We never pray for you without thanking God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

for what we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love you have for all God's people,

and for the hope of what is stored up for you in heaven. You first heard of it long ago when the true message of the gospel

That is why, from the day I first heard of it, I have never given up praying for you and asking God to fill you, through full spiritual wisdom and insight, with a clear knowledge of what his will is,

Then, so mighty is his majesty, he will nerve you perfectly with strength for the cheerful exercise of endurance and forbearance in every situation,

for it was through him that everything was created in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, angelic thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities??ll things were created through him and for him.

He is the head of the church, it is his body; for he is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead??hat he might come to stand first in everything.

For all the divine fulness chose to dwell in him,

through dying in his human body) in holiness, and free from reproach or blame, into God's presence??23 if at least you continue firm and steadfast in the exercise of faith, and never shift from the hope held out in the good news to which you listened, which has been preached all over the world, and for which I, Paul, became a worker.

At present I am glad to be suffering in your interest, and I am making up in my own person what is lacking in Christ's sufferings for the church, which is his body.

That is what I am working for, fighting with all the energy with which he so mightily endows me.

For I want you to know what a fight I am putting up for you and for our brothers in Laodicea, and for all who do not know me personally,

For though I am absent from you in person I am with you in spirit, and I am glad to observe your harmony and the solidity of your faith in Christ.

For it is in him that all the fulness of God's nature lives embodied,

So no one can call you to account for what you eat or drink, or do about annual or monthly feasts or Sabbaths.

Such practices pass for wisdom, with their self-imposed devotions, their self-humiliation, and their ascetic discipline, but they carry with them no real distinction, they are really only a catering to the flesh.

For you have died, and your life now lies hidden with Christ in God.

So treat as dead your physical nature, as far as immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed are concerned; for it is really idolatry.

You must not lie to one another. For you have stripped off your old self with its ways

Let the ruling principle in your hearts be Christ's peace, for in becoming members of one body you have been called under its sway. And you must be thankful.

You married women must subordinate yourselves to your husbands, for that is your duty as Christians.

Children, always obey your parents, for that is commendable in Christians.

You who are slaves must always obey your earthly masters, not with mere external service, as though you had only men to please, but with sincerity of heart, because you fear the Lord.

Work at everything you do with all your hearts, as work done not for men only but for the Lord,

for you know that it is from him that you are to receive that inheritance which is to be your reward. Think of Christ as the master you are working for.

For the man who wrongs anyone will be paid back for the wrong he has done; there will be no exceptions.

Pray for me too, that God may give me an opening for the message, and let me tell the secret of Christ on account of which I am kept in prison

I am sending him to you for the express purpose of letting you know my circumstances, and of cheering your hearts.

So also does Jesus who is called Justus. They are the only ones among the converts from Judaism who have worked with me for the reign of God who have proved a comfort to me.

Epaphras, one of your own number, a slave of Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you. He is always standing up for you in his prayers that you may stand fast, like men of mature convictions, whatever God's will for you may be.