¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there was thunder^(A) and lightning, with a thick cloud^(B) over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.^(C) Everyone in the camp trembled.^(D)

The Festival of Trumpets^(A)

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly^(B) commemorated with trumpet blasts.^{(C) 25} Do no regular work,^(D) but present a food offering to the Lord.^(E)’”

¹² In that day the Lord will thresh^(A) from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,^(B) and you, Israel, will be gathered^(C) up one by one. ¹³ And in that day^(D) a great trumpet^(E) will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled^(F) in Egypt^(G) will come and worship^(H) the Lord on the holy mountain^(I) in Jerusalem.

The Lord Will Appear

³¹ And he will send his angels^(A) with a loud trumpet call,^(B) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

¹² In that day the Lord will thresh^(A) from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,^(B) and you, Israel, will be gathered^(C) up one by one. ¹³ And in that day^(D) a great trumpet^(E) will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled^(F) in Egypt^(G) will come and worship^(H) the Lord on the holy mountain^(I) in Jerusalem.

Believers Who Have Died

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed^(A) about those who sleep in death,^(B) so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.^{(C) 14} For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,^(D) and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.^{(E) 15} According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,^(F) will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.^{(G) 16} For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,^(H) with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel^(I) and with the trumpet call of God,^(J) and the dead in Christ will rise first.^{(K) 17} After that, we who are still alive and are left^(L) will be caught up together with them in the clouds^(M) to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord^(N) forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another^(O) with these words.

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood^(A) cannot inherit the kingdom of God,^(B) nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.^{(C) 51} Listen, I tell you a mystery:^(D) We will not all sleep,^(E) but we will all be changed^(F)— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,^(G) the dead^(H) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable^(I) must clothe itself with the imperishable,^(J) and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[a](K)

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin,^(M) and the power of sin is the law.^{(N) 57} But thanks be to God!^(O) He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.^(P)

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,^(Q) because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.^(R)