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1-2 {Our} fellow believers in the Messiah, here is a summary {of this letter}. Since we are the spokespersons of the Lord Jesus, we urge and encourage you to keep putting into practice what we taught you. This is how it is necessary for you to live and to please God. Then you will excel even more, because you are aware of the commands the Lord Jesus told us to give you.3 Certainly, God wills for you to live in a way that demonstrates that you completely belong to him: {He desires} that you refrain from committing {any} sexually immoral acts. 4 {God wills} that each one of you only have sexual relations with his own wife. {God wills} that you treat your wives like they belong to God, and to honor them. 5 {You must not use your wife} to lustfully gratify what you desire. This is because the nations who are not God’s people live this way. 6 {God also wills} that no one violates and takes advantage of {the wife of} his fellow believer in the Messiah like this. This is because the Lord {Jesus} will avenge all these {sexually immoral} acts. The Lord {Jesus} will avenge exactly as we previously said and strongly warned you. 7 Certainly God does not summon us {believers in the Messiah into his glorious kingdom} for the purpose of impure {living}. Instead, God wills that we live like those who belong to him. 8 For this very reason, {I warn each one of you. Since God has told us to say these things,} if anyone {continues to} reject what we say, you are not {simply} rejecting a human being. No, you are rejecting God himself! You are rejecting God who {continually} shares his Holy Spirit with all of you!
9 Now, {about your question,} there is {really} no need {for anyone} to write to {remind} you how fellow believers in the Messiah should act affectionately toward each other. This is because it is certain that you have already learned what God teaches, “love each other.” 10 Certainly you are {already} acting lovingly to all the fellow believers in the Messiah who live throughout Macedonia. Yet, our fellow believers in the Messiah, we {want to} urge all of you to excel in loving {each other} even more! 11 {We} also {urge you} to aspire to live peacefully. {We urge you} to keep busy with your own matters. {We urge you} to focus on working to earn what you need to live. Do what we already commanded you. 12 {We urge you to do these things,} so that you can set a good example toward those who do not believe in the Messiah {by how modestly you live.} Then you would not have to depend {on others} to provide what you need {to live}.
13 Also, {our} fellow believers in the Messiah, we want you to be aware about {what will happen to} believers in the Messiah who are dead. You should not be like the rest of humanity, which does not believe in the Messiah. They are deeply sad because they do not confidently expect that people will resurrect after death. 14 Certainly, we {apostles} are convinced that Jesus died and resurrected. This is why we also are convinced that God will {resurrect} the dead people who are united to Jesus. Then God will send them back with Jesus {when he returns to earth again}. 15 In fact, what we {apostles} are now telling you is a message from the Lord {Jesus himself}. When the Lord {Jesus} comes again{, all believers in the Messiah will greet him}. First, those {believers in the Messiah} who have {already} died will certainly greet him, and then we {believers in the Messiah} who are still alive. 16 {This is how} the Lord {Jesus} will come down from heaven: the Lord {Jesus} himself will personally give the command {for all to resurrect}. The chief angel will shout. God’s trumpet will blast. Then {all} the dead who are united to the Messiah will be the first to resurrect {from the earth}. 17 After that, God will snatch up all of us believers in the Messiah who are still alive on earth so that we can meet the Lord {Jesus} in the air. Both groups of believers in the Messiah will meet together on the clouds. This is how we will remain together with the Lord {Jesus} forever! 18 As a result, you must encourage each other with this message!