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16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel,[a] and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left,[b] will be suddenly caught up[c] together[d] with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 tn Neither noun in this phrase (ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου, en phōnē archangelou, “with the voice of the archangel”) has the article in keeping with Apollonius’ Canon. Since ἀρχάγγελος (archangelos) is most likely par excellence, both nouns are translated as definite in keeping with Apollonius’ Corollary (see ExSyn 250-51).
  2. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 tc The words οἱ περιλειπόμενοι (hoi perileipomenoi, “[the ones] who are left”) are lacking in F G 0226vid ar b as well as a few fathers, but the rest of the textual tradition has the words. Most likely, the Western mss omitted the words because of perceived redundancy with οἱ ζῶντες (hoi zōntes, “[the ones] who are alive”).
  3. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 tn Or “snatched up.” The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb “suddenly” to make this implicit notion clear.
  4. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 tn Or “simultaneously,” but this meaning does not fit as well in the parallel in 5:10.