For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—

By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah.

This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power.

This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah,

This is so God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

This is according to His eternal purpose accomplished in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord.

For this reason I kneel before the Father

Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts.

For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God.

He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

For this reason a man will leave
his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two will become one flesh.

This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right.

knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.

For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.

I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and establishment of the gospel.

And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment,

What does it matter? Just that in every way, whether out of false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice

because I know this will lead to my deliverance through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose.

Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your deliverance—and this is from God.

For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name
that is above every name,

For this reason, I am very eager to send him so that you may rejoice when you see him again and I may be less anxious.

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a protection for you.

Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.

So then, my brothers, you are dearly loved and longed for—my joy and crown. In this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.

I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, the gospel

You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah on your behalf,

For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.

I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments.

If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations:

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and so that he may encourage your hearts.

When this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you.

This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the message about God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the message of God, which also works effectively in you believers.

so that no one will be shaken by these persecutions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.

For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.

For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality,

This means one must not transgress against and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you.

Therefore, the person who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who also gives you His Holy Spirit.

In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers, to do so even more,

For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep.

But you, brothers, are not in the dark, for this day to overtake you like a thief.

Give thanks in everything,
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers.

and to reward with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels,

And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith,

Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this?

For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe what is false,

He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.”

And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take note of that person; don’t associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.

This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. This is a sign in every letter; this is how I write.

This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.

But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate His extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle,

This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,

For this I was appointed a herald, an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.”

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.

In fact, we labor and strive for this, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, especially of those who believe.

Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

But if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must learn to practice godliness toward their own family first and to repay their parents, for this pleases God.

Command this also, so they won’t be blamed.

This has now been made evident
through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,
who has abolished death
and has brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel.

For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher,

This you know: All those in Asia have turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

I suffer for it to the point of being bound like a criminal, but God’s message is not bound.

This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

This saying is trustworthy:

For if we have died with Him,
we will also live with Him;

Remind them of these things, charging them before God not to fight about words; this is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers.

But avoid irreverent, empty speech, for this will produce an even greater measure of godlessness.

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, having this inscription:

The Lord knows those who are His, and
Everyone who names the name of the Lord
must turn away from unrighteousness.

But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days.

for Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

This testimony is true. So, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith

He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,

This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.

For this reason, although I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is right,

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.

I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self.

You have loved righteousness
and hated lawlessness;
this is why God, Your God,
has anointed You
with the oil of joy
rather than Your companions.

for 40 years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation
and said, “They always go astray in their hearts,
and they have not known My ways.”

for somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this way:

And on the seventh day
God rested from all His works.

Because of this, he must make a sin offering for himself as well as for the people.

No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.

We have a great deal to say about this, and it’s difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.