Furthermore, brothers, we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that even as you received from us how you ought to walk and please God, even as indeed you do walk, that you abound still more.

For you know what charges we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

For this is the will of God, your  ¹sanctification: that you abstain from  ²fornication;

That each one of you know how to  ¹possess his own  ²vessel in  ³sanctification and honor,

Not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do  ¹not know God;

That no one  ¹overstep and  ²take advantage of his brother in  ³the matter, because the Lord is the  ⁴avenger concerning all  ⁵these things, even as we also said before to you and solemnly charged.

For God has not called us  ¹for  ²uncleanness but  ³in  ⁴sanctification.

 ¹Consequently, he who  ²rejects, rejects not man but God, who also gives His  ³Holy Spirit to you.

Now concerning  ¹brotherly love, you have no need for me to write to you, for you yourselves are taught of God to  ²love one another;

For you also do this unto all the brothers in the whole of Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, to abound still more

And to aspire to be quiet and attend to your own affairs and work with your hands, even as we charged you,

That you may walk becomingly toward those outside and may have need of nothing.

But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are  ¹sleeping, that you would not grieve even as also the rest who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so also those who have fallen asleep through Jesus, God will bring with Him.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who are left remaining unto the  ¹coming of the Lord, shall by no means precede those who have fallen asleep;

Because the Lord Himself, with a  ¹shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the  ²trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be  ¹caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord  ²in the air; and thus we will be always with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another with these words.

And they will rebuild the ancient ruins;
They will raise up the former desolations;
And they will repair the cities of waste,
The desolations of generation upon generation.

And strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner will be your plowmen and vinedressers.

But you will be called the  ¹priests of Jehovah;
People will speak of you as the ministers of our God.
You will eat the wealth of nations,
And you will boast in their glory.

Instead of your shame there will be a double portion,
And instead of humiliation they will give a ringing shout for their portion.
Therefore in their land they will possess double;
Eternal joy will be theirs.

For I, Jehovah, love justice;
I hate robbery  ¹with wrong;
And I will faithfully give them their recompense,
And I will make an eternal covenant with them.

Then their seed will be known among the nations,
And their offspring in the midst of the peoples;
All who see them will acknowledge them,
That they are the seed whom Jehovah has blessed.

I will rejoice greatly in Jehovah,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with the robe of righteousness;
I am like a bridegroom who wears the headdress of the priest,
And like a bride who adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its sprout,
And as the garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,
So will the Lord Jehovah cause righteousness and praise
To spring up before all the nations.

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
And for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,
Until her  ¹righteousness goes forth like brightness,
And her  ¹salvation like a burning torch.

And the nations will see your righteousness,
And all the kings, your glory;
And you will be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of Jehovah will designate.

You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah,
And a royal turban in the palm of your God.

And it will no longer be said to you, Forsaken!
Nor to your land will it be said any longer, Desolate!
But you will be called, My delight is in her,
And your land, Married;
For Jehovah delights in you,
And your land will be married.

For as a young man marries a virgin,
Your sons will marry you;
And with the joy of the bridegroom over the bride
Your God will rejoice over you.

Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have appointed watchmen;
All day and all night
They will never keep silent.
You who remind Jehovah,
Do not be dumb;

And do not give Him quiet
Until He establishes
And until He makes Jerusalem
A  ¹praise in the earth.

Jehovah has sworn by His right hand
And by His strong arm:
Surely I will never again give your grain
As food for your enemies,
And surely the children of the foreigner will not drink your new wine
For which you have labored;

But they who have gathered it will eat it,
And they will praise Jehovah,
And they who have collected it will drink it
In the courts of My holiness.

Go through, go through the gates;
Prepare the way for the people;
Cast up, cast up the highway;
Free it of stones;
Raise up a  ¹standard for the peoples.

See, Jehovah has announced
To the end of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
Your salvation is now coming;
Now His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.

And they will call them, The holy people,
The redeemed of Jehovah;
And you will be called, Sought after!
A city not forsaken!

 ¹Who is this who comes from Edom
With red-stained garments, from Bozrah?
This One who is majestic in His apparel,
Marching in the greatness of His strength?
It is I who speak in righteousness,
Mighty to save.

Why are you red in apparel,
And your garments like those of him who treads in the  ¹winepress?

I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And from the peoples there was no man with Me.
And I trod them in My anger
And trampled them in My wrath;
And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I have stained all My apparel.

For the day of recompense was in My heart,
And the year of My redemption had come.

And I looked and there was no one to help;
And I was appalled that there was no one to uphold.
Therefore My own arm accomplished salvation for Me,
And My wrath, it upheld Me.

And I trod down the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk in My wrath,
And I poured out their lifeblood upon the earth.

I will make mention of the lovingkindnesses of Jehovah,
The praises of Jehovah,
According to all that Jehovah has bestowed on us
And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has bestowed on them according to His compassions
And according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.

For He said, Surely, they are My people,
Children who will not deal falsely;
So He became their Savior.

In all their affliction He was afflicted,
And the  ¹Angel of His presence saved them;
In His love and in His mercy
He redeemed them,
And He bore them up and carried them
All the days of old.

But they rebelled and grieved
His  ¹Spirit of holiness;
Therefore He turned to become their enemy;
He fought against them.

 ¹Then He remembered the days of old, Moses and His people:
Where is He who brought them up out of the sea
With the  ²shepherds of His flock?
Where is He who put in their midst
His Spirit of holiness;

Who made His glorious arm
Go at the right hand of Moses;
Who divided the waters before them,
To make for Himself a name forever;

Who led them through the depths,
Like a horse in the wilderness,
And they did not stumble?

Like the cattle which go down into the valley,
The Spirit of Jehovah caused them to rest.
Thus did You lead Your people,
To make for Yourself a glorious name.

Look down from heaven,
And see from the habitation of Your holiness and Your beauty:
Where are Your zeal and Your mighty acts?
The stirring of Your inward parts
And Your compassions are restrained toward me.

For You are our  ¹Father,
Since Abraham does not know us,
And Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, Jehovah, are our Father;
Our Redeemer from eternity is Your name.

Why, O Jehovah, do You cause us to wander from Your ways
And harden our hearts so that we do not fear You?
Return for the sake of Your servants,
The tribes of Your inheritance.

Your holy people have possessed Your sanctuary for a little while;
Our adversaries have trodden it down.

We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
Like those who have not been called by Your name.