Passage

1 Thessalonians 4

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Finally then, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, even as ye do walk,, that ye abound more and more. 2. For ye know what charge we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication; 4. that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5. not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God; 6. that no man transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter: because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. 7. For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. 8. Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you. 9. But concerning love of the brethren ye have no need that one write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another; 10. for indeed ye do it toward all the brethren that are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brethren, that ye abound more and more; 11. and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you; 12. that ye may walk becomingly toward them that are without, and may have need of nothing. 13. But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17. then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:1-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more. 2. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3. For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, 4. that each one of you know how to control his own body in sanctification and honor, 5. not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God; 6. that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. 7. For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. 8. Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you. 9. But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, 10. for indeed you do it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more; 11. and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; 12. that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing. 13. But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15. For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. 16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, 17. then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. 18. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:1-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. ^{beseech: or, request} ^{exhort: or, beseech} 2. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. 3. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4. That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5. Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: 6. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. ^{defraud: or, oppress, or, overreach} ^{in: or, in the matter} 7. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. 8. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. ^{despiseth: or, rejecteth} 9. But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 10. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; 11. And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12. That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. ^{of: or, of no man} 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ^{prevent: or, come before, or, anticipate, or, precede} 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. ^{comfort: or, exhort}" (1 Thessalonians 4:1-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. As to the rest, then, brethren, we request you, and call upon you in the Lord Jesus, as ye did receive from us how it behoveth you to walk and to please God, that ye may abound the more, 2. for ye have known what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus, 3. for this is the will of God, your sanctification; that ye abstain from the whoredom, 4. that each of you know his own vessel to possess in sanctification and honour, 5. not in the affection of desire, as also the nations that were not knowing God, 6. that no one go beyond and defraud in the matter his brother, because an avenger [is] the Lord of all these, as also we spake before to you and testified, 7. for God did not call us on uncleanness, but in sanctification; 8. he, therefore, who is despising, doth not despise man, but God, who also did give His Holy Spirit to us. 9. And concerning the brotherly love, ye have no need of [my] writing to you, for ye yourselves are God-taught to love one another, 10. for ye do it also to all the brethren who [are] in all Macedonia; and we call upon you, brethren, to abound still more, 11. and to study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we did command you, 12. that ye may walk becomingly unto those without, and may have lack of nothing. 13. And I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, that ye may not sorrow, as also the rest who have not hope, 14. for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God those asleep through Jesus he will bring with him, 15. for this to you we say in the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who do remain over to the presence of the Lord, may not precede those asleep, 16. because the Lord himself, in a shout, in the voice of a chief-messenger, and in the trump of God, shall come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, 17. then we who are living, who are remaining over, together with them shall be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in air, and so always with the Lord we shall be; 18. so, then, comfort ye one another in these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:1-18, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.