1 Thessalonians 5:7
“For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Sleeping and drunkenness belong to the night, not to those who live in the day.
What Does 1 Thessalonians 5:7 Mean?
Paul draws on plain observation: 'they that sleep sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.' Sleep and drunkenness are activities of the darkness. They belong to the night, both literally and as pictures of a life lived without watchfulness or self-control.
The logic is gentle but clear. Since believers belong to the day, the works of the night are simply out of place for them. One does not carry the habits of darkness into the light. Spiritual drowsiness and the dulling of the mind are fitting only for those who still live in the night, but the children of the day have left that realm behind. Paul uses the contrast to make holiness feel natural rather than forced; it is simply living in keeping with the light to which we belong. The night has its behaviors, and so does the day. Those who are of the day are called to live awake, clear, and alert, as the daylight requires.