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

For this reason from the day I heard of it I have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will with every kind of wisdom and spiritual insight;

And He is the head of the [spiritual] body, the church. He is [its] source, the firstborn One from the dead [i.e., the first one to return to life, never to die again], so that He could rank first [in importance] over all things.

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.

And this he will do if, indeed, you continue in the faith, firmly founded and stedfast, and never moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, and which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, that gospel of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those [believers] at Laodicea, and for all who [like yourselves] have never seen me face to face.

Let no man make you shoot at a wrong mark, which after his own imagination walketh in the humbleness and holiness of angels, things which he never saw: causeless, puffed up with his fleshly mind,

But now you also must renounce them all. Anger, passion, and ill-will must be put away; slander, too, and foul talk, so that they may never soil your lips.

Never lie to one another. Get rid of your old self and its habits,

Husbands, love your wives, and never treat them harshly.

Fathers, never irritate your children, lest they should become disheartened.

Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you].