1 Thessalonians 5:6 (DRB)

Passage

Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do: but let us watch, and be sober.

Nearby Context

1 Thessalonians 5:4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 For all you are the children of light and children of the day: we are not of the night nor of darkness.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do: but let us watch, and be sober.

1 Thessalonians 5:7 For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunk, are drunk in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having on the breast plate of faith and charity and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "therefore", "sleep", "others", "watch", and "sober". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "therefore" and "sleep", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "For all you are the children of..." into verse 7's "For they that sleep sleep in the...", so "therefore" and "sleep" belong inside that flow. In 1 Thessalonians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "therefore" and "sleep" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.