For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.

For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel,

and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.

the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel;

for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.

But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

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

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.

For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.

For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.

because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.

Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,

For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,

For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,

For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;

For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts;

and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me.

Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;

for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.

For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,

and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain,

For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit;

For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—

But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.

Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.

For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,

But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while—in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.

For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us.

For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?

For you are our glory and joy.

so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.

For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know.

For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.

for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith;

for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.

For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account,

and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;

For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;

for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;

For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.