2 For I want you to know how great a ^kstruggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be ^lencouraged, being ^mknit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s ⁿmystery, which is Christ, 3 ^oin whom are hidden ^pall the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am ^qabsent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good ^rorder and the ^sfirmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

6 Therefore, ^tas you ^ureceived Christ Jesus the Lord, so ^vwalk in him, 7 ^wrooted and ^xbuilt up in him and established in the faith, just as you were ^ytaught, abounding in thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one ^ztakes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human ^atradition, according to the ^belemental spirits¹ of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole ^cfullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and ^dyou have been filled in him, who is the ^ehead of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were ^fcircumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^gputting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been ^hburied with him in ⁱbaptism, in which you were also ^jraised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, ^kwho raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were ^ldead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 ^mby ⁿcanceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the ^orulers and authorities² and put them to open shame, by ^ptriumphing over them in him.³

Let No One Disqualify You

16 Therefore ^qlet no one pass judgment on you in questions of ^rfood and drink, or ^swith regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a ^tshadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one ^udisqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,^{4 v}puffed up ^wwithout reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the ^xHead, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, ^ywhy, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 ^z“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 ^a(referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^bhuman precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in ^cstopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Put On the New Self

3 If then you have been ^draised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, ^eseated at the right hand of God. 2 ^fSet your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For ^gyou have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 ^hWhen Christ who is your¹ life appears, then you also will appear with him ⁱin glory.

5 ^jPut to death therefore what is earthly in you:² sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, ^kwhich is idolatry. 6 ^lOn account of these the wrath of God is coming.³ 7 ^mIn these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But ⁿnow you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 ^oDo not lie to one another, seeing that you have ^pput off the ^qold self⁴ with its practices 10 and have ^rput on the ^snew self, which is being ^trenewed in knowledge ^uafter the image of its creator. 11 Here there is ^vnot Greek and Jew, ^wcircumcised and uncircumcised, ^xbarbarian, Scythian, ^yslave,⁵ free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 ^zPut on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, ^acompassionate hearts, ^bkindness, ^chumility, ^dmeekness, and ^epatience, 13 bearing with one another and, ^fif one has a complaint against another, ^gforgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And ^habove all these put on love, which ⁱbinds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the ^jpeace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were ^kcalled in ^lone body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and ^madmonishing one another in all wisdom, ⁿsinging psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And ^owhatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the ^pname of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Rules for Christian Households

18 ^qWives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 ^rHusbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 ^sChildren, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 ^tFathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 ^uBondservants, obey in everything those who are your ^vearthly masters,⁶ not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, ^wfearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, ^xas for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the ^yinheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is ^zno partiality.

4 Masters, treat your bondservants¹ justly and fairly, ^aknowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

Further Instructions

2 ^bContinue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, ^cpray also for us, that God may open to us a ^ddoor for the word, to declare the ^emystery of Christ, ^fon account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is ^ghow I ought to speak.

5 ^hWalk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 ⁱLet your speech always be gracious, ^jseasoned with salt, ^kso that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Final Greetings

7 ^lTychicus will tell you all about my activities. ^mHe is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant² in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may ⁿencourage your hearts, 9 and with him ^oOnesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of ^pthe circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always ^qstruggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand ^rmature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14 ^sLuke the beloved physician greets you, as does ^tDemas. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers³ at Laodicea, and to Nympha and ^uthe church in her house. 16 And ^vwhen this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And say to ^wArchippus, “See that you ^xfulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”

18 ^yI, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. ^zGrace be with you.

1 Thessalonians

Greeting

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example

2 ^aWe give thanks to God always for all of you, ^bconstantly¹ mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your ^cwork of ^dfaith and labor of ^elove and steadfastness of ^fhope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, ^gbrothers² loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also ^hin power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. ⁱYou know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you ^jbecame imitators of us and of the Lord, for ^kyou received the word in much affliction, with the ^ljoy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has ^mthe word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but ⁿyour ^ofaith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of ^preception we had among you, and how you ^qturned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to ^rwait for his Son ^sfrom heaven, whom ^the raised from the dead, Jesus who ^udelivers us from the ^vwrath to come.

Paul’s Ministry to the Thessalonians

2 For you yourselves know, brothers,¹ that our ^wcoming to you was not ^xin vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated ^yat Philippi, as you know, we had ^zboldness in our God ^ato declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved ^bby God to be ^centrusted with the gospel, so we speak, ^dnot to please man, but to please God who ^etests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery,² as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—^fGod is witness. 6 Nor did we ^gseek glory from people, whether from you or from others, ^hthough we could have made demands as ⁱapostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle³ among you, ^jlike a ^knursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God ^lbut also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

9 For you remember, brothers, our ^mlabor and toil: we worked night and day, ⁿthat we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 ^oYou are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and ^pcharged you to ^qwalk in a manner worthy of God, who ^rcalls you into his own kingdom and glory.

13 And we also thank God ^sconstantly⁴ for this, that when you received the word of God, which you ^theard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men⁵ but as what it really is, the word of God, which is ^uat work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers, ^vbecame imitators of ^wthe churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For ^xyou suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,⁶ 15 ^ywho killed both the Lord Jesus and the ^zprophets, and ^adrove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to ^bfill up the measure of their sins. But ^cwrath has come upon them at last!⁷

Paul’s Longing to See Them Again

17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to ^dsee you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our ^ehope or ^fjoy or crown of ^gboasting before our Lord Jesus at his ^hcoming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.