Living to Please God
1As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control your own body4:4 Or learn to live with your own wife; or learn to acquire a wife in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.4:6 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Believers Who Have Died
13Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Rayuwa don a gamshi Allah
1A ƙarshe, ’yan’uwa, mun umarce ku yadda za ku yi rayuwa domin ku gamshi Allah, kamar yadda kuke yi. Yanzu muna roƙonku muna kuma gargaɗe ku a cikin Ubangiji Yesu ku yi haka sau da sau. 2Gama kun san umarnan da muka ba ku ta wurin ikon Ubangiji Yesu.
3Nufin Allah ne a tsarkake ku, cewa ku guje wa fasikanci; 4don kowannenku yă koya yadda zai ƙame kansa a hanyar da take mai tsarki, mai mutunci kuma, 5ba cikin muguwar sha’awa kamar ta marasa bangaskiya, waɗanda ba su san Allah ba; 6cikin wannan al’amari kuwa kada wani yă yi wa ɗan’uwansa laifi ko yă cuce shi. Ubangiji zai hukunta mutane saboda dukan irin waɗannan zunubai, kamar yadda muka riga muka gaya muku, muka kuma yi muku gargaɗi. 7Gama Allah bai kira mu ga zaman marasa tsarki ba, sai dai ga zaman tsarki. 8Saboda haka, duk wanda ya ƙi wannan umarni ba mutum ne ya ƙi ba sai ko Allah, wanda ya ba ku Ruhunsa Mai Tsarki.
9Yanzu kuwa game da ƙaunar ’yan’uwa, ba ma bukata mu rubuta muku, gama ku kanku Allah ya riga ya koya muku ku ƙaunaci juna. 10Gaskiyar kuwa ita ce, kuna ƙaunar dukan ’yan’uwa ko’ina a Makidoniya. Duk da haka muna ƙara gargaɗe ku, ’yan’uwa, ku yi haka sau da sau. 11Ku mai da wannan burinku na yi natsattsiyar rayuwa, kuna mai da hankali ga sha’anin da yake gabanku, kuna kuma yin aiki da hannuwanku, kamar dai yadda muka gaya muku, 12don rayuwanku ta kullum ta zama da mutunci ga waɗanda suke na waje don kuma kada ku dogara a kan kowa.
Zuwan Ubangiji
13’Yan’uwa, ba ma so ku kasance cikin jahilci game da waɗanda suka yi barci, ko kuwa ku yi baƙin ciki kamar sauran mutanen da ba su da bege. 14Mun gaskata cewa Yesu ya mutu ya tashi kuma daga matattu, ta haka muka gaskata cewa Allah zai kawo waɗanda suka yi barci a cikinsa tare da Yesu. 15Bisa ga maganar Ubangiji kansa, muna gaya muku cewa mu da muke raye har yanzu, waɗanda aka bari har dawowar Ubangiji, tabbatacce ba za mu riga waɗanda suka yi barci tashi ba. 16Gama Ubangiji kansa zai sauko daga sama, da umarni mai ƙarfi, da muryar babban mala’ika da kuma busar ƙahon Allah, waɗanda suka mutu kuwa cikin Kiristi za su tashi da farko. 17Bayan haka, mu da muke da rai da aka bari, za a ɗauke mu tare da su a cikin gizagizai don mu sadu da Ubangiji a sararin sama. Ta haka za mu kasance tare da Ubangiji har abada. 18Saboda haka ku ƙarfafa juna da waɗannan kalmomi.
