For I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen me face to face.

So then, just as you have received the Messiah Jesus the Lord, continue to live dependent on him.

For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you continue to be thankful.

And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

If you have died with the Messiah to the basic principles of the world, why are you submitting to its decrees as though you still lived in the world?

These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence.

Therefore, if you have been raised with the Messiah, keep focusing on the things that are above, where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God.

For you have died, and your life has been safely guarded by the Messiah in God.

Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old nature with its practices

and have clothed yourselves with the new nature, which is being renewed in full knowledge, consistent with the image of the one who created it.

Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

At the same time also pray for us that God would open before us a door for the word so that we may tell the secret about the Messiah, for which I have been imprisoned.

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have received instructions about him. If he comes to you, welcome him.

Jesus, who is called Justus, also greets you. These are the only ones of the circumcision who are fellow workers for the kingdom of God. They have been an encouragement to me.

When this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and be sure to read the one from Laodicea.

Tell Archippus, "See that you complete the ministry you have received from the Lord."

Rather, because we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, we speak as we do, not trying to please people but God, who tests our motives.

even though as apostles of the Messiah we might have made such demands. Instead, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children.

who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, who have persecuted us, and who please neither God nor any group of people,

as they try to keep us from telling the gentiles how they can be saved. As a result, they are constantly adding to the number of sins they have committed. However, wrath has overtaken them at last!

Brothers, although we have been separated from you for a little while in person but not in heart we eagerly desire to see you again face to face.

But Timothy has just now returned from visiting you and has told us the good news about your faith and love. He also told us that you always have fond memories of us and want to see us, just as we want to see you.

That's why, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you by your faith.

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in God's presence because of you?

Now you do not need anyone to write to you about brotherly love, since you have been taught by God to love each other.

so that you may win the respect of outsiders, and have need of nothing.

But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve like other people who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus God will bring those who have died with him.

For we declare to you what the Lord has told us to say: We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have died.

Now you do not need to have anything written to you about times and dates, brothers,

I order you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be regarded with wonder on that day by all who have believed including you, because you believed our testimony.

Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.

We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.

It is not as though we did not have that right, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.

If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of him. Have nothing to do with him so that he will feel ashamed.

Some people have left these qualities behind and have turned to fruitless discussion.

with faith and a good conscience. By ignoring their consciences, some people have destroyed their faith like a wrecked ship.

He must manage his own family well and have children who are submissive and respectful in every way.

Those ministers who serve well gain an excellent reputation for themselves and will have great assurance by their faith in the Messiah Jesus.

and the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences have been burned by a hot iron.

If you continue to point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of the Messiah Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the healthy teaching that you have followed closely.

Do not have anything to do with godless myths and fables of old women. Instead, train yourself to be godly.

To this end we work hard and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, that is, of those who believe.

Honor widows who have no other family members to care for them.

They receive condemnation because they have set aside their prior commitment to the Messiah.

Therefore, I want younger widows to remarry, have children, manage their homes, and not give the enemy any chance to ridicule them.

For some widows have already turned away to follow Satan.

If any woman is a believer and has relatives who are widows, she should help them. The church should not be burdened, so it can help those widows who have no other family members to care for them.

Moreover, those who have believing masters should be respectful to them, because they are fellow believers. In fact, they must serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers and dear to them. These are the things you must teach and exhort.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.

Although some claim to have it, they have abandoned the faith. May grace be with all of you!

That is why I suffer as I do. However, I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I'm convinced that he is able to protect what he has entrusted to me until the day that he comes.

Hold on to the pattern of healthy teachings that you have heard from me, along with the faith and love that are in the Messiah Jesus.

What you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.

Furthermore, it is the hard working farmer who should have the first share of the crops.

For that reason, I endure everything for the sake of those who have been chosen so that they, too, may receive the salvation that is in the Messiah Jesus, along with eternal glory.

They have abandoned the truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place, and so they destroy the faith of others.

Do not have anything to do with foolish and stupid discussions, because you know they breed arguments.

But you have observed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance,

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and found to be true, because you know from whom you learned it.

From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to give you the wisdom you need for salvation through faith in the Messiah Jesus.

I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith.

I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

An elder must be blameless. He must be the husband of one wife and have children who are believers and who are not accused of having wild lifestyles or of being rebellious.

Everything is clean to those who are clean, but nothing is clean to those who are corrupt and unbelieving. Indeed, their very way of thinking and their consciences have been corrupted.

This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have put their faith in God may devote themselves to good actions. These things are good and helpful to other people.

Have nothing to do with a divisive person after you have warned him once or twice.

As soon as I send Artemas to you, or perhaps Tychicus, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.

Do all you can to send Zenas the expert in the Law and Apollos on their way, and see that they have everything they need.

because I keep hearing about your love for all the saints and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus.

For I have received considerable joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed, brother, through you.

For this reason, although in the Messiah I have complete freedom to order you to do what is proper,

appeal to you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment.

15Perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you could have him back forever,

For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. That is why God, your God, anointed you rather than your companions with the oil of gladness."

For this reason we must pay closer attention to the things we have heard, or we may drift away,

because both the one who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers

Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the Devil)

even though they had seen my actions for 40 years. That is why I was indignant with that generation and said, "They are always going astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.'

because we have had the good news told to us as well as to them. But the message they heard did not help them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened to it.

We who have believed are entering that rest, just as he has said, "So in my anger I swore a solemn oath that they would never enter my rest,"

For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken later about another day.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us live our lives consistent with our confession of faith.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Instead, we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet he never sinned.

In the same way, the Messiah did not take upon himself the glory of being a high priest. No, it was God who said to him, "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father."

We have much to say about this, but it is difficult to explain because you have become too lazy to understand.

In fact, though by now you should be teachers, you still need someone to teach you the basic truths of God's word. You have become people who need milk instead of solid food.

For it is impossible to keep on restoring to repentance time and again people who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have become partners with the Holy Spirit,

who have tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the coming age,

and who have fallen away, as long as they continue to crucify the Son of God to their own detriment by exposing him to public ridicule.

For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have ministered to the saints and continue to minister to them.

so that by these two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge in him might be encouraged to seize the hope set before us.

The descendants of Levi who accept the priesthood have a commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their own brothers, even though they are also descendants of Abraham.

Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood for on this basis the people received the Law what further need would there be to speak of appointing another kind of priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not one according to the order of Aaron?

There have been many priests, since each one of them had to stop serving in office when he died.

Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we do have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one,

But when the Messiah came as a high priest of the good things that have come, he went through the greater and more perfect tent that was not made by human hands and that is not a part of this creation.