This description is true. So rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and free from doctrinal error,

so as to make them sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.

They say that they have knowledge of God, while by their acts they are turning their backs on him; they are hated by all, hard-hearted, and judged to be without value for any good work.

But say the things which fit sound doctrine,

Older men should be sober-minded [See note at I Tim. 3:2], dignified [i.e., respectable], sensible, sound in the faith [or, "in their faith"], in their love and in their perseverance.

that the elder women in like manner be in deportment as becoming those who have to say to sacred things, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, teachers of what is right;

so that they may encourage the young women to tenderly love their husbands and their children,

to be self-controlled, pure, homemakers, kind, and submissive to their husbands, so that God’s message will not be slandered.

And so again with the younger men--impress upon them the need of discretion.

In all things see that you are an example of good works; holy in your teaching, serious in behaviour,

Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

not stealing [things, regardless of value], but proving themselves trustworthy, so that in every respect they will adorn and do credit to the teaching of God our Savior.

For God's unearned favor has appeared, bringing salvation to all people [i.e., in the coming of Christ].

Training us so that, turning away from evil and the desires of this world, we may be living wisely and uprightly in the knowledge of God in this present life;

Who gave himself for us, so that he might make us free from all wrongdoing, and make for himself a people clean in heart and on fire with good works.

Tell them these things. Encourage and rebuke with full authority. Let no one disregard or despise you [conduct yourself and your teaching so as to command respect].

Constantly remind people to submit to and obey the rulers who have authority over them, so as to be ready for any good enterprise,

To say no evil of any man, not to be fighters, to give way to others, to be gentle in behaviour to all men.

"Twas not for deeds that we had done, but by his steadfast love alone, he saved us through a second birth, renewed us by the Spirit's work,

whom He poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This is a faithful and trustworthy saying; and concerning these things I want you to speak with great confidence, so that those who have believed God [that is, those who have trusted in, relied on, and accepted Christ Jesus as Savior,] will be careful to participate in doing good and honorable things. These things are excellent [in themselves] and profitable for the people.

If a man is causing divisions among you, after warning him once or twice, have nothing more to say to him.

Do your best to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they are supplied and lack nothing.

Our people must learn to do good deeds to meet necessary demands [whatever the occasion may require], so that they will not be unproductive.

All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with all of you.

And to Apphia, our sister, and to Archippus, our brother in God's army, and to the church in your house:

because I hear of your love and of your faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints (God’s people).

and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.

For I have found great joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of God's people have been, and are, refreshed through you, my brother.

Therefore, though I might with Christ's authority speak very freely and order you to do what is fitting,

Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

I am sending him back to you, though in so doing I send part of myself.

I would have chosen to keep him with me, so that he might minister to me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel;

But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be out of obligation, but of your own free will.

For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a brief time, so that you might get him back permanently,

no longer as a slave, but more than a slave—as a dearly loved brother. He is especially so to me, but even more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

So if you consider me a partner, accept him as you would me.

I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.

Yes, brother, do me this favour for the Lord's sake. Refresh my heart in Christ.

Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, and so do

and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow-workers.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

[but] during these final days He has spoken to us through His Son [Note: This period refers to the Christian age (See Acts 2:14-36)], whom He appointed to be heir of all things [and] through whom He created the universe. [See John 1:3; Col. 1:16].

The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority],

Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

For to which of the angels did the Father ever say,

“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten (fathered) You [established You as a Son, with kingly dignity]”?

And again [did He ever say to the angels],

“I shall be a Father to Him
And He shall be a Son to Me”?

and again, when he brings in the firstborn into the habitable world, he says, And let all God's angels worship him.

But God said [this] about the angels [Psa. 104:4 LXX], "He [i.e., God] makes His angels to be [like] winds and His servants [like] flames of fire." [Note: The idea is probably that angels obediently serve God's purpose similar to the way wind and lightening do].

But God says [this] about the Son [Psa. 97:7], "Your throne [i.e. kingdom], O God [Note: This term here is applied to Jesus], will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter [i.e., the standard for ruling] of your kingdom.

You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil; and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head more than on the heads of those who are with you.

And [Psa. 102:25-27 says], "Lord, in the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hand.

And like a robe You will roll them up;
Like a garment they will be changed.
But You are the same [forever],
And Your years will never end.”

But to which of the angels did he ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?

We must, therefore, pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.

Because if the word which came through the angels was fixed, and in the past every evil act against God's orders was given its full punishment;

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

while God himself added his testimony to it by signs, and marvels, and many different miracles, as well as by imparting the Holy Spirit as he saw fit.

But someone has testified somewhere [Psa. 8:4-6], "What is man, that you [i.e., God] should remember him? Or the son of man [i.e., mankind], that you should care about him?

You made him a little bit lower than the angels [i.e., a little less exalted]. [Note: Although these Psalms passages referred to mankind, they are here applied to Jesus. See verse 9]. You crowned him with splendor and honor {{some ancient manuscripts add "and placed him as ruler over what you made"}}.

Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,

saying,

“I will declare Your (the Father’s) name to My brethren (believers),
In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

And again he says, I will put my faith in him. And again, See, I am here, and the children which God has given to me.

Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the Devil—

and so might deliver all those who, from fear of death, had all their lives been living in slavery.

For it is clear that He does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring.

Therefore, it was essential that He had to be made like His brothers (mankind) in every respect, so that He might [by experience] become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things related to God, to make atonement (propitiation) for the people’s sins [thereby wiping away the sin, satisfying divine justice, and providing a way of reconciliation between God and mankind].

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, [thoughtfully and attentively] consider the Apostle and High Priest whom we confessed [as ours when we accepted Him as Savior], namely, Jesus;

He was faithful to Him who appointed Him [Apostle and High Priest], as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.

For he hath been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by so much as he that built the house hath more honor than the house.

Now Moses was faithful in [the administration of] all God’s house, [but only] as a ministering servant, [his ministry serving] as a testimony of the things which were to be spoken afterward [the revelation to come in Christ];

but Christ is faithful as a Son over His [Father’s] house. And we are His house if we hold fast our confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ].

And so, as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you let his voice come to your ears,

When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

“Therefore I was angered with this generation,
And I said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways [nor become progressively better and more intimately acquainted with them]’;

So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

See, brethren, lest there be in any one of you a wicked heart of unbelief, in turning away from the living God.

but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin:

because we are the Messiah's partners only if we hold on to our original confidence to the end.

So long as it is said - To-day, if, unto his voice, ye would hearken, do not harden your hearts, - as in the embitterment.

for some when they had heard his voice, did provoke him: however, not all that were brought out of Egypt by Moses did so.

And with whom was God so greatly grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who had sinned, and whose dead bodies fell in the Desert?

and who were they, who, he sware, should not enter into his rest, but those that did not believe? so we see that they could not enter in,

So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Therefore, while the promise to enter His rest remains, let us fear that none of you should miss it.

For we [Christians] have had the good news [about resting with God] preached to us, just as the Israelites [had good news proclaimed to them. See 1:16-19]. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not coupled with faith by those who heard it.

for we do enter into the rest -- we who did believe, as He said, 'So I sware in My anger, If they shall enter into My rest -- ;' and yet the works were done from the foundation of the world,

And again, this [is recorded, Psa. 95:11], "They will not enter a state of rest with me."

So that as it is clear that some have to go in, and that the first hearers of the good news were not able to go in because they went against God's orders,

Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

For if Joshua had given the Israelites rest, God would not have spoken about another day later on [i.e., "Today" in Psa. 95:7].

So there remains a [full and complete] Sabbath rest for the people of God.

For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from [the weariness and pain of] his [human] labors, just as God rested from [those labors uniquely] His own.

Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

For God's Message is full of life and power, and is keener than the sharpest two-edged sword. It pierces even to the severance of soul from spirit, and penetrates between the joints and the marrow, and it can discern the secret thoughts and purposes of the heart.

And no created being is hidden from God's sight, but everything is laid bare and is openly visible to the eyes of God, to whom we must give account.

Since then we [Christians] have [such] a great Head Priest, who has passed through the skies [i.e., ascended to heaven. See Acts 1:9], Jesus, the Son of God, we should remain true to our profession [of faith in Him].