For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.
shall not prevent them which are asleep: The old English word "prevent" means precede, and it is so rendered in the New International Version. The concern of the Thessalonians is that the sleeping saints might be at some sort of disadvantage when the Lord returns. Paul dispels that notion by affirming that the resurrection of the dead will occur before any good thing happens to the living.