came among you, to thrive and bear its fruit among you, as it does all over the world, from the time when you first heard about the mercy of God,

and really came to know it, in the form in which Epaphras, my dear fellow-slave, taught it to you. He is my faithful representative as a servant of Christ,

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,

He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the realm of his dear Son,

by whom we have been ransomed from captivity through having our sins forgiven.

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.

And it has brought you, who were once estranged from him, hostile in attitude and engaged in doing wrong (though now he has reconciled you

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.

In it, by divine appointment, I became a worker, that I might preach among you the message of God in its fulness??26 that secret, hidden from the ages and generations, but now disclosed to those who are consecrated to him,

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.

when in your baptism you were buried with him, and raised to life with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead.

Such people lose their connection with the head, from which the whole body through its ligaments and sinews must be governed and united if it is to grow in the divine way.

But now you too must put them all aside??nger, rage, spite, rough, abusive talk??hese must be banished from your lips.

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.

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.

When this letter has been read to you, have it read to the church at Laodicea also, and see that you read the letter that is coming from there.

This farewell is in my own hand, from Paul. Remember that I am in prison. God bless you.