A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.

Sisters and brothers, we want you to be clear about those who sleep in death;
otherwise you might yield to grief and lose all hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, in the same way God will bring with Jesus all who have fallen
asleep believing in Jesus. We are speaking to you now just as if Jesus were
speaking to you: we who live, who survive until Jesus returns, will have no
advantage over those who have fallen asleep. No, Jesus will personally come
down from heaven with a shout, at the sound of the archangel’s voice and the
trumpet of God, and those who have died in Christ will rise first. Then we the
living, the survivors, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet Jesus in
the air—and thenceforth we will be with Jesus increasingly. Therefore console
one another with these words.

The Word of God recorded in the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.