [DOU] to live in a way that pleases God. We taught you to do that, and you know that we lived that way as a result of what the Lord Jesus [told us]. We know that you are conducting your lives that way, but [we strongly urge] that you do that even more.
Λοιπὸν οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ἐρωτῶμεν ὑμᾶς καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν ἐν κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ, ἵνα καθὼς παρελάβετε παρ᾽ ἡμῶν τὸ πῶς δεῖ ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν καὶ ἀρέσκειν θεῷ, καθὼς καὶ περιπατεῖτε, ἵνα περισσεύητε μᾶλλον·
οἴδατε γὰρ τίνας παραγγελίας ἐδώκαμεν ὑμῖν διὰ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ.
3 God wants you to live pure lives that will show that you completely belong to him. He wants you to avoid doing any sexually immoral acts (OR, avoid being sexually immoral in any way).
τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ ἁγιασμὸς ὑμῶν, ἀπέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς πορνείας·
4 [That is, he wants] each one of you to know how to control your own sexual desires [EUP]. He wants you to live pure lives that all people will see as good.
εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκεῦος κτᾶσθαι ἐν ἁγιασμῷ καὶ τιμῇ,
5 You must not lustfully desire [to do] immoral acts as unbelievers [MTY] [do] who do not obey God.
μὴ ἐν πάθει ἐπιθυμίας, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ εἰδότα τὸν θεόν·
6 [God wants each one of you to control your sexual desires, in order that] no one of you sin against your fellow believer and take advantage of him or her by doing things like that. Remember that we strongly warned you previously [DOU] that the Lord [Jesus] will punish all [people who do] sexually immoral acts.
τὸ μὴ ὑπερβαίνειν καὶ πλεονεκτεῖν ἐν τῷ πράγματι τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ· διότι ἔκδικος κύριος περὶ πάντων τούτων, καθὼς καὶ προείπαμεν ὑμῖν καὶ διεμαρτυράμεθα.
7 When God chose us [believers], he did not want us to [be people who] behave in a sexually immoral way. On the contrary, [he wants us] to be [people who] behave in a morally pure way.
οὐ γὰρ ἐκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ, ἀλλὰ ἐν ἁγιασμῷ.
8 So I warn you that those who disregard [this teaching] of mine [are] not just disregarding me. On the contrary, [they are disregarding] God, [because God commanded it. Remember that] God sent his Spirit, who is holy, [to live] in you!
τοιγαροῦν ὁ ἀθετῶν, οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ἀθετεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὸν θεὸν τὸν διδόντα τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τὸ ἅγιον εἰς ὑμᾶς.
9 [I want to urge you] again [that you should] love [your] fellow believers [MET]. You do not really need that [anyone] write to you about that, because God has already taught you [how] to love each other,
Περὶ δὲ τῆς φιλαδελφίας οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε γράφειν ὑμῖν· αὐτοὶ γὰρ ὑμεῖς θεοδίδακτοί ἐστε εἰς τὸ ἀγαπᾶν ἀλλήλους·
10 and because you already are [showing that you love] your fellow believers [HYP] [who live] in other places [in your province] of Macedonia. Nevertheless, my fellow believers, we urge you to [love each other] even more.
καὶ γὰρ ποιεῖτε αὐτὸ εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς [τοὺς] ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ. παρακαλοῦμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, περισσεύειν μᾶλλον
11 [We urge you] also to eagerly strive/try to mind your own affairs and to not meddle/interfere with the affairs of others. We urge you also to work at your own occupations/jobs [to earn what you need to live]. Remember that we taught you previously to live like that.
καὶ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι ἡσυχάζειν καὶ πράσσειν τὰ ἴδια, καὶ ἐργάζεσθαι ταῖς χερσὶν ὑμῶν, καθὼς ὑμῖν παρηγγείλαμεν·
12 If you do these things, unbelievers will acknowledge/see that you behave decently/properly, and you will not have to depend on others [to] ([supply/give to you]) [what you need].
ἵνα περιπατῆτε εὐσχημόνως πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω, καὶ μηδενὸς χρείαν ἔχητε.
13 My fellow believers, we also want you to understand well [LIT] [what will happen] to our fellow believers [who now] are dead [EUP]. [You must not be/do like] the unbelievers. They [grieve deeply for people who die because] they do not confidently expect [people to live again after they die].
Οὐ θέλομεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῶν κοιμωμένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε καθὼς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα.
14 We [believers] know that it is true that Jesus died and that he came back [to life] again. So [we also know well that] when Jesus returns, God [will cause] those [believers] who died [EUP] [to live again] and to come with [Jesus].
εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη, οὕτως καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ.
15 [I write this] because the Lord [Jesus] revealed [to me] what I am now telling you. [Some of you may think that] when the Lord [Jesus] comes back, he will consider that we [believers] who are still living will be superior to those [believers] who have died [EUP], because [we will meet Jesus first. That is certainly not true]!
τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου, οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας·
16 It is the Lord [Jesus] himself who will descend from heaven. [When he comes down, he] will command all of [us believers to rise from their graves]. The chief angel will shout [loudly], and [another angel] will blow a trumpet for God. Then (OR, As a result), the first thing that will happen is that the people who [trusted] in Christ before they died will live again.
ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου, καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ καταβήσεται ἀπ᾽ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον,
17 After that, [God] will powerfully take up into the clouds all of us [believers] who are still living [on this earth]. [He will take us] and those [other believers who have died], in order that [we all] might together meet/welcome the Lord [Jesus] in the sky. As a result of that, we [all] will be with him forever.
ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα, καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα.
18 Because [all this is true], encourage/comfort each other by reminding each other of this teaching.
ὥστε παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις.
