God’s Word Translation
1 Thessalonians 5:7
7People who sleep, sleep at night; people who get drunk, get drunk at night.
1 Thessalonians 5:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
- New International Version (NIV)For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
Context of 1 Thessalonians 5:7
5You belong to the day and the light not to the night and the dark. 6Therefore, we must not fall asleep like other people, but we must stay awake and be sober. People who sleep, sleep at night; people who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8Since we belong to the day, we must be sober. We must put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9It was not God’s intention that we experience his anger but that we obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Read all of 1 Thessalonians 51 Thessalonians 5:7 word by word
οἱ γὰρ καθεύδοντες νυκτὸς καθεύδουσιν καὶ οἱ μεθυσκόμενοι νυκτὸς μεθύουσιν·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Thessalonians 5:7
- Job 4:13With disturbing thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,
- Job 33:15In a dream, a prophetic vision at night, when people fall into a deep sleep, when they sleep on their beds,
- Luke 21:34“Make sure that you don’t become drunk, hung over, and worried about life. Then that day could suddenly catch you by surprise
- Romans 13:13We should live decently, as people who live in the light of day. Wild parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, rivalry, and jealousy cannot be part of our lives.
- 1 Corinthians 15:34Come back to the right point of view, and stop sinning. Some people don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
- Ephesians 5:14because light makes everything easy to see. That’s why it says: “Wake up, sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- 1 Samuel 25:36When Abigail came to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his home. It was like a king’s banquet. He was in a good mood and very drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything until dawn.
- Proverbs 23:29Who has trouble? Who has misery? Who has quarrels? Who has a complaint? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has bloodshot eyes?
- Isaiah 21:4I’m confused. I’m shaking with terror. The twilight hours I longed for make me tremble.
- Daniel 5:4They drank the wine and praised their gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, or stone.
- Acts 2:15These men are not drunk as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning.
- 2 Peter 2:13and lose what their wrongdoing earned them. These false teachers are stains and blemishes. They take pleasure in holding wild parties in broad daylight. They especially enjoy deceiving you while they eat with you.
Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 5:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7For they that sleep - Sleepers and drunkards seek the night season; so the careless and the profligate persons indulge their evil propensities, and avoid all means of instruction; they prefer their ignorance to the word of God's grace, and to the light of life. There seems to be here an allusion to the opinion mentioned under 1 Thessalonians 5:4; (note), to which the reader is requested to refer. It may be remarked, also, that it was accounted doubly…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7For they that sleep, sleep in the night - Night is the time for sleep. The day is the time for action, and in the light of day people should be employed. Night and sleep are made for each other, and so are the day and active employment. The meaning here is, that it is in accordance with the character of those who are of the night, that is, sinners, to be sunk in stupidity and carnal security, as if they were asleep; but for the children of the day, that…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-11Verses 6-11 Most of mankind do not consider the things of another world at all, because they are asleep; or they do not consider them aright, because they sleep and dream. Our moderation as to all earthly things should be known to all men. Shall Christians, who have the light of the blessed gospel shining in their faces, be careless about their souls, and unmindful of another world? We need the spiritual armour, or the three Christian graces, faith, love…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7Sleep means being lazy in morals (5:6). Being drunk is a metaphor for lacking self-control. The day of the Lord will surprise these people (5:4; Matthew 24:48–51).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. This verse is to be taken in the literal sense. Night is the time when sleepers sleep, and drinking men are drunk. To sleep by day would imply great indolence; to be drunken by day, great shamelessness. Now, in a spiritual sense, "we Christians profess to be day people, not night people; therefore our work ought to be day work, not night work; our conduct such as will bear the eye of day, and such has no need of the veil of night" [Edmunds], (1Th 5:8).Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Thessalonians 5:7
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries