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 honourable, 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 for ever. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Život ugodan Bogu
1Na koncu, draga braćo i sestre, zaklinjemo vas u imenu Gospodina Isusa da živite životom ugodnim Bogu kao što smo vas poučili. Vi već tako i živite. Napredujte i dalje. 2Znate zapovijedi koje smo vam dali u ime Gospodina Isusa. 3Bog želi da budete sveti i čisti, da se uzdržavate od grijeha bluda. 4Tako će svatko od nas znati nadzirati svoje tijelo4:4 U grčkome: znati kako posjedovati svoju posudu. u svetosti i časti, 5a ne živjeti u strasti i pohoti poput pogana koji ne poznaju Boga.
6Nikada u tomu ni u čemu drugome ne varajte svojega brata kršćanina jer Gospodin se za to osvećuje, kao što sam vas već upozorio. 7Jer nas Bog nije pozvao da živimo pokvarenim, već čistim životom. 8Tko odbacuje ove zapovijedi, ne odbacuje čovjeka, nego Boga koji vam daje svojega Svetog Duha.
9O bratskoj ljubavi koja mora vladati među Božjim narodom ne moram vam ni pisati jer vas je sam Bog poučio da volite jedni druge. 10Vi zaista iskazujete veliku ljubav braći u cijeloj Makedoniji. Molimo vas ipak, draga braćo, da u tome još više napredujete. 11Trudite se mirno živjeti, baviti se svojim poslom i raditi vlastitim rukama, kako smo vam zapovjedili. 12Tako ćete časno živjeti pred nevjernicima i nitko vam neće trebati novčano pomagati.
Nada uskrsnuća
13Želim, braćo i sestre, da znate što će se dogoditi s umrlim kršćanima, da ne tugujete kao drugi koji nemaju nade. 14Vjerujemo da je Isus umro i uskrsnuo te da će Bog, kad Isus opet dođe, s Isusom dovesti i kršćane koji su usnuli u Isusu.
15Govorim vam ovo poučen izravno od Gospodina: oni od nas koji još budu živi kad se Gospodin vrati, neće preteći umrle. 16Sam će Gospodin sići s neba na zapovijed, na glas arhanđela, na zov Božje trublje. Najprije će uskrsnuti umrli u Kristu. 17Zatim će oni od nas koji još budu živi biti uzneseni u vis, na oblake, u susret Gospodinu, da s njime zauvijek ostanu. 18Tješite se međusobno tim riječima.
