This is a great secret, but I understand it of Christ and the church.

For we have to struggle, not with enemies of flesh and blood, but with the hierarchies, the authorities, the master-spirits of this dark world, the spirit-forces of evil on high.

And I have a right to feel in this way about you all, because both when I am in prison and when I am defending and vindicating our right to preach the good news, I have you in my heart as all sharing that privilege with me.

for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, all this will turn out for my highest welfare,

for I eagerly and confidently hope that I shall never disgrace myself but that this time as always hitherto, living or dying, I shall do Christ credit by my unfailing courage.

I am convinced of this, and so I know that I shall stay on and serve you all, to help you to develop and to be glad in your faith.

Let as many of us therefore as are mature have this attitude. If you have any different attitude, God will make this clear to you.

and through him to reconcile to God all things on earth or in heaven, making this peace through his blood shed on the cross.

to whom God has chosen to make known among the heathen how glorious this mystery of Christ in you, the promise of glorification, really is.

"You must not handle," "You must not taste," "You must not touch"??22 referring to things that are all meant to be used up and destroyed? This is to follow mere human rules and regulations.

When this letter has been read to you, have it read to the church at Laodicea also, and see that you read the letter that is coming from there.

This farewell is in my own hand, from Paul. Remember that I am in prison. God bless you.

and encourage you not to be led astray, any of you, in all these troubles. You know yourselves that this is what we must expect,

No one is to wrong or defraud his brother in this matter, for the Lord avenges all such things, as we told you before, in the most solemn terms.

So whoever disregards this is not disregarding man, but God, who gives you his holy Spirit.

Therefore, encourage one another with this truth.

Thank God whatever happens. For this is what God through Christ Jesus wants you to do.

He who calls you can be relied on, and he will do this.

I charge you in the Lord's name to have this letter read to all the brothers.

This is a proof of God's justice in judging, and it is to prove you worthy of the Kingdom of God, for the sake of which you are suffering,

To this end we always pray for you too, asking our God to find you worthy of the call he has given you, and by his power to fulfil every desire you may have for goodness, and every effort of your faith,

the adversary of every being that is called a god or an object of worship, and so overbearing toward them as to enter God's sanctuary and take his seat there, proclaiming himself to be God??5 do you not remember that when I was with you, I used to tell you this?

This is why God sends upon them a misleading influence, to make them believe what is false,

When I was with you, I gave you this rule: "If anyone refuses to work, give him nothing to eat!"

If anyone refuses to obey what we have said in this letter, mark the man and do not have anything to do with him, to make him feel ashamed.

This greeting is in my own hand, Paul's; it is the mark in every letter of mine. This is the way I write.

It is right to do this, and it pleases God our Savior,

who gave himself as a ransom for all men. This is what was testified to at the proper times,

This is a trustworthy saying. Whoever aspires to the office of superintendent sets his heart on a fine work.

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing you all this

If you point this out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, living on the principles of the faith and the excellent teaching you have had.

This is a trustworthy saying, entitled to the fullest acceptance.

It is for this that we toil and struggle, for we have fixed our hopes on the living God, the Savior of all men, especially those who believe.

This is what you must urge and teach.

Charge the rich of this world not to be arrogant, nor to set their hopes on such an uncertain thing as riches, but on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

For this reason I would remind you to rekindle the divine gift that you received when I laid my hands upon you.

This is why I am suffering as I am, but I am not ashamed of it, for I know whom I have trusted and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have intrusted to him for that Day.

Yet God's solid foundation stands unshaken, bearing this inscription, "The Lord knows those who belong to him," and "Everyone who uses the name of the Lord must give up evil."

Understand this, that in the last days there are going to be hard times.

training us to renounce godless ways and worldly passions, and live serious, upright, and godly lives in this world,

This is what you must teach and urge and insist upon with full authority. No one is to look down on you.

This is a trustworthy teaching, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who believe in God may make it their business to do good. All this is right and beneficial to mankind.

For perhaps this is why you and he were parted for a while, that you might have him back forever,

I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it??ot to mention the fact that you owe me your very self besides.

This is why we must give the very closest attention to the message we have heard, to keep from ever losing our hold upon it.

how can we escape if we pay no attention to such a salvation as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and it was guaranteed to us by those who heard him,

and on this account he is obliged to offer sacrifices for sin, not only for the people but for himself as well.

I have much to say to you about this, but it is difficult to make it clear to you, because you have become so slow of apprehension.

But about you, dear friends, even though we say this, we are sure of better things that promise salvation.

But we want each of you to exhibit this same earnestness to the very end with regard to your confidence in your hope,

This hope is like an anchor for our souls. It reaches up secure and strong into the sanctuary behind the heavenly curtain,

For this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was on his way back from defeating the kings, and gave him his blessing,

Now see how great this man must have been to have the patriarch Abraham give him a tenth of the spoil.

But this man, whose ancestry is not connected with theirs, collected tithes from Abraham himself, and gave his blessing to the man who had received the promises from God.

For he of whom all this was said was related to a tribe no member of which ever officiated at the altar.

who does not need, as the old high priests did, to offer sacrifices every day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people??or this last he has done once for all, in offering up himself.

For the Law appoints to the high priesthood men full of imperfection; but this utterance about the making of the oath, which came long after the Law, appoints a son, fully qualified to be high priest forever.

Now the main point in what I am saying is this: We have such a high priest as this, and he has taken his seat in heaven at the right hand of God's Majesty,

But every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this high priest also must have some sacrifice to offer.

'For this is the agreement that I will make with the house of Israel, In those later days,' says the Lord; 'I will put my laws into their minds, And write them on their hearts, And they will have me for their God, And I will have them for my people.

In all this the holy Spirit was seeking to show that there was no free access to the sanctuary while the outer tent was still standing.

And all this looked toward the present time and was symbolic of the fact that the mere offering of material gifts and sacrifices cannot inwardly qualify the worshiper to approach God,

And this is why he is the negotiator of a new agreement, in order that as someone has died to deliver them from the offenses committed under the old agreement, those who have been offered it may receive the unending inheritance they have been promised.

saying, "This blood ratifies the agreement which God has commanded me to make with you."

And we have the testimony of the holy Spirit to this, for after saying,

" 'This is the agreement that I will make with them In those later days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws into their minds, And write them upon their hearts,' " he goes on,

I ask this of you more especially that I may be brought back to you the sooner.

I beg you brothers, to listen patiently to this appeal, for I have written you but briefly.

You must understand this, my dear brothers. Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to be angry,

A religious observance that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their trouble, and keep one's self unstained by the world.

and you pay attention to the man in the fine clothes and say to him, "Sit here; this is a good place!" and say to the poor man, "Stand up, or sit on the floor at my feet,"

Blessing and cursing issue from the same mouth! This is not right, my brothers.

This, instead of saying, "If it is the Lord's will, we shall live to do this or that."

Rejoice over this, although just now perhaps distressed by various trials;

About this salvation the prophets who prophesied of the blessing that was destined for you made the most careful investigation,

who was predestined for this before the foundation of the world, but was revealed only at the end of the ages,

not returning evil for evil, or abuse for abuse. You must bless people instead. It is for this that you were called??o obtain blessing.

This is why the good news was preached to the dead also, that though they are judged in their physical nature as men are, they may yet live, like God, in the Spirit.

By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I think him, I have written you this short letter to encourage you and bear my testimony that this is what the true mercy of God means. Stand fast in it.

For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,

Therefore I will always remind you of this, although you know it and are firmly grounded in the truth that you have.

For when he was so honored and glorified by God the Father and from the supreme glory there were borne to him such words as these: "This is my Son, my Beloved! He is my Chosen!"??18 we heard these words borne from heaven when we were with him on that sacred mountain.

You must understand this in the first place, that no prophecy in Scripture can be understood through one's own powers,

This is the second letter, dear friends, that I have now written to you, in the effort to arouse your unsullied minds

First of all, you must understand this, that in the last days mockers will come with their mockeries, going where their passions lead

But do not overlook this one fact, dear friends, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day.

If all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what holy and pious lives you ought to lead,

Therefore, dear friends, while waiting for this, make every effort to be found by him unstained, irreproachable, and at peace.

and we write this to you to make your happiness complete.

This is the message that we heard from him and announce to you: God is light; there is no darkness in him at all.

My dear children, I am writing you this so that you may not sin; yet if anyone does sin, we have in Jesus Christ one who is upright and will intercede for us with the Father.

This is how we can be sure that we know him??y obeying his commands.

but whoever obeys his message really has the love of God in perfection in his heart. This is the way we can be sure that we are in union with him;

I write you this with reference to those who are trying to mislead you.

Think what love the Father has had for us, in letting us be called God's children, for that is what we are. This is why the world does not know what we are??ecause it has never come to know him.

And everyone who possesses this hope in him tries to make himself as pure as he is.

Whoever commits sin is a child of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. This is why the Son of God appeared??o undo the devil's work.

This is how the children of God and those of the devil can be distinguished: No one who does not act uprightly or who does not love his brother is a child of God.

For the message you have heard from the beginning is this: We must love one another.

His command is this??hat we are to believe in his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he has commanded us to do.