1 Thessalonians
Chapter 4
1 Finally, brothers, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God--and as you are conducting yourselves--you do so even more.
此外，弟兄们，我们在主耶稣内还请求和劝勉你们：你们既由我们学会了应怎样行事，为中悦天主，你们就该怎样行事，还要更向前迈进。
2 For you know what instructions 1 we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
你们原来知道：我们因主耶稣给了你们什么诫命。
3 2 This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality,
天主的旨意就是要你们成圣，要你们戒绝邪淫，
4 that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor,
要你们每一个人明了，应以圣洁和敬意持守自己的肉体，
5 not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God;
不要放纵邪淫之情，像那些不认识天主的外邦人一样；
6 not to take advantage of or exploit a brother in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed.
在这样的事上，不要侵犯损害自己的弟兄，因为主对这一切是要报复的，就如我们先前已说过，已证明过的，
7 For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.
因为天主召叫我们不是为不洁，而是为成圣。
8 Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who (also) gives his holy Spirit to you.
所以凡轻视这诫命的，不是轻视人，而是轻视那将自己的圣神赋于你们身上的天主。
9 On the subject of mutual charity you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.
关于弟兄的友爱，不需要给你们写什么，因为你们自己由天主受了彼此相爱的教训
10 Indeed, you do this for all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Nevertheless we urge you, brothers, to progress even more,
你们对全马其顿的众弟兄原已实行了这事；不过，弟兄们，我们劝你们更向前迈进。
11 and to aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your (own) hands, as we instructed you,
你们要以过安定的生活，专务己业，亲手劳作为光荣，就如我们所吩咐过你们的，
12 that you may conduct yourselves properly toward outsiders and not depend on anyone.
好叫你们在外人前来往时有光采，不仰仗任何人。
13 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
弟兄们，关于亡者，我们不愿意你们不知道，以免你们忧伤，像其它没有望德的人一样
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
因为我们若是信耶稣死了，也复活了，同样也必信天主要领那些死于耶稣内的人同衪一起来。
15 Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, 3 will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
我们照主的话告诉你们这件事：我们这些活着存留到主来临时的人，决不会在已死的人以前。
16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
因为在发命时，在总领天使吶喊和天主的号声响时，主要亲自由天降来，那些死于基督内的人先要复活，
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together 4 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
然后我们这些活着还存留的人，同时与他们一起要被提到云彩上，到空中迎接主：这样，我们就时常同主在一起
18 Therefore, console one another with these words.
为此，你们要常用这些话彼此安慰。
Footnotes(注解)
1 [2] Instructions: these include specific guidelines on the basis of the Lord's authority, not necessarily sayings Jesus actually uttered. More profoundly, as 1 Thes 4:8 implies, the instructions are practical principles that Paul worked out in accordance with his understanding of the role of the Spirit.
2 [3-8] Many think that this passage deals with a variety of moral regulations (fornication, adultery, sharp business practices). It can be more specifically interpreted as bringing general norms to bear on a specific problem, namely, marriage within degrees of consanguinity (as between uncle and niece) forbidden in Jewish law but allowed according to a Greek heiress law, which would insure retention of an inheritance within the family and perhaps thereby occasion divorce. In that case, "immorality" (1 Thes 4:3) should be rendered as "unlawful marriage" and "this matter" (1 Thes 4:6) as "a lawsuit." The phrase in 1 Thes 4:4, "acquire a wife for himself," has often been interpreted to mean "control one's body."
3 [15] Coming of the Lord: Paul here assumes that the second coming, or parousia, will occur within his own lifetime but insists that the time or season is unknown (1 Thes 5:1-2). Nevertheless, the most important aspect of the parousia for him was the fulfillment of union with Christ. His pastoral exhortation focuses first on hope for the departed faithful, then (1 Thes 5:1-3) on the need of preparedness for those who have to achieve their goal.
4 [17] Will be caught up together: literally, snatched up, carried off; cf 2 Cor 12:2; Rev 12:5. From the Latin verb here used, rapiemur, has come the idea of "the rapture," when believers will be transported away from the woes of the world; this construction combines this verse with Matthew 24:40-41 (see the note there) // Luke 17:34-35 and passages from Revelation in a scheme of millennial dispensationalism.