1 Thessalonians 5:9–10

5:9 For God did not destine us for wrath11 but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 5:10 He died12 for us so that whether we are alert or asleep13 we will come to life together with him.

11	sn God did not destine us for wrath. In context this refers to the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth in the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:2–4).
12	tn Grk “the one who died,” describing Jesus Christ (1 Thess 5:9). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 10 in the translation.
13	sn The phrases alert or asleep may be understood (1) of moral alertness (living in faith, love, and hope as vv. 6, 8 call for, versus being unresponsive to God) or (2) of physical life and death (whether alive or dead). The first fits better with the context of 5:1–9, while the second returns to the point Paul started with in 4:13–18 (no disadvantage for the believing dead).