From this time onward let no one trouble me; for, as for me, I bear, branded on my body, the scars of Jesus as my Master.

May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

when He displayed it in Christ by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His own right hand in the heavenly realms,

raised us with Him from the dead, and enthroned us with Him in the heavenly realms as being in Christ Jesus,

At that time you were living apart from Christ, estranged from the Commonwealth of Israel, with no share by birth in the Covenants which are based on the Promises, and you had no hope and no God, in all the world.

You are therefore no longer mere foreigners or persons excluded from civil rights. On the contrary you share citizenship with God's people and are members of His family.

and to show all men in a clear light what my stewardship is. It is the stewardship of the truth which from all the Ages lay concealed in the mind of God, the Creator of all things--

from whom the whole family in Heaven and on earth derives its name,

But these are not the lessons which you have learned from Christ;

with that new and better self which has been created to resemble God in the righteousness and holiness which come from the truth.

For this reason it is said, "Rise, sleeper; rise from among the dead, and Christ will shed light upon you."

Let it not be in acts of eye-service as if you had but to please men, but as Christ's bondservants who are doing God's will from the heart.

You well know that whatever right thing any one does, he will receive a requital for it from the Lord, whether he is a slave or a free man.

And you masters, act towards your slaves on the same principles, and refrain from threats. For you know that in Heaven there is One who is your Master as well as theirs, and that merely earthly distinctions there are none with Him.

Peace be to the brethren, and love combined with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God, I say, for your cooperation in spreading the Good News, from the time it first came to you even until now.

Some indeed actually preach Christ out of envy and contentiousness but there are also others who do it from good will.

These latter preach Him from love to me, knowing that I am here for the defence of the Good News;

while the others proclaim Him from motives of rivalry, and insincerely, supposing that by this they are embittering my imprisonment.

Never for a moment quail before your antagonists. Your fearlessness will be to them a sure token of impending destruction, but to you it will be a sure token of your salvation--a token coming from God.

Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped.

Therefore, my dearly-loved friends, as I have always found you obedient, labour earnestly with fear and trembling--not merely as though I were present with you, but much more now since I am absent from you--labour earnestly, I say, to make sure of your own salvation.

For it is true that he has been ill, and was apparently at the point of death; but God had pity on him, and not only on him, but also on me, to save me from having sorrow upon sorrow.

circumcised, as I was, on the eighth day, a member of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew sprung from Hebrews; as to the Law a Pharisee;

not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the Law, but that which arises from faith in Christ--the righteousness which comes from God through faith.

in the hope that I may attain to the resurrection from among the dead.

We, however, are free citizens of Heaven, and we are waiting with longing expectation for the coming from Heaven of a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Not that I crave for gifts from you, but I do want to see abundant fruit bring you honour.

I have enough of everything--and more than enough. My wants are fully satisfied now that I have received from the hands of Epaphroditus the generous gifts which you sent me--they are a fragrant odor, an acceptable sacrifice, truly pleasing to God.

To the people of God and the believing brethren at Colossae who are in Christ. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father.

For it has reached you, and remains with you, just as it has also spread through the whole world, yielding fruit there and increasing, as it has done among you from the day when first you heard it and came really to know the grace of God,

as you learned it from Epaphras our dearly-loved fellow servant. He is to you a faithful minister of Christ in our stead,

For this reason we also, from the day we first received these tidings, have never ceased to pray for you and to entreat that you may be filled with a clear knowledge of His will accompanied by thorough wisdom and discernment in spiritual things;

Moreover He is the Head of His Body, the Church. He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, in order that He Himself may in all things occupy the foremost place.

if, indeed, you are still firmly holding to faith as your foundation, without ever shifting from your hope that rests on the Good News that you have heard, which has been proclaimed in the whole creation under Heaven, and in which I Paul have been appointed to serve.

the truth which has been kept secret from all ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His people,

In Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are stored up, hidden from view.

For although, as you say, I am absent from you in body, yet in spirit I am present with you and am delighted to witness your good discipline and the solid front presented by your faith in Christ.

having been buried with Him in your baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith produced within you by God who raised Him from among the dead.

And the hostile princes and rulers He shook off from Himself, and boldly displayed them as His conquests, when by the Cross He triumphed over them.

Such a one does not keep his hold upon Christ, the Head, from whom the Body, in all its parts nourished and strengthened by its points of contact and its connections, grows with a divine growth.

If you have died with Christ and have escaped from the world's rudimentary notions, why, as though your life still belonged to the world, do you submit to such precepts as

For you know that it is from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. Christ is the Master whose bondservants you are.

For it was not only from you that the Master's Message sounded forth throughout Macedonia and Greece; but everywhere your faith in God has become known, so that it is unnecessary for us to say anything about it.

For when others speak of us they report the reception we had from you, and how you turned from your idols to God, to be bondservants of the true and ever-living God,

and to await the return from Heaven of His Son, whom He raised from among the dead--even Jesus, our Deliverer from God's coming anger.

nor did we seek glory either from you or from any other mere men, although we might have stood on our dignity as Christ's Apostles.

And for this further reason we render unceasing thanks to God, that when you received God's Message from our lips, it was as no mere message from men that you embraced it, but as--what it really is--God's Message, which also does its work in the hearts of you who believe.

But we, brethren, having been for a short time separated from you in bodily presence, though not in heart, endeavoured all the more earnestly, with intense longing, to see you face to face.

But now that Timothy has recently come back to us from you, and has brought us the happy tidings of your faith and love, and has told us how you still cherish a constant and affectionate recollection of us, and are longing to see us as we also long to see you--

Moreover, brethren, as you learnt from our lips the lives which you ought to live, and do live, so as to please God, we beg and exhort you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live them more and more truly.

For this is God's will--your purity of life, that you abstain from fornication;

Now, concerning those who from time to time pass away, we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, lest you should mourn as others do who have no hope.

For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud word of command, and with an archangel's voice and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Hold yourselves aloof from every form of evil.

May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Unceasing thanks are due from us to God on your behalf, brethren. They are appropriate because your faith is growing greatly, and the love of every one of you for all the others goes on increasing.

and to requite with rest you who are suffering affliction now--rest with us at the re-appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven, attended by His mighty angels.

They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, being banished from the presence of the Lord and from His glorious majesty,

And from us thanks are always due to God on your behalf--brethren whom the Lord loves--because God from the beginning has chosen you for salvation through the Spirit's sanctifying influence and your belief in the truth.

So then, brethren, stand your ground, and hold fast to the teachings which you have received from us, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

and that we may be delivered from wrong-headed and wicked men; for it is not everybody who has faith.

But the Lord is faithful, and He will make you stedfast and will guard you from the Evil one.

But, by the authority of the Lord, we command you, brethren, to stand aloof from every brother whose life is disorderly and not in accordance with the teaching which all received from us.

This was not because we had not a claim upon you, but it arose from a desire to set you an example--for you to imitate us.

To Timothy, my own true son in the faith. May grace, mercy and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

But the end sought to be secured by exhortation is the love which springs from a pure heart, a clear conscience and a sincere faith.

From these some have drifted away, and have wandered into empty words.

A woman should quietly learn from others with entire submissiveness.

Now the Spirit expressly declares that in later times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons;

forbidding people to marry, and insisting on abstinence from foods which God has created to be partaken of, with thankfulness, by those who believe and have a clear knowledge of the truth.

Press these facts upon them, so that they may live lives free from reproach.

And at the same time they also learn to be idle as they go round from house to house; and they are not only idle, but are gossips also and busybodies, speaking of things that ought not to be spoken of.

If a believing woman has widows dependent on her, she should relieve their wants, and save the Church from being burdened--so that the Church may relieve the widows who are really in need.

I solemnly call upon you, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, to carry out these instructions of mine without prejudice, and to do nothing from partiality.

For from love of money all sorts of evils arise; and some have so hankered after money as to be led astray from the faith and be pierced through with countless sorrows.

But you, O man of God, must flee from these things; and strive for uprightness, godliness, good faith, love, fortitude, and a forgiving temper.

To Timothy my dearly-loved child. May grace, mercy and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Provide yourself with an outline of the sound teaching which you have heard from my lips, and be true to the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Every one who serves as a soldier keeps himself from becoming entangled in the world's business--so that he may satisfy the officer who enlisted him.

Never forget that Jesus Christ has risen from among the dead and is a descendant of David, as is declared in the Good News which I preach.

But from irreligious and frivolous talk hold aloof, for those who indulge in it will proceed from bad to worse in impiety,

and recover sober-mindedness and freedom from the Devil's snare, though they are now entrapped by him to do his will.

and will keep up a make-believe of piety and yet live in defiance of its power. Turn away from people of this sort.

But bad men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, misleading and being misled.

and that from infancy you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise to obtain salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

and will turn away from listening to the truth and will turn aside to fables.

From this time onward there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who love the thought of His Appearing.

The Lord, however, stood by me and filled me with inward strength, that through me the Message might be fully proclaimed and that all the Gentiles might hear it; and I was rescued from the lion's jaws.

The Lord will deliver me from every cruel attack and will keep me safe in preparation for His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be the glory until the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

To Titus my own true child in our common faith. May grace and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

wherever there is a man of blameless life, true to his one wife, having children who are themselves believers and are free from every reproach of profligacy or of stubborn self-will.

who gave Himself for us to purchase our freedom from all iniquity, and purify for Himself a people who should be specially His own, zealous for doing good works.

But hold yourself aloof from foolish controversies and pedigrees and discussions and wrangling about the Law, for they are useless and vain.

for, as you know, a man of that description has turned aside from the right path and is a sinner self-condemned.

May grace be granted to you all, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

For perhaps it was for this reason he was parted from you for a time, that you might receive him back wholly and for ever yours;

Greetings to you, my brother, from Epaphras my fellow prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus;

and from Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.