For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;

so that you may lead a life that is worthy of the Lord and give him entire satisfaction. May you be fruitful and increase in the doing of all good, as you thus know God!

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

What I mean is, let nobody mislead you by specious arguments.

Since you have had the messiah, even Jesus the Lord, brought to you, lead your life in him,

See that there be no one who shall lead you away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.

and having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public show of them, and led them captive in triumph in him.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from ordinances of the world: Why as though ye yet lived in the world, are ye led with traditions of them that say

let the things above, and not such worldly matters be the object of your thoughts.

among whom you once led your daily life when you lived in them.

but now renounce them all, as well as anger, animosity, malice: let calumny and obscene discourse be banish'd from your lips.

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

As saints of God, then, holy and dearly loved, let your behaviour be marked by pity and mercy, kind feeling, a low opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, and a power of undergoing all things;

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, and let it be through Him that you give thanks to God the Father.

Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work, as a thing done for the Lord and not for men.

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

Let Christian wisdom rule your behaviour to the outside world; make the very most of your time;

Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

I have sent him with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, one of your own number, for this very purpose, to let you know how I am, and to cheer your hearts.

and with him is Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will let you know everything about the situation here [in Rome].

And when this Letter has been read among you, let it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans, and you in turn must read the one I am sending to Laodicea.