1 Thessalonians 5:3 (GNV)

Passage

For when they shall say, Peace, and safetie, then shall come vpon them sudden destruction, as the trauaile vpon a woman with childe, and they shall not escape,

Nearby Context

1 Thessalonians 5:1 Bvt of the times and seasons, brethren, yee haue no neede that I write vnto you.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 For ye your selues knowe perfectly, that the day of the Lord shall come, euen as a thiefe in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace, and safetie, then shall come vpon them sudden destruction, as the trauaile vpon a woman with childe, and they shall not escape,

1 Thessalonians 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkenes, that that day shall come on you, as it were a thiefe.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 Yee are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, neither of darkenesse.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "peace", "safetie", "come", "vpon", "sudden", and "destruction". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "peace", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "For ye your selues knowe perfectly that..." into verse 4's "But ye brethren are not in darkenes...", so "shall" and "peace" 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 "shall" and "peace" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.