[This is being written by] the elder to my dear [friend] Gaius, whom I love in the truth. [Note: This may mean "whom I truly love"].

[My] dearly loved [friend], I am praying that you will do well in everything [materially ?] and that you will have [good] health, just as your soul [i.e., your spiritual life] is doing well.

Dear [friend], you are accomplishing a faithful work whenever you do something for the brothers [traveling in the Lord's work], especially when they are strangers [to you].

Dear [friend], do not imitate what is evil, but [only] what is good. The person who does what is good is [a child] of God; the one who does evil has not seen God [spiritually].