To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations for ever and ever. So be it.

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

But saying true words in love, may come to full growth in him, who is the head, even Christ;

If in fact you gave ear to him, and were given teaching in him, even as what is true is made clear in Jesus:

Let him who was a thief be so no longer, but let him do good work with his hands, so that he may have something to give to him who is in need.

Do not be turned from the right way by foolish words; for because of these things the punishment of God comes on those who do not put themselves under him.

Because to you it has been given in the cause of Christ not only to have faith in him, but to undergo pain on his account:

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

Him then I am hoping to send as quickly as possible, when I am able to see how things will go for me:

For in fact he was ill almost to death: but God had mercy on him; and not only on him but on me, so that I might not have grief on grief.

I have sent him, then, the more gladly, so that when you see him again, you may be happy and I may have the less sorrow.

So take him to your hearts in the Lord with all joy, and give honour to such as he is:

And be seen in him, not having my righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

That I may have knowledge of him, and of the power of his coming back from the dead, and a part with him in his pains, becoming like him in his death;

I am able to do all things through him who gives me strength.

For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by him and for him;

He is before all things, and in him all things have being.

For God in full measure was pleased to be in him;

Through him uniting all things with himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, uniting all things which are on earth or in heaven.

In the body of his flesh through death, so that you might be holy and without sin and free from all evil before him:

As, then, you took Christ Jesus the Lord, so go on in him,

Rooted and based together in him, strong in the faith which the teaching gave you, giving praise to God at all times.

For in him all the wealth of God's being has a living form,

And you are complete in him, who is the head of all rule and authority:

Having been put to death with him in baptism, by which you came to life again with him, through faith in the working of God, who made him come back from the dead.

And you, being dead through your sins and the evil condition of your flesh, to you, I say, he gave life together with him, and forgiveness of all our sins;

At the coming of Christ who is our life, you will be seen with him in glory.

And whatever you do, in word or in act, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving praise to God the Father through him.

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 with him I have sent Onesimus, the true and well-loved brother, who is one of you. They will give you word of everything which is taking place here.

Aristarchus, my brother-prisoner, sends his love to you, and Mark, a relation of Barnabas (about whom you have been given orders: if he comes to you, be kind to him),

For I give witness of him that he has undergone much trouble for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.

For if we have faith that Jesus underwent death and came back again, even so those who are sleeping will come again with him by God's power.

So that glory may be given to the name of our Lord Jesus through you, and you may have glory in him, by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now as to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our meeting with him, it is our desire, my brothers,

And now it is clear to you what is keeping back his revelation till the time comes for him to be seen.

For even when we were with you we gave you orders, saying, If any man does no work, let him not have food.

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.

Have no feeling of hate for him, but take him in hand seriously as a brother.

I give praise to him who gave me power, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he took me to be true, making me his servant,

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.

And he is to have a good name among those outside the church, so that nothing may be said against him and he may not be taken by the designs of the Evil One.

And for which I undergo these things: but I have no feeling of shame. For I have knowledge of him in whom I have faith, and I am certain that he is able to keep that which I have given into his care till that day.

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:

If we go on to the end, then we will be ruling with him: if we say we have no knowledge of him, then he will say he has no knowledge of us:

Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and take him with you; for he is of use to me in the work.

Alexander the copper-worker did me much wrong: the Lord will give him the reward of his works:

But be on the watch for him, for he was violent in his attacks on our teaching.

Erastus was stopping at Corinth; but Trophimus, when I last saw him was at Miletus, ill.

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.

Whom I have sent back to you, him who is my very heart:

Though my desire was to keep him with me, to be my servant in the chains of the good news, in your place:

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

If then you take me to be your friend and brother, take him in as myself.

And again, when he is sending his only Son into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God give him worship.

But a certain writer has given his witness, saying, What is man, that you keep him in mind? what is the son of man, that you take him into account?

You made him a little lower than the angels; you gave him a crown of glory and honour, and made him ruler over all the works of your hands:

You put all things under his feet. For in making man the ruler over all things, God did not put anything outside his authority; though we do not see everything under him now.

But we see him who was made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, crowned with glory and honour, because he let himself be put to death so that by the grace of God he might undergo death for all men.

Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.

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,

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.

And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One;

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.

Who kept faith with God who gave him his place, even as Moses did in all his house.

As it is said, Today if you will let his voice come to your ears, be not hard of heart, as when you made him angry.

Who made him angry when his voice came to them? was it not all those who came out of Egypt with Moses?

And there is nothing made which is not completely clear to him; there is nothing covered, but all things are open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

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:

Who in the days of his flesh, having sent up prayers and requests with strong crying and weeping to him who was able to give him salvation from death, had his prayer answered because of his fear of God.

And though he was a Son, through the pain which he underwent, the knowledge came to him of what it was to be under God's orders;

And then let themselves be turned away, it is not possible for their hearts to be made new a second time; because they themselves put the Son of God on the cross again, openly shaming him.

For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.

And so, when he had been waiting calmly for a long time, God's word to him was put into effect.

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,

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.

Because he was still in his father's body when Melchizedek came to him.

For it has been witnessed of him, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

(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);

So that he is fully able to be the saviour of all who come to God through him, because he is ever living to make prayer to God for them.

But now his position as priest is higher. because through him God has made a better agreement with man, based on the giving of better things.

And for this cause it is through him that a new agreement has come into being, so that after the errors under the first agreement had been taken away by his death, the word of God might have effect for those who were marked out for an eternal heritage.

So Christ, having at his first coming taken on himself the sins of men, will be seen a second time, without sin, by those who are waiting for him, for their salvation.

And has been waiting there from that time, till all who are against him are made a foot-rest for his feet.

For we have had experience of him who says, Punishment is mine, I will give reward. And again, The Lord will be judge of his people.

But the upright man will be living by his faith; and if he goes back, my soul will have no pleasure in him.

By faith Enoch was taken up to heaven so that he did not see death; he was seen no longer, for God took him away: for before he was taken, witness had been given that he was well-pleasing to God:

And without faith it is not possible to be well-pleasing to him, for it is necessary for anyone who comes to God to have the belief that God is, and that he is a rewarder of all those who make a serious search for him.

By faith Noah, being moved by the fear of God, made ready an ark for the salvation of his family, because God had given him news of things which were not seen at the time; and through it the world was judged by him, and he got for his heritage the righteousness which is by faith.

By faith Abraham did as God said when he was ordered to go out into a place which was to be given to him as a heritage, and went out without knowledge of where he was going.

By faith he was a wanderer in the land of the agreement, as in a strange land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had a part with him in the same heritage:

And by faith Sarah herself had power to give birth, when she was very old, because she had faith in him who gave his word;

Judging that God was able to give life even to the dead; and because of this he did get him back as if from death.

By faith he went out of Egypt, not being turned from his purpose by fear of the wrath of the king; for he kept on his way, as seeing him who is unseen.

Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power.

Give thought to him who has undergone so much of the hate of sinners against himself, so that you may not be tired and feeble of purpose.

And you have not kept in mind the word which says to you as to sons, My son, do not make little of the Lord's punishment, and do not give up hope when you are judged by him;

See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?

If then, we have a kingdom which will never be moved, let us have grace, so that we may give God such worship as is pleasing to him with fear and respect: