For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
Parallel translations
- WEB For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
- KJV For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
- NKJV For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
- NASB For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night.
- NLT For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. No one can predict its arrival.
Overview
Paul uses Jesus' own image of a thief to stress the suddenness of "the day of the Lord," an Old Testament phrase for God's decisive intervention in judgment and salvation. Its timing is hidden, so attempts to set dates miss the point. The proper response is constant readiness rather than prediction.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Rev 16:15“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
- 2 Pet 3:10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.
- Rev 3:3Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
- Matt 24:42–44Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
- Luke 12:39–40But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
- Matt 25:13Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
- Mark 13:34–35It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch.
- Jer 23:20The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.
- 1 Cor 1:8He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The believer waits for God's Son from heaven, Jesus who delivers from the wrath to come and who will return to gather his people to himself.
How 1 Thessalonians 5:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.