1 Thessalonians 4:5

Plain English Version

Don’t be like people that don’t know God. They just want to sleep with anybody and do the wrong thing with them. That is what they want to do, and they are always thinking about it. They don’t try to stop themselves. Don’t be like that.

Cross References

Matthew 6:32

Listen, God is your father in heaven, and he knows that you need these things. People that don’t know God are always worrying about those things, but you shouldn’t worry about them.

Acts 17:23

I walked around this city, and I saw a lot of statues that you set up, to show respect to a lot of gods. And I saw a stone table that you set up, and you wrote on it, ‘This is for that god that we don’t know.’ Look, you don’t know that God, but you show respect to him anyway. Listen, I do know him, so now I want to tell you all about him. I’ll tell you about that God that you don’t know.

Romans 1:24

So God let them go their own way, and they did whatever they felt like doing. They did whatever their dirty minds thought about, so they did bad things with each other’s bodies.

Romans 1:26

So, after people turned away from God, he let them do whatever dirty things they thought about. Even women didn’t want to sleep with men any more, like wives do with their husbands, but instead they did things with each other that were not normal.

Romans 1:28

You see, they didn’t like to even think about God, so he let them think about lots of bad things, and they did all sorts of wrong things.

1 Corinthians 1:21

You see, God is properly wise. He knows that most people in this world want to be smart and think up their own ideas about God. But he blocks them, so they will never get to know him that way. Instead, God is happy to save everybody that believes his message. And we tell you that message, even though other people think we are stupid.

1 Corinthians 15:34

So start thinking properly, and do what is right. Stop doing bad things. I think that some of you don’t really know God. I’m saying this to make you feel shame.

Galatians 4:8

At first you didn’t know God. Those other bad spirits were your bosses. Those spirits are not gods at all, but you couldn’t get free from them.

Colossians 3:5

So now you have to stop doing bad things. If that bad part inside you wants you to do something bad, don’t do it. It’s like you have to kill that old bad part inside you. Don’t listen to it. Don’t sleep with anyone that is not your wife or your husband, as if you are married to them. And don’t think bad, dirty thoughts. Don’t think about doing bad things. Don’t be greedy, wanting lots of money and things. Greedy people respect money and things more than they respect God.

2 Thessalonians 1:8

and with a lot of fire. They will punish all those people that don’t want to know God. Those people don’t listen to the good story about Jesus, and they don’t do what he says.

1 Peter 4:3

In the past you did lots of wrong things. You lived like people that didn’t know God. You just did whatever bad things you wanted to do. You slept with people that you were not married to, and you did with them what a husband and wife do together. You got drunk. You went to wild parties. You showed respect for statues that people made. That was really bad. But you don’t do those bad things now.