2
To those who don't know any better, it seems as if they have died. Their departure from this life was considered their misfortune.
3
Their leaving us seemed to be their destruction, but in reality they are at peace.
4
It may look to others as if they have been punished, but they have the hope of living forever.
5
They were disciplined a little, but they will be rewarded with abundant good things, because God tested them and found that they deserve to be with him.
6
He tested them like gold in the furnace; he accepted them like an entirely burned offering.