15 According to the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive, who are left behind until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left behind, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.