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Philippians 4

1 And so, my most beloved and most desired brothers, my joy and my crown: stand firm in this way, in the Lord, most beloved.

2 I ask Euodia, and I beg Syntyche, to have the same understanding in the Lord.

3 And I also ask you, as my genuine companion, to assist those women who have labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement and the rest of my assistants, whose names are in the Book of Life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice.

5 Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is near.

6 Be anxious about nothing. But in all things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God.

7 And so shall the peace of God, which exceeds all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Concerning the rest, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is chaste, whatever is just, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy to be loved, whatever is of good repute, if there is any virtue, if there is any praiseworthy discipline: meditate on these.

9 All the things that you have learned and accepted and heard and seen in me, do these. And so shall the God of peace be with you.

10 Now I rejoice in the Lord exceedingly, because finally, after some time, your feelings for me have flourished again, just as you formerly felt. For you had been preoccupied.

11 I am not saying this as if out of need. For I have learned that, in whatever state I am, it is sufficient.

12 I know how to be humbled, and I know how to abound. I am prepared for anything, anywhere: either to be full or to be hungry, either to have abundance or to endure scarcity.

13 Everything is possible in him who has strengthened me.

14 Yet truly, you have done well by sharing in my tribulation.

15 But you also know, O Philippians, that at the beginning of the Gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not a single church shared with me in the plan of giving and receiving, except you alone.

16 For you even sent to Thessalonica, once, and then a second time, for what was useful to me.

17 It is not that I am seeking a gift. Instead, I seek the fruit that abounds to your benefit.

18 But I have everything in abundance. I have been filled up, having received from Epaphroditus the things that you sent; this is an odor of sweetness, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

19 And may my God fulfill all your desires, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

20 And to God our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.

22 The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.

23 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Colossians

Colossians 1

1 Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy, a brother,

2 to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ Jesus who are at Colossae.

3 Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying for you always.

4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that you have toward all the saints,

5 because of the hope that has been stored up for you in heaven, which you have heard through the Word of Truth in the Gospel.

6 This has reached you, just as it is present in the whole world, where it grows and bears fruit, as it has also done in you, since the day when you first heard and knew the grace of God in truth,

7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our most beloved fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ Jesus.

8 And he has also manifested to us your love in the Spirit.

9 Then, too, from the day when we first heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and requesting that you be filled with the knowledge of his will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of God, being pleasing in all things, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God,

11 being strengthened in every virtue, in accord with the power of his glory, with all patience and longsuffering, with joy,

12 giving thanks to God the Father, who has made us worthy to have a share in the portion of the saints, in the light.

13 For he has rescued us from the power of darkness, and he has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,

14 in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature.

16 For in him was created everything in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created through him and in him.

17 And he is before all, and in him all things continue.

18 And he is the head of his body, the Church. He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that in all things he may hold primacy.

19 For the Father is well-pleased that all fullness reside in him,

20 and that, through him, all things be reconciled to himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, for the things that are on earth, as well as the things that are in heaven.

21 And you, though you had been, in times past, understood to be foreigners and enemies, with works of evil,

22 yet now he has reconciled you, by his body of flesh, through death, so as to offer you, holy and immaculate and blameless, before him.

23 So then, continue in the faith: well-founded and steadfast and immovable, by the hope of the Gospel that you have heard, which has been preached throughout all creation under heaven, the Gospel of which I, Paul, have become a minister.

24 For now I rejoice in my passion on your behalf, and I complete in my flesh the things that are lacking in the Passion of Christ, for the sake of his body, which is the Church.

25 For I have become a minister of the Church, according to the dispensation of God that has been given to me among you, so that I may fulfill the Word of God,

26 the mystery which had remained hidden to past ages and generations, but which now is manifested to his saints.

27 To them, God willed to made known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ and the hope of his glory within you.

28 We are announcing him, correcting every man and teaching every man, with all wisdom, so that we may offer every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

29 In him, too, I labor, striving according to his action within me, which he works in virtue.

Colossians

Colossians 2

1 For I want you to know the kind of solicitude that I have for you, and for those who are at Laodicea, as well as for those who have not seen my face in the flesh.

2 May their hearts be consoled and instructed in charity, with all the riches of a plenitude of understanding, with knowledge of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ Jesus.

3 For in him are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 Now I say this, so that no one may deceive you with grandiose words.

5 For though I may be absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit. And I rejoice as I gaze upon your order and its foundation, which is in Christ, your faith.

6 Therefore, just as you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, walk in him.

7 Be rooted and continually built up in Christ. And be confirmed in the faith, just as you have also learned it, increasing in him with acts of thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one deceives you through philosophy and empty falsehoods, as found in the traditions of men, in accord with the influences of the world, and not in accord with Christ.

9 For in him, all the fullness of the Divine Nature dwells bodily.

10 And in him, you have been filled; for he is the head of all principality and power.

11 In him also, you have been circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand, not by the despoiling of the body of flesh, but by the circumcision of Christ.

12 You have been buried with him in baptism. In him also, you have risen again through faith, by the work of God, who raised him up from the dead.

13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he enlivened you, together with him, forgiving you of all transgressions,

14 and wiping away the handwriting of the decree which was against us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken this away from your midst, affixing it to the Cross.

15 And so, despoiling principalities and powers, he has led them away confidently and openly, triumphing over them in himself.

16 Therefore, let no one judge you as concerns food or drink, or a particular feast day, or feast days of new moons, or of Sabbaths.

17 For these are a shadow of the future, but the body is of Christ.

18 Let no one seduce you, preferring base things and a religion of Angels, walking according to what he has not seen, being vainly inflated by the sensations of his flesh,

19 and not holding up the head, with which the whole body, by its underlying joints and ligaments, is joined together and grows with an increase that is of God.

20 So then, if you have died with Christ to the influences of this world, why do you still make decisions as if you were living in the world?

21 Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle these things,

22 which all lead to destruction by their very use, in accord with the precepts and doctrines of men.

23 Such ideas have at least an intention to attain to wisdom, but through superstition and debasement, not sparing the body, and they are without any honor in satiating the flesh.

Colossians

Colossians 3

1 Therefore, if you have risen together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

2 Consider the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth.

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

4 When Christ, your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Therefore, mortify your body, while it is upon the earth. For because of fornication, impurity, lust, evil desires, and avarice, which are a kind of service to idols,

6 the wrath of God has overwhelmed the sons of unbelief.

7 You, too, walked in these things, in times past, when you were living among them.

8 But now you must set aside all these things: anger, indignation, malice, blasphemy, and indecent speech from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another. Strip yourselves of the old man, with his deeds,

10 and clothe yourself with the new man, who has been renewed by knowledge, in accord with the image of the One who created him,

11 where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian nor Scythian, servant nor free. Instead, Christ is everything, in everyone.

12 Therefore, clothe yourselves like the elect of God: holy and beloved, with hearts of mercy, kindness, humility, modesty, and patience.

13 Support one another, and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive one another. For just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also must you do.

14 And above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection.

15 And let the peace of Christ lift up your hearts. For in this peace, you have been called, as one body. And be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ live in you in abundance, with all wisdom, teaching and correcting one another, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing to God with the grace in your hearts.

17 Let everything whatsoever that you do, whether in word or in deed, be done all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

18 Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.

19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them.

20 Children, obey your parents in all things. For this is well-pleasing to the Lord.

21 Fathers, do not provoke your children to indignation, lest they lose heart.

22 Servants, obey, in all things, your lords according to the flesh, not serving only when seen, as if to please men, but serving in simplicity of heart, fearing God.

23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for men.

24 For you know that you will receive from the Lord the repayment of an inheritance. Serve Christ the Lord.

25 For whoever causes injury shall be repaid for what he has wrongfully done. And there no favoritism with God.

Colossians

Colossians 4

1 You masters, supply your servants with what is just and equitable, knowing that you, too, have a Master in heaven.

2 Pursue prayer. Be watchful in prayer with acts of thanksgiving.

3 Pray together, for us also, so that God may open a door of speech to us, so as to speak the mystery of Christ, (because of which, even now, I am in chains)

4 so that I may manifest it in the manner that I ought to speak.

5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming this age.

6 Let your speech be ever graceful, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to respond to each person.

7 As for the things that concern me, Tychicus, a most beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you.

8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that he may know the things that concern you, and may console your hearts,

9 with Onesimus, a most beloved and faithful brother, who is from among you. They shall make known to you everything that is happening here.

10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, as does Mark, the near cousin of Barnabas, about whom you have received instructions, (if he comes to you, receive him)

11 and Jesus, who is called Justus, and those who are of the circumcision. These alone are my assistants, unto the kingdom of God; they have been a consolation to me.

12 Epaphras greets you, who is from among you, a servant of Christ Jesus, ever solicitous for you in prayer, so that you may stand, perfect and complete, in the entire will of God.

13 For I offer testimony to him, that he has labored greatly for you, and for those who are at Laodicea, and for those at Hierapolis.

14 Luke, a most beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas.

15 Greet the brothers who are at Laodicea, and Nymphas, and those who are at his house, a church.

16 And when this epistle has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and you should read that which is from the Laodiceans.

17 And tell Archippus: “See to the ministry that you have received in the Lord, in order to fulfill it.”

18 The greeting of Paul by my own hand. Remember my chains. May grace be with you. Amen.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 1

1 Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Grace and peace to you. We give thanks to God always for all of you, keeping the memory of you in our prayers without ceasing,

3 remembering your work of faith, and hardship, and charity, and enduring hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ, before God our Father.

4 For we know, brothers, beloved of God, of your election.

5 For our Gospel has not been among you in word alone, but also in virtue, and in the Holy Spirit, and with a great fullness, in the same manner as you know we have acted among you for your sake.

6 And so, you became imitators of us and of the Lord, accepting the Word in the midst of great tribulation, but with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

7 So have you become a pattern for all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.

8 For from you, the Word of the Lord was spread, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith, which is toward God, has advanced so much so that we do not need to speak to you about anything.

9 For others are reporting among us of the kind of acceptance we had among you, and how you were converted from idols to God, to the service of the living and true God,

10 and to the expectation of his Son from heaven (whom he raised up from the dead), Jesus, who has rescued us from the approaching wrath.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 2

1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our acceptance among you was not empty.

2 Instead, having previously suffered and been treated shamefully, as you know, at Philippi, we had confidence in our God, so as to speak the Gospel of God to you with much solicitude.

3 For our exhortation was not in error, nor from impurity, nor with deception.

4 But, just as we have been tested by God, so that the Gospel would be entrusted to us, so also did we speak, not so as to please men, but rather to please God, who tests our hearts.

5 And neither did we, at any time, become flattering in speech, as you know, nor did we seek an opportunity for avarice, as God is witness.

6 Nor did we seek the glory of men, neither from you, nor from others.

7 And although we could have been a burden to you, as Apostles of Christ, instead we became like little ones in your midst, like a nurse cherishing her children.

8 So desirous were we for you that we were willing to hand over to you, not only the Gospel of God, but even our own souls. For you have become most beloved to us.

9 For you remember, brothers, our hardship and weariness. We preached the Gospel of God among you, working night and day, so that we would not be burdensome to any of you.

10 You are witnesses, as is God, of how holy and just and blameless we were with you who have believed.

11 And you know the manner, with each one of you, like a father with his sons,

12 in which we were pleading with you and consoling you, bearing witness, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of God, who has called you into his kingdom and glory.

13 For this reason also, we give thanks to God without ceasing: because, when you had accepted from us the Word of the hearing of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but (as it truly is) as the Word of God, who is working in you who have believed.

14 For you, brothers, have become imitators of the churches of God which are at Judea, in Christ Jesus. For you, too, have suffered the same things from your fellow countrymen as they have suffered from the Jews,

15 who also killed both the Lord Jesus, and the Prophets, and who have persecuted us. But they do not please God, and so they are adversaries to all men.

16 They prohibit us to speak to the Gentiles, so that they may be saved, and thus do they continually add to their own sins. But the wrath of God will overtake them in the very end.

17 And we, brothers, having been deprived of you for a short time, in sight, but not in heart, have hurried all the more to see your face, with a great desire.

18 For we wanted to come to you, (indeed, I, Paul, attempted to do so once, and then again,) but Satan impeded us.

19 For what is our hope, and our joy, and our crown of glory? Is it not you, before our Lord Jesus Christ at his return?

20 For you are our glory and our joy.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 3

1 Because of this, willing to wait no longer, it was pleasing to us to remain at Athens, alone.

2 And we sent Timothy, our brother and a minister of God in the Gospel of Christ, to confirm you and to exhort you, on behalf of your faith,

3 so that no one would be disturbed during these tribulations. For you yourselves know that we have been appointed to this.

4 For even while we were with you, we predicted to you that we would suffer tribulations, even as it has happened, and as you know.

5 For this reason also, I was not willing to wait any longer, and I sent to find out about your faith, lest perhaps he who tempts may have tempted you, and our labor might have been in vain.

6 But then, when Timothy arrived to us from you, he reported to us your faith and charity, and that you keep a good remembrance of us always, desiring to see us, just as we likewise desire to see you.

7 As a result, we were consoled in you, brothers, in the midst of all our difficulties and tribulations, through your faith.

8 For we now live so that you may stand firm in the Lord.

9 For what thanks would we be able to repay to God because of you, for all the joy with which we rejoice over you before our God?

10 For night and day, ever more abundantly, we are praying that we may see your face, and that we may complete those things that are lacking in your faith.

11 But may God our Father himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you.

12 And may the Lord multiply you, and make you abound in your charity toward one another and toward all, just as we also do toward you,

13 in order to confirm your hearts without blame, in sanctity, before God our Father, unto the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints. Amen.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4

1 Therefore, concerning other things, brothers, we ask and beg you, in the Lord Jesus, that, just as you have received from us the way in which you ought to walk and to please God, so also may you walk, in order that you may abound all the more.

2 For you know what precepts I have given to you through the Lord Jesus.

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from fornication,

4 that each one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor,

5 not in passions of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God,

6 and that no one should overwhelm or circumvent his brother in business. For the Lord is the vindicator of all these things, just as we have preached and testified to you.

7 For God has not called us to impurity, but to sanctification.

8 And so, whoever despises these teachings, does not despise man, but God, who has even provided his Holy Spirit within us.

9 But concerning the charity of brotherhood, we have no need to write to you. For you yourselves have learned from God that you should love one another.

10 For indeed, you act in this way with all the brothers in all of Macedonia. But we petition you, brothers, so that you may abound all the more,

11 to choose work that allows you to be tranquil, and to carry out your business and to do your work with your own hands, just as we have instructed you,

12 and to walk honestly with those who are outside, and to desire nothing belonging to another.

13 And we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, so as not to be sorrowful, like these others who do not have hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus has died and risen again, so also will God bring back with Jesus those who sleep in him.

15 For we say this to you, in the Word of the Lord: that we who are alive, who remain until the return of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

16 For the Lord himself, with a command and with the voice of an Archangel and with a trumpet of God, shall descend from heaven. And the dead, who are in Christ, shall rise up first.

17 Next, we who are alive, who are remaining, shall be taken up quickly together with them into the clouds to meet Christ in the air. And in this way, we shall be with the Lord always.

18 Therefore, console one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 5

1 But concerning dates and times, brothers, you do not need us to write to you.

2 For you yourselves thoroughly understand that the day of the Lord shall arrive much like a thief in the night.

3 For when they will say, “Peace and security!” then destruction will suddenly overwhelm them, like the labor pains of a woman with child, and they will not escape.

4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that you would be overtaken by that day as by a thief.

5 For all of you are sons of light and sons of daytime; we are not of nighttime, nor of darkness.

6 Therefore, let us not sleep, as the rest do. Instead, we should be vigilant and sober.

7 For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are inebriated, are inebriated in the night.

8 But we, who are of the daylight, should be sober, being clothed with the breastplate of faith and of charity and having, as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

9 For God has not appointed us for wrath, but for the acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

10 who died for us, so that, whether we watch, or whether we sleep, we may live in union with him.

11 Because of this, console one another and build up one another, just as you are doing.

12 And we ask you, brothers, to recognize those who labor among you, and who preside over you in the Lord, and who admonish you,

13 so that you may consider them with an abundance of charity, for the sake of their work. Be at peace with them.

14 And we ask you, brothers: correct the disruptive, console the weak-minded, support the sick, be patient with everyone.

15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone. Instead, always pursue whatever is good, with one another and with all.

16 Rejoice always.

17 Pray without ceasing.

18 Give thanks in everything. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you.

19 Do not choose to extinguish the Spirit.

20 Do not spurn prophecies.

21 But test all things. Hold on to whatever is good.

22 Abstain from every kind of evil.

23 And may the God of peace himself sanctify you through all things, so that your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved without blame unto the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 He who has called you is faithful. He shall act even now.

25 Brothers, pray for us.

26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

27 I bind you, through the Lord, that this epistle is to be read to all the holy brothers.

28 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.