For this cause I go down on my knees before the Father,

I then, the prisoner in the Lord, make this request from my heart, that you will see that your behaviour is a credit to the position which God's purpose has given you,

For this reason he says, He went up on high, taking his prisoners with him, and gave freely to men.

(Now this, He went up, what is it but that he first went down into the lower parts of the earth?

So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error;

This I say, then, and give witness in the Lord, that you are to go no longer in the way of the Gentiles whose minds are turned to that which has no profit,

For this was not the teaching of Christ which was given to you;

Being certain of this, that no man who gives way to the passions of the flesh, no unclean person, or one who has desire for the property of others, or who gives worship to images, has any heritage in the kingdom of Christ and God.

For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.

For this reason, then, do not be foolish, but be conscious of the Lord's pleasure.

For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

This is a great secret: but my words are about Christ and the church.

Children, do what is ordered by your fathers and mothers in the Lord: for this is right.

For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens.

For this reason take up all the arms of God, so that you may be able to be strong in the evil day, and, having done all, to keep your place.

Whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, so that you may have knowledge of our position, and that he may give comfort to your hearts.

For I am certain of this very thing, that he by whom the good work was started in you will make it complete till the day of Jesus Christ:

So it is right for me to take thought for you all in this way, because I have you in my heart; for in my chains, and in my arguments before the judges in support of the good news, making clear that it is true, you all have your part with me in grace.

What then? only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad.

For I am conscious that this will be for my salvation, through your prayer and the giving out of the stored wealth of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

But if I go on living in the flesh--if this is the fruit of my work--then I do not see what decision to make.

And being certain of this, I am conscious that I will go on, yes, and go on with you all, for your growth and joy in the faith;

Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus,

For this reason God has put him in the highest place and has given to him the name which is greater than every name;

Then let us all, who have come to full growth, be of this mind: and if in anything you are of a different mind, even this will God make clear to you:

By whom this poor body of ours will be changed into the image of the body of his glory, in the measure of the working by which he is able to put all things under himself.

For this reason, we, from the day when we had word of it, keep on in prayer for you, that you may be full of the knowledge of his purpose, with all wisdom and experience of the Spirit,

To whom God was pleased to give knowledge of the wealth of the glory of this secret among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

And for this purpose I am working, using all my strength by the help of his power which is working in me strongly.

I say this so that you may not be turned away by any deceit of words.

For this reason let no man be your judge in any question of food or drink or feast days or new moons or Sabbaths:

Children, do the orders of your fathers and mothers in all things, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

And I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may have news of how we are, and so that he may give your hearts comfort;

And when this letter has been made public among you, let the same be done in the church of Laodicea; and see that you have the letter from Laodicea.

I, Paul, give you this word of love in my handwriting. Keep in memory that I am a prisoner. Grace be with you.

And for this cause we still give praise to God, that, when the word came to your ears through us, you took it, not as the word of man, but, as it truly is, the word of God, which has living power in you who have faith.

For this reason, when I was no longer able to keep quiet, I sent to get news of your faith, fearing that you might be tested by the Evil One and that our work might come to nothing.

For this cause, brothers, in all our trouble and grief we were comforted about you because of your faith;

And last of all, the prayer which we make to you from our heart and in the name of the Lord Jesus, is this: that as we made clear to you what sort of behaviour is pleasing to God, as in fact you are doing now, so you will go on in these ways, but more and more.

For the purpose of God for you is this: that you may be holy, and may keep yourselves from the desires of the flesh;

Whoever, then, goes against this word, goes against not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

But about loving the brothers, there is no need for me to say anything to you in this letter: for you have the teaching of God that love for one another is right and necessary;

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are still living at the coming of the Lord, will not go before those who are sleeping.

But we make this request to you, my brothers: give attention to those who are working among you, who are over you in the Lord to keep order among you;

In everything give praise: for this is the purpose of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I give orders in the name of the Lord that all the brothers are to be present at the reading of this letter.

Which is a clear sign of the decision which God in his righteousness has made; to give you a part in his kingdom, for which you have undergone this pain;

For this reason, you are ever in our prayers, that you may seem to our God such as may have a part in his purpose and that by his power he will make all his good purpose, and the work of faith, complete;

And for this cause, God will give them up to the power of deceit and they will put their faith in what is false:

And in this purpose he gave you a part through the good news of which we were the preachers, even that you might have part in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And if any man does not give attention to what we have said in this letter, take note of that man, and keep away from him, so that he may be shamed.

These words of love to you at the end are in my writing, Paul's writing, and this is the mark of every letter from me.

But for this reason I was given mercy, so that in me, the chief of sinners, Jesus Christ might make clear all his mercy, as an example to those who in the future would have faith in him to eternal life.

This order I give to you, Timothy my son, in harmony with the words of the prophets about you, so that by them you may be strong, fighting the good fight,

This is good and pleasing in the eyes of God our Saviour;

And of this I became a preacher and an Apostle (what I say is true, not false,) and a teacher of the Gentiles in the true faith.

This is a true saying, A man desiring the position of a Bishop has a desire for a good work.

Deacons, in the same way, are to be serious in their behaviour, not false in word, not given to taking much wine or greatly desiring the wealth of this world;

But if I am long in coming, this will make clear to you what behaviour is right for men in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of what is true.

This is a true saying, in which all may put their faith.

And this is the purpose of all our work and our fighting, because our hope is in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and specially of those who have faith.

But if any widow has children or children's children, let these see that it is right to take care of their family and their fathers and mothers: for this is pleasing in the eyes of God.

Give orders to this effect, so that no evil may be said of anyone.

Give orders to those who have money and goods in this life, not to be lifted up in their minds, or to put their hope in the uncertain chances of wealth, but in God who gives us in full measure all things for our use;

For this reason I say to you, Let that grace of God which is in you, given to you by my hands, have living power.

A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army.

This is a true saying: If we undergo death with him, then will we be living with him:

But God's strong base is unchanging, having this sign, The Lord has knowledge of those who are his: and, Let everyone by whom the name of the Lord is named be turned away from evil.

But be certain of this, that in the last days times of trouble will come.

For Demas has gone away from me, for love of this present life, and has gone to Thessalonica: Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

This witness is true. So say sharp words to them so that they may come to the right faith,

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;

This is a true saying; and it is my desire that you may give certain witness about these things, so that those who have had faith in God may give attention to good works. These things are good and of profit to men;

For it is possible that for this reason he was parted from you for a time, so that you might have him for ever;

I, Paul, writing this myself, say, I will make payment to you: and I do not say to you that you are in debt to me even for your life.

To which of the angels did God say at any time, You are my Son, this day I have given you being? or, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?

For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away.

For he who makes holy and those who are made holy are all of one family; and for this reason it is no shame for him to give them the name of brothers,

Because of this it was necessary for him to be made like his brothers in every way, so that he might be a high priest full of mercy and keeping faith in everything to do with God, making offerings for the sins of the people.

For this reason, holy brothers, marked out to have a part in heaven, give thought to Jesus the representative and high priest of our faith;

And it was right for this man to have more honour than Moses, even as the builder of a house has more honour than the house.

So that I was angry with this generation, and I said, Their hearts are in error at all times, and they have no knowledge of my ways;

Because of this, let us have a strong desire to come into that rest, and let no one go after the example of those who went against God's orders.

And no man who is not given authority by God, as Aaron was, takes this honour for himself.

In the same way Christ did not take for himself the glory of being made a high priest, but was given it by him who said, You are my Son, this day I have given you being:

And though by this time it would be right for you to be teachers, you still have need of someone to give you teaching about the first simple rules of God's revelation; you have become like babies who have need of milk, and not of solid food.

For this reason let us go on from the first things about Christ to full growth; not building again that on which it is based, that is, the turning of the heart from dead works, and faith in God,

Now we will do this, if God lets us.

But, my loved ones, though we say this, we are certain that you have better things in you, things which go with salvation;

And this hope is like a strong band for our souls, fixed and certain, and going in to that which is inside the veil;

For this Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God, who gave Abraham his blessing, meeting him when he came back after putting the kings to death,

Now see how great this man was, to whom our father Abraham gave a tenth part of what he had got in the fight.

But this man, who was not of their family, took the tenth from Abraham, and gave a blessing to him to whom God had given his undertaking.

And this is even more clear if a second priest has come up who is like Melchizedek,

And as this is not without the taking of an oath

(For those were made priests without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by him who says of him, The Lord gave his oath, which he will not take back, that you are a priest for ever);

But this priest, because his life goes on for ever, is unchanging.

Who has no need to make offerings for sins every day, like those high priests, first for himself, and then for the people; because he did this once and for ever when he made an offering of himself.

Now of the things we are saying this is the chief point: We have such a high priest, who has taken his place at the right hand of God's high seat of glory in heaven,

Now every high priest is given authority to take to God the things which are given and to make offerings; so that it is necessary for this man, like them, to have something for an offering.