Bible Strands
1 Thessalonians 5:15
Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Thessalonian congregation in a run of communal exhortations (v.14: admonish, encourage, help, be patient; v.16: rejoice). This verse is the ethical hinge between those duties.
The words — ἀποδῷ (apodō, G591) is the aorist subjunctive of ἀποδίδωμι, a commercial term for settling a debt or making repayment. The verse frames retaliation as a transaction the community is to refuse.
The thread — The same prohibition appears in Leviticus 19:18 (no revenge against your people), 1 Peter 3:9 (do not repay evil with evil), and Galatians 6:10 (do good to everyone, especially the household of faith).
Why it lands — The command is not passive forbearance but active pursuit: the reader must deliberately do good toward the very person who wronged them.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
- Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
- Leviticus 19:18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- 3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
- Romans 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
- Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
- 1 Peter 3:11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.
- 1 Peter 2:22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
- 1 Corinthians 6:7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
- 1 Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.