On account of the hope which awaits its fulfillment in Heaven. Of this hope you heard long ago in the true Message of the Good News which reached you--

And who told us of the love with which the Spirit has inspired you.

And therefore we, from the very day that we heard this, have never ceased praying for you, or asking that you may possess that deeper knowledge of the will of God, which comes through all true spiritual wisdom and insight.

And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light.

And he is the Head of the Church, which is his Body. The First-born from the dead, he is to the Church the Source of its Life, that he, in all things, may stand first.

If only you remain true to your Faith, firm and immovable, never abandoning the hope held out in the Good News to which you listened, which has been proclaimed among all created things under Heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Of which I myself became a minister in virtue of the office with which God entrusted me for your benefit, to declare the Message of God in all its fulness--

That Truth which has been hidden from former ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to God's People,

It is for that I toil, struggling with all the energy which he inspires and which works powerfully within me.

He canceled the bond which stood against us--the bond that consisted of ordinances--and which was directly hostile to us! He has taken it out of our way by nailing it to the cross!

Therefore destroy all that is earthly in you--immorality, uncleanness, passions, evil desires, and that greed which is idolatry.

These are the things on account of which the Wrath of God comes,

And to which you, like others, once devoted your lives, when you lived for them.

And clothe yourselves with that new self, which, as it gains in knowledge, is being constantly renewed 'in resemblance to him who made it.'

Over all these virtues put on love; for that is the girdle which makes all complete.

Since you know that it is from the Master that you will receive the inheritance which will be your recompense. You are serving Christ, the Master.

And at the same time pray for us, that God may give us an opening for our Message, so that we may speak of the truths hidden in the Christ--the truths for which I am in chains!

And when this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read before the Church at Laodicea, and that you yourselves read the letter which will be forwarded from there.

Give this message to Archippus--'Take care to discharge to the best of your ability the office to which you were appointed in the Master's Cause.'