Chapter 5

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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;

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

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

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.

Joy be with you always.

Never cease praying.

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

Do not stifle the utterances of the Spirit,

do not hold prophecy in low esteem;

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

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

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.

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

Brethren, pray for us.

Greet all the brethren with the kiss of saints.

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

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