Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

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;

Then you will live lives worthy of the Master, and so please God in every way. Your lives will be fruitful in every kind of good action, and your characters will grow through a fuller knowledge of God;

then you will be perfectly empowered by His glorious might for every sort of joyous endurance and forbearance,

and you will always be thanking the Father who has qualified you to share the lot of His people in the realm of light.

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

For it was the Father's gracious will that the whole of the divine perfections should dwell in Him.

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.

to whom God did will to make known what is the riches of the glory of this secret among the nations -- which is Christ in you, the hope of the glory,

[I do this] so that their hearts will be encouraged [while] being united in [mutual] love, [and] so that they will have the wealth of a fully assured understanding, in order to fully know about God's hidden secret, [which is] Christ.

I say this so that no one will mislead you with nice-sounding rhetoric.

Take care there is not some one who will carry you away by his 'philosophy'--a hollow sham!--following, as it does, mere human traditions, and dealing with puerile questions of this world, and not with Christ.

Let no man at his will defraud you of your prize through his false humility and worship of the angels, taking his stand on the visions he has seen, and vainly puffed up by his material mind;

and not holding the Head, from whom all the body, having been supplied through the joints and bands, and having been joined together, will grow with the growth of God.

All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

When Christ, your life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

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.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, so that they will not become discouraged.

knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.

praying also at the same time for us, that God will open to us a door of utterance to declare the mystery of Christ, for which also I am bound,

[Pray] that I will make it [clearly] known, as I ought to.

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.

together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

the whole will of God. for I can witness for him, that he is ardently concern'd for you, and the christians of Laodicea,

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.