1 Thessalonians 5:23
New International Version
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New Living Translation
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

English Standard Version
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Berean Standard Bible
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Berean Literal Bible
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved, entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

King James Bible
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New King James Version
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New American Standard Bible
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

NASB 1995
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

NASB 1977
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amplified Bible
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christian Standard Bible
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

American Standard Version
And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But The God of peace shall make all of you perfectly holy and shall keep your whole spirit, soul and body without fault for the arrival of our Lord Yeshua The Messiah.

Contemporary English Version
I pray that God, who gives peace, will make you completely holy. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept healthy and faultless until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And may the God of peace himself sanctify you in all things; that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

English Revised Version
And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
May the God who gives peace make you holy in every way. May he keep your whole being-spirit, soul, and body-blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes.

Good News Translation
May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being--spirit, soul, and body--free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

International Standard Version
May the God of peace himself make you holy in every way. And may your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—remain blameless when our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, appears.

Literal Standard Version
and may the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved, unblameably at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Majority Standard Bible
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New American Bible
May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

NET Bible
Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New Revised Standard Version
May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New Heart English Bible
May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Weymouth New Testament
And may God Himself who gives peace, make you entirely holy; and may your spirits, souls and bodies be preserved complete and be found blameless at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

World English Bible
May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Young's Literal Translation
and the God of the peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved unblameably in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Final Blessings
22Abstain from every form of evil. 23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.…

Cross References
Luke 1:46
Then Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,

Romans 15:33
The God of peace be with all of you. Amen.

1 Corinthians 1:8
He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

1 Thessalonians 2:19
After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?

1 Thessalonians 3:11
Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:22
Abstain from every form of evil.


Treasury of Scripture

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God.

Romans 15:5,13,33
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: …

Romans 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

sanctify.

1 Thessalonians 3:13
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

Leviticus 20:8,26
And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you…

your.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

preserved.

1 Thessalonians 3:13
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

1 Corinthians 1:8,9
Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Ephesians 5:26,27
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, …

Jump to Previous
Blame Blameless Bodies Body Christ Complete Completely Entire Entirely Free Gives Holy Jesus Kept Peace Presence Preserved Sanctify Sin Soul Souls Spirit Spirits Unblameably Way Whole Wholly
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Blame Blameless Bodies Body Christ Complete Completely Entire Entirely Free Gives Holy Jesus Kept Peace Presence Preserved Sanctify Sin Soul Souls Spirit Spirits Unblameably Way Whole Wholly
1 Thessalonians 5
1. He proceeds in the description of Christ's coming to judgment;
16. and gives various instructions;
23. and so concludes the epistle.














(23) And.--The logic of such an expression as, "Do this, and may you be happy," lies in the writer's own connection with both the command and the prayer: "I bid you abstain from every evil kind of thing, and I pray that God Himself may enable you to keep the commandment."

The very God of peace.--In more usual English, "the God of peace Himself:" the contrast is between the futile efforts after holiness of which they in themselves were capable, and the almighty power of sanctification exercised by God. This sanctification (which is the special work of the Third Person) is here ascribed to the First Person of the Holy Trinity, from whom the Holy Ghost proceeds. He is called (as in Hebrews 13:20) the "God of peace," not in reference to any dissensions between the Thessalonians (1Thessalonians 5:13), but because of the peace which His sanctification brings into the soul, so that it fears neither temptation's power nor persecution's rage. (Comp. the Second Collect for Evensong).

Sanctify you wholly.--Rather, sanctify you whole. The idea is rather that of leaving no part unsanctified, than that of doing the work completely so far as it goes: thus it serves to introduce the next sentence, which explains it.

And I pray God.--If there were need of any insertion, it should have been "We pray God:" Silas and Timothy are never forgotten throughout.

Spirit and soul and body.--This is St. Paul's fullest and most scientific psychology, not merely a rhetorical piling up of words without any particular meaning being assigned to them. Elsewhere, he merely divides man according to popular language, into two parts, visible and invisible, "body and spirit" (1Corinthians 6:20; 1Corinthians 7:34, et al.); the division into "body and soul" he never uses. (Comp. Note on 1Corinthians 2:14.) The "spirit" (pneuma) is the part by which we apprehend realities intuitively--i.e., without reasoning upon them; with it we touch, see, serve, worship God (John 4:23-24; Romans 1:9; 1Corinthians 6:17; Revelation 1:10, et al.); it is the very inmost consciousness of the man (see, e.g., 1Corinthians 2:11); it is the part of him which survives death (Hebrews 12:23; 1Peter 3:19; comp. Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59). The "soul." (psyche) includes the intellect, the affections, and the will: and it is of the very essence of the gospel to force sharply upon men the distinction between it and the spirit (Hebrews 4:12). Low-living men may have soul (i.e., intellect, affection, will) in abundance, but their spirit falls into complete abeyance (Jude 1:19); the soul belongs altogether to the lower nature, so that when St. Paul uses the two-fold division, "body and spirit," the soul is reckoned (not, probably, as Bishop Ellicott says on our present passage, as part of the spirit, but) as part of the body; and when St. Paul describes the "works of the flesh," he includes among them such distinctly soul-sins as "heresies" (Galatians 5:20). Sanctification preserves all these three divisions entire, and in their due relation to each other; without sanctification, the spirit might be overwhelmed by the other parts gaining the predominance, which would, of course, eventually be the ruin both of "soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28. N.B., that our Lord says nothing of the destruction of the "spirit" in hell: the question is whether He there definitely meant to exclude "spirit," or used "soul" popularly as including it). Where the New Testament writers acquired such a psychology cannot be determined, but it was probably derived from experimental knowledge of life, not from books, and all experience confirms its accuracy. Modern science tends more and more to show that "soul" is a function of "body." . . .

Verse 23. - And the very God of peace; the God who communicates peace; an expression frequently employed by Paul at the close of his Epistles (Romans 15:33; Romans 16:20; Philippians 4:9; 2 Corinthians 13:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:16). Sanctify you wholly; that is, perfectly, without anything wanting, referring to the entireness of the sanctification, which is presently expressed in detail. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body; the adjective "whole" applies to all the three substantives. The apostle here divides human nature into three parts - spirit, soul, and body; and this threefold division is not a mere rhetorical statement: "The apostle pouring forth from the fullness of his heart a prayer for his converts" (Jowett); but a distinct statement of the three component parts of human nature. The "spirit" is the highest part of man, that which assimilates him to God; renders him capable of religion, and susceptible of being acted upon by the Spirit of God. The "soul" is the inferior part of his mental nature, the seat of the passions and desires, of the natural propensities. The "body" is the corporeal frame. Such a threefold distinction of human nature was not unknown among the Stoics and Platonists. There are also traces of it in the Old Testament, the spirit, or breath of God, being distinguished from the soul. Be preserved blameless. "The spirit is preserved blameless at the advent when the voice of truth rules it, the soul when it strives against all the charms of the senses, and the body when it is not abused as the instrument of shameful actions" (Lunemann). Unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Now
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

{may} the
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

God
Θεὸς (Theos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

of peace
εἰρήνης (eirēnēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1515: Probably from a primary verb eiro; peace; by implication, prosperity.

Himself
Αὐτὸς (Autos)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

sanctify
ἁγιάσαι (hagiasai)
Verb - Aorist Optative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 37: From hagios; to make holy, i.e. purify or consecrate; to venerate.

you
ὑμᾶς (hymas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

completely,
ὁλοτελεῖς (holoteleis)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3651: Perfect, complete, all. From holos and telos; complete to the end, i.e. Absolutely perfect.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

{may} your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

entire
ὁλόκληρον (holoklēron)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3648: Complete in every part, sound, perfect, entire. From holos and kleros; complete in every part, i.e. Perfectly sound.

spirit,
πνεῦμα (pneuma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4151: Wind, breath, spirit.

soul,
ψυχὴ (psychē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5590: From psucho; breath, i.e. spirit, abstractly or concretely.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

body
σῶμα (sōma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4983: Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.

be kept
τηρηθείη (tērētheiē)
Verb - Aorist Optative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 5083: From teros; to guard, i.e. To note; by implication, to detain; by extension, to withhold; by extension, to withhold.

blameless
ἀμέμπτως (amemptōs)
Adverb
Strong's 274: Blamelessly. Adverb from amemptos; faultlessly.

at
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

coming
παρουσίᾳ (parousia)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3952: From the present participle of pareimi; a being near, i.e. Advent; physically, aspect.

of our
ἡμῶν (hēmōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

Lord
Κυρίου (Kyriou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.

Jesus
Ἰησοῦ (Iēsou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2424: Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.

Christ.
Χριστοῦ (Christou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 5547: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.


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NT Letters: 1 Thessalonians 5:23 May the God of peace himself sanctify (1 Thess. 1 Thes. 1Th iTh i Th)
1 Thessalonians 5:22
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