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.
For ye know what {Greek: charges.}charge we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication;
that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God;
that no man {Or, overreach}transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter: because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we {Or, told you plainly}forewarned you and testified.
For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you.
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;
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;
and that ye {Greek: be ambitious. See Romans 15:20 margin.}study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you;
that ye may walk becomingly toward them that are without, and may have need of nothing.
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.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep {Greek: through. Or, will God through Jesus}in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the {Or, presence}coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.
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;
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.
Wherefore {Or, exhort chapter 5:11.}comfort one another with these words.
Querverweise zu 1. Thessalonicher 4,6 1Thes 4,6
Thou shalt not steal.
And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buy of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not wrong one another.
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,At the time when their foot shall slide:For the day of their calamity is at hand,And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
But I will warn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, who after he hath killed hath {Or, authority}power to cast into {Greek: Gehenna.}hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.
And ye shall not wrong one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am Jehovah your God.
If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant,When they contended with me;
envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I {Or, tell you plainly}forewarn you, even as I did {Or, tell you plainly}forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Ye shall not steal; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another.
Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a {Or, bribe}ransom {Or, that I should hide mine eyes at him}to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
What then shall I do when God riseth up?And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him: the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.
O Jehovah, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth,Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth.
If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and he deal with him {Or, as a chattel}as a slave, or sell him; then that thief shall die: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.
Rob not the poor, {Or, for}because he is poor;Neither {Or, crush}oppress the afflicted in the gate:
I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted,And justice for the needy.
Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small.
Thou shalt not have in thy house diverse measures, a great and a small.
A perfect and just weight shalt thou have; a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.
For all that do such things, even all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.
if ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
Rob not the poor, {Or, for}because he is poor;Neither {Or, crush}oppress the afflicted in the gate:
{Hebrew: A balance of deceit.}A false balance is an abomination to Jehovah;But a just weight is his delight.
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
For Jehovah will plead their cause,And despoil of life those that despoil them.
A just balance and scales are Jehovah's;All the weights of the bag are his work.
Woe to her that is rebellious and polluted! to the oppressing city!
If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in {Or, the state}a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they.
It is bad, it is bad, saith the buyer;But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Diverse weights are an abomination to Jehovah;And {Hebrew: a balance of deceit.}a false balance is not good.
Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies;
Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression,The same is the companion of a destroyer.
For the {Or, a wrath}wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who {Or, hold the truth Compare 1 Corinthians 7:30 (Greek)}hinder the truth in unrighteousness;
For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah {Hebrew: the plant of his delight.}his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, {Or, shedding of blood}oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry.
Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto {Or, wrath}the wrath of God: for it is written, {Deuteronomy 32:35}Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord.
None {Hebrew: called.}sueth in righteousness, and none pleadeth in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch adders' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth; and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their {Or, highways}paths.
Let no man deceive you with empty words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.
Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.
rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere. See marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel of our Lord Jesus:
Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness; take away your {Hebrew: expulsions.}exactions from my people, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.
And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.
This is the oblation that ye shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley;
and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer; (for ten baths are a homer);
saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may {Hebrew: open.}set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous; he will not do iniquity; {Hebrew: morning by morning.}every morning doth he bring his justice to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Thou knowest the commandments, {Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20.}Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor thy father and mother.
Nay, already it is altogether {Or, a loss to you}a defect in you, that ye have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather take wrong? why not rather be defrauded?
Nay, but ye yourselves do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men,
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.