Therefore do not grow thoughtless, but try to understand what the Lord's will is.

Not only when their eyes are on you, as if you had merely to please men, but as slaves of Christ, who are trying to carry out the will of God.

For you know that every one will be rewarded by the Master for any honest work that he has done, whether he is a slave or a freeman.

At every onslaught take up faith for your shield; for with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming darts of the Evil One.

To enable you, as well as others, to know all that concerns me and what I am doing, Tychicus, our dear Brother and faithful helper in the Master's Cause, will tell you everything.

For of this I am confident, that he who began a good work in you will complete it in readiness for the Day of Jesus Christ.

God will bear me witness how I yearn over you all with the tenderness of Christ Jesus.

It is true that some do proclaim the Christ out of Jealousy and opposition; but there are others who proclaim him from good- will.

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that, through your prayers and through a rich supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 'all this will make for my Salvation.'

And this will fulfil my earnest expectation and hope that I shall have no cause for shame, but that, with unfailing courage, now as hitherto, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by my life or by my death,

Without ever shrinking from your opponents. To them this will be a sign of their Destruction and of your Salvation--a sign from God.

You will be engaged in the same hard struggle as that which you once saw me waging, and which you hear that I am waging still.

Remember it is God who, in his kindness, is at work within you, enabling you both to will and to work.

It is Timothy, then, whom I hope to send, as soon as ever I can foresee how it will go with me.

Let all of us, then, whose faith is mature, think thus. Then, if on any matter you think otherwise, God will make that also plain to you.

Who, by the exercise of his power to bring everything into subjection to himself, will make this body that we have in our humiliation like to that body which he has in his Glory.

Then the Peace of God, which is beyond all human understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and thoughts, through your union with Christ Jesus.

All that you learned and received and heard and saw in me put into practice continually; and then God, the giver of peace, will be with you.

It is not that I am anxious for your gifts, but I am anxious to see the abundant return that will be placed to your account. I have enough of everything, and to spare.

And my God, out of the greatness of his wealth, will, in glory, fully satisfy your every need, through your union with Christ Jesus.

From Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and from Timothy, our Brother.

And therefore we, from the very day that we heard this, have never ceased praying for you, or asking that you may possess that deeper knowledge of the will of God, which comes through all true spiritual wisdom and insight.

Then you will live lives worthy of the Master, and so please God in every way. Your lives will be fruitful in every kind of good action, and your characters will grow through a fuller knowledge of God;

You will be made strong at all points with a strength worthy of the power manifested in his Glory--strong to endure with patience, and even with gladness, whatever may befall you;

And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light.

Take care there is not some one who will carry you away by his 'philosophy'--a hollow sham!--following, as it does, mere human traditions, and dealing with puerile questions of this world, and not with Christ.

When the Christ, who is our Life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Since you know that it is from the Master that you will receive the inheritance which will be your recompense. You are serving Christ, the Master.

Those who do wrong will reap the wrong they have done; and there will be no partiality.

Our dear Brother, Tychicus, will tell you all about me. He is a faithful minister, and a fellow-servant in the Master's cause.

With him will be Onesimus, our dear faithful Brother, who is one of yourselves. They will tell you all that is going on here.

Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, sends you his greeting. He is a servant of Christ Jesus, and is always most earnest in your behalf in his prayers, praying that you may stand firm, with a matured faith and with a sure conviction of all that is in accordance with God's will.

And when this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read before the Church at Laodicea, and that you yourselves read the letter which will be forwarded from there.

Never at any time, as you know, did we use the language of flattery, or make false professions in order to hide selfish aims. God will bear witness to that.

You will not have forgotten, Brothers, our labor and toil. Night and day we used to work at our trades, so as not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you God's Good News.

You will bear witness, and God also, that our relations with you who believed in Christ were pure, and upright, and beyond reproach.

For what hope or joy will be ours, or what crown shall we have to boast of, in the presence of our Lord Jesus, at his Coming, if it be not you?

For, as we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring, with Jesus, those who through him have passed to their rest.

This we tell you on the authority of the Lord--that those of us who are still living at the Coming of the Lord will not anticipate those who have passed to their rest.

For, with a loud summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the trumpet-call of God, the Lord himself will come down from Heaven.

You yourselves know well that the Day of the Lord will come just as a thief comes in the night.

When people are saying 'All is quiet and safe,' it is then that, like birth-pains upon a woman with child, Ruin comes suddenly upon them, and there will be no escape!

Under all circumstances give thanks to God. For this is his will for you as made known in Christ Jesus.

He who calls you will not fail you; he will complete his work.

These persecutions will vindicate the justice of God's judgment, and will result in your being reckoned worthy of God's Kingdom, for the sake of which you are now afflicted;

Then he will 'inflict punishment upon those who refuse to know God, and upon those who turn a deaf ear' to the Good News of Jesus, our Lord.

These men will pay the penalty of unutterable Ruin--banished 'from the presence of the Lord and from the glorious manifestation of his might,

When he comes to be honour ed in his People,' and to be revered in all who have learned to believe in him (for you also believed our testimony)--as he will be on 'That Day.'

Then, in the loving-kindness of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ, will the name of Jesus, our Lord, be honour ed in you, and you in him.

Do not let any one deceive you, whatever he may do. For it will not come until after the Great Apostasy, and the appearing of that Incarnation of Wickedness, that the Lost soul,

Then will 'Wickedness Incarnate' appear, but the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his lips, and annihilate him by the splendor of his Coming.

For at the Coming of the Lord there will be great activity on the part of Satan, in the form of all kinds of deceptive miracles, signs, and marvels, as well as of wicked attempts to delude--

But the Lord will not fail you; he will give you strength, and guard you from Evil.

Yes, and the confidence that our union with the Lord enables us to place in you leads us to believe that you are doing, and will do, what we direct you.

This will be good and acceptable in the eyes of God, our Savior,

whose will is that every one should be saved, and attain to a full knowledge of the Truth.

But women will find their salvation in motherhood, if they never abandon faith, love, or holiness, and behave with modesty.

But the Spirit distinctly says that in later times there will be some who will fall away from the Faith, and devote their attention to misleading spirits, and to the teaching of demons,

who will make use of the hypocrisy of lying teachers. These men's consciences are seared,

Put all this before the Brethren, and you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, sustained by the precepts of the Faith and of that Good Teaching by which you have guided your life.

Look to yourself as well as to your teaching. Persevere in this, for your doing so will mean Salvation for yourself as well as for your hearers.

So, with food and shelter, we will be content.

This will be brought about in his own time by the one ever-blessed Potentate, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords,

storing up for themselves what in the future will prove to be a good foundation, that they may gain the only true Life.

To Timothy, my dear Child, from Paul who, by the will of God, is an Apostle of Christ Jesus, charged to proclaim the Life that comes from union with Christ Jesus. May God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord, bless you, and be merciful to you, and give you peace.

and what you learnt from me, in the presence of many listeners, entrust to reliable men, who will be able in their turn to teach others.

Reflect upon what I say; the Lord will always help you to understand.

If we continue to endure, we shall also share his throne. If we should ever disown him, he, too, will disown us.

and their teaching will spread like a cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are instances of this.

If, then, a man has escaped from the pollution of such errors as I have mentioned, he will be like a thing kept for better use, set apart, serviceable to its owner, ready for any good purpose.

He should instruct his opponents in a gentle spirit; for, possibly, God may give them a repentance that will lead to a fuller knowledge of Truth,

and they may yet come to a sober mind, and escape from the snares of the Devil, when captured by the Lord's Servant to do the will of God.

Be sure of this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

Men will be selfish, mercenary, boastful, haughty, and blasphemous; disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, impure,

treacherous, reckless, and puffed up with pride; they will love pleasure more than they love God;

and while they retain the outward form of religion, they will not allow it to influence them. Turn your back on such men as these.

They will not, however, make further progress; for their wicked folly will be plain to every one, just as that of Jannes and Jambres was.

Yes, and all who aim at living a religious life in union with Christ Jesus will have to suffer persecution;

but wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves.

I solemnly charge you, in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus, who will one day judge the living and the dead--I charge you by his Appearing and by his Kingdom:--

For a time will come when people will not tolerate sound teaching. They will follow their own wishes, and, in their itching for novelty, procure themselves a crowd of teachers.

They will turn a deaf ear to the Truth, and give their attention to legends instead.

And now the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just Judge, will give me on 'That Day'--and not only to me, but to all who have loved his Appearing.

Alexander, the coppersmith, showed much ill-feeling towards me. 'The Lord will give him what his actions deserve.'

The Lord will rescue me from all evil, and bring me safe into his Heavenly Kingdom. All glory to him for ever and ever! Amen.

I, Paul, put my own hand to it--I will repay you myself. I say nothing about your owing me your very self.

Even as I write, I have such confidence in your compliance with my wishes, that I am sure that you will do even more than I am asking.

For to which of the angels did God ever say-- 'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father'? or again-- 'I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son'?

As a mantle thou wilt fold them up, And as a garment they shall be changed, But thou art the same, and thy years shall know no end.'

He says-- 'I will tell of thy Name to my Brothers, In the midst of the congregation I will sing thy praise.'

And again-- 'As for me, I will put my trust in God.' And yet again-- 'See, here am I and the children whom God gave me.'

for, in a passage referring to the seventh day, you will find these words-- 'God rested upon the seventh day after all his work.'

Yes and, with God's help, we will.

but, if it 'bears thorns and thistles,' it is regarded as worthless, it is in danger of being 'cursed,' and its end will be the fire.

For God is not unjust; he will not forget the work that you did, and the love that you showed for his Name, in sending help to your fellow Christians--as you are still doing.

But our great desire is that every one of you should be equally earnest to attain to a full conviction that our hope will be fulfilled, and that you should keep that hope to the end.

Then you will not show yourselves slow to learn, but you will copy those who, through faith and patience, are now entering upon the enjoyment of God's promises.

His words were-- 'I will assuredly bless thee and increase thy numbers.'

but his appointment was ratified by an oath, when God said to him-- 'The Lord has sworn, and will not change, "Thou art a priest for all time."'

But, finding fault with the people, God says-- '"Behold, a time is coming," says the Lord, "when I will ratify a new Covenant with the People of Israel and with the People of Judah--