Knox Bible

1

There is no need, brethren, to write to you about the times and the seasons of all this;

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you are keeping it clearly in mind, without being told, that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

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It is just when men are saying, All quiet, all safe, that doom will fall upon them suddenly, like the pangs that come to a woman in travail, and there will be no escape from it.

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Whereas you, brethren, are not living in the darkness, for the day to take you by surprise, like a thief;

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no, you are all born to the light, born to the day; we do not belong to the night and its darkness.

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We must not sleep on, then, like the rest of the world, we must watch and keep sober;

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night is the sleeper’s time for sleeping, the drunkard’s time for drinking;

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we must keep sober, like men of the daylight. We must put on our breastplate, the breastplate of faith and love, our helmet, which is the hope of salvation.

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God has not destined us for vengeance; he means us to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

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who has died for our sakes, that we, waking or sleeping, may find life with him.

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Go on, then, encouraging one another and building up one another’s faith.

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Brethren, we would ask you to pay deference to those who work among you, those who have charge of you in the Lord, and give you directions;

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make it a rule of charity to hold them in special esteem, in honour of the duty they perform, and maintain unity with them.✻

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And, brethren, let us make this appeal to you; warn the vagabonds, encourage the faint-hearted, support the waverers, be patient towards all.

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See to it that nobody repays injury with injury; you must aim always at what is best, for one another and for all around you.✻

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Joy be with you always.

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Never cease praying.

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Give thanks upon all occasions; this is what God expects of you all in Christ Jesus.

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Do not stifle the utterances of the Spirit,

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do not hold prophecy in low esteem;

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and yet you must scrutinize it all carefully, retaining only what is good,

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and rejecting all that has a look of evil about it.✻

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So may the God of peace sanctify you wholly, keep spirit and soul and body unimpaired, to greet the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ without reproach.

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The God who called you is true to his promise; he will not fail you.

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Brethren, pray for us.

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Greet all the brethren with the kiss of saints.

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I adjure you in the Lord’s name to see that this letter is read out to all our holy brethren.

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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen.