1 Thessalonians 5:3
“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →When people feel most secure, sudden ruin will overtake them, as labor pains come upon an expectant mother.
What Does 1 Thessalonians 5:3 Mean?
Paul describes the false security of a world that is not watching. Just when people declare 'Peace and safety,' confident that all is well, 'sudden destruction' overtakes them. He compares it to 'travail upon a woman with child,' labor pains that arrive suddenly and cannot be put off, and from which 'they shall not escape.'
The danger is not the day itself but the slumber that leaves people unready for it. Those who lull themselves into thinking judgment will never come are precisely the ones it surprises. The image of labor pains is telling: such pangs are sudden but not random; they come at their appointed time and cannot be avoided. So with the day of the Lord. This is a sober warning to a comfortable world, yet for believers it is a summons to a different posture. Paul is not describing the fate of his readers but the fate of the heedless, and he means the contrast to wake his people to watchfulness and hope.