Thomson
(i)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints; to them who are at Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Favour be to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing; with the heavenly things in Christ;
4 as he chose us in him before the5 foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love;
5 having before hand determinately pointed us out for an adoption into the number of children by Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will;
6 for the praise of the glory of that favour of his with which he made us objects of favour in the Beloved;
7 by whom we have this redemption by his blood; the forgiveness of our sins according to the richness of his grace
8 in which he hath abounded for us
9 having with all wisdom and care made known to us this secret of his will, according to that good pleasure of his, which he previously purposed in himself,
10 for the dispensation of the fulness of times, to bring all things again under one head in Christ, both those in heaven and those on earth"even in him,
11 by whom we, [having been previously marked out in a determinate manner, according to the purpose of him who effecteth all things according to the counsel of his will] were made his inheritance,
12 to the end that we who first trusted in the Christ might be for the praise of his glory;
13 and by whom you also, when you heard the word of this truth, the glad tidings of this salvation of yours"by whom you indeed, when you believed, were sealed with the spirit of the promise
14 [that holy [spirit which is an earnest of the inheritance of us"for the complete redemption of the purchase] for the praise of his glory.
15 For this cause, having heard of the faith which you have in the Lord Jesus, and of your love for all the saints,
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the glory, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the acknowledgment of him
18 that He would enlighten the eyes of your understanding, that you may see what the hope of this invitation of his is; and what the riches of the glory of this inheritance of his, in the saints;
19 and what the exceeding greatness of this power of his for us who believe, corresponding to the energy of the strength of that power
20 of his which he exerted in the Christ: Having raised Him from the dead, he set him at his right hand, in the heavenly kingdom,
21 far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name which is named, not only in this age but in that to come;
22 and put all things under his feet, and constituted him head over all for the congregation,
23 which is his body; the fulness of him who filleth all in all.
2 1 And with respect to you, when you were dead in those trespasses, and those sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world; according to the prince of the power of the air, that spirit which is now working powerfully in the children of disobedience;
3 among whom when we also were all formerly leading our lives in the desires of our flesh, executing the dictates of the flesh, and the imaginations, and were naturally children of wrath even as the rest;
4 then God, who is rich in mercy, on the account of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in those trespasses, did bring us to life with the Christ, [by grace you are saved]
6 and did raise us up, and place us with him in the heavenly kingdom in Christ Jesus,
7 in order that he might, in the ages which are to come, display the immense riches of his favour by kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you are saved by means of this belief. And even this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
9 It is not because of works; so that no one can boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, fitted by Christ Jesus for good works, for which God had before prepared us that we might walk therein.
11 Wherefore remember that you were formerly the nations in flesh, those denominated uncircumcision by the nominal circumcision made with hands, in flesh
12 that you were at that time without Christ; aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope, and being without God in the world:
13 but now by Christ Jesus, you, who were formerly far off, are brought near by the blood of the Christ;
14 for he is our peace. He it is, who hath made both one, and who hath demolished the partition wall,
15 having; by his flesh put a stop to the enmity; the law of the commandments [contained] in positive injunctions; that he might frame the two anew, in himself, into one new man, making peace;
16 and reconcile them both in one body, to God by means of the cross, having by that slain the enmity.
17 And being come he hath proclaimed the glad tidings of peace to you who were far off, and to them who were near.
18 Because through him we both have access to the father by one spirit,
19 you therefore are no longer strangers, and pilgrims, but fellow citizens of the saints, and of the household of God,
20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the corner stone,
21 by whom the whole building being united in symmetry is to grow up to a holy temple in the Lord;
22 by whom you also are builded up together with them by the spirit, for an habitation of God.
3 1 For this cause, with regard to me Paul the prisoner of the Christ, Jesus, for you the nations;
2 inasmuch as you have heard of the dispensation of the favour of God granted to me for you;
3 that he hath by a revelation made known to me this secret [as I have briefly written above,
4 by the bare reading of which you may perceive my knowledge in this secret of the Christ,
5 which in former generations was not made known to the children of men as it hath now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit,]
6 That the nations are coheirs, and a joint body, and joint partakers of that promise of his in the Christ by means of the gospel,
7 of which I was made a minister according to the free gift of God's favour which was granted to me; according to the energy of his power.
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this favour was granted to proclaim among the nations the unsearchable riches of the Christ,
9 and to enlighten all men with respect to the dispensation of this secret, which God who created all things by Jesus Christ had hidden from the ages,
10 in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly kingdom, by means of the congregation,
11 according to the predisposition of the ages which he made by Christ Jesus our Lord;
12 by whom we have this freedom of speech, and this access with confidence, by this belief in him;
13 therefore I pray you not to be dejected at these afflictions of mine for you. It is for your glory.
14 For this cause I bend my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 of whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named,
16 that he would, according to the riches of his glory, grant you to be strengthened by his spirit for the inner man,
17 that, by means of this belief, the Christ may dwell in your hearts; that you being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,
19 and to know the love of the Christ which surpasseth that knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do infinitely above all that we can ask or conceive, according to that power which is operative in us
21 to him be the glory in the congregation, by Christ Jesus, through all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.
4 1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the call with which you have been called,
2 with all humility and meekness; with long suffering, bearing with one another in love;
3 and endeavouring to preserve the unity of the spirit by the bond of peace;
4 to be one body and one spirit: as you have indeed been called to one hope of your call.
5 There is one Lord, one belief, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in you all;
7 and to every one of us there hath been granted in due measure the favour of the free gift of the Christ.
8 Therefore it is said, "Having ascended on high, he hath led captivity captive, and "he hath given gifts to men."
9 Now this expression, "He ascended" what doth it infer, but that he had first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is the same who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all;
11 and he hath given some to be apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors, and teachers,
12 for the fitting up of the saints; for the work of distribution; for the building up of the body of the Christ,
13 until we all come up to the unity of the belief and of the knowledge of the son of God; to perfect manhood to a measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ;
14 that we may no longer be infants, tossed like waves, and whirled about by every wind of doctrine, by the cheating sleight of men, by a skill in the art of deceiving:
15 but that maintaining truth with love, we may grow up in all respects for him, who is the head, the Christ;
16 from whom the whole body being fitly framed together and cemented, provision is made by means of the supply of every joint, according to the proportionate operative power of every part, for an increase of the body; for building itself up in love.
17 This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no more walk, as the rest of the nations do, in the vanity of their mind.
18 They having their understandings darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them, by reason of the blindness of their heart,
19 have without remorse abandoned themselves to the commission of every uncleanness with inordinate desire.
20 But you have not thus learned the Christ;
21 inasmuch as you have heard him and been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus,
22 with respect to your former course of life, to put off the old man, which is corrupted by deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 and to put on the new man, which in a conformity to God is created in righteousness and the holiness of truth.
25 Wherefore, putting away all falsehood, speak truth, every one to his neighbour. Because we are members one of another,
26 are you excited to anger? Do not therefore sin. Let not the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give the devil an opportunity.
28 Let the stealer steal no more; but rather labour, and procure honestly with the work of his hands, that he may have wherewithal to relieve the needy.
29 Let no corrupt discourse proceed out of your mouth; nothing but what is good for edification, of such utility as to be a benefit to the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy spirit of God by which you have been sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and detraction, be banished from among you, with malice of every sort;
32 and be kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, forgiving one another. And as God hath in Christ forgiven you,
5 1 be ye therefore imitators of God as beloved children.
2 And walk in love, even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us, as an3 offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
3 And let not fornication, nor uncleanness of any sort, nor inordinate desire, be so much as named among you, as becometh saints;
4 nor obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor jesting about things which are unbecoming; but rather thanksgiving.
5 For this you know that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor lewd libertine, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with vain discourses; for on the account of these things the wrath of God is coining on these children of disobedience,
7 be not ye8 therefore partakers with them.
8 For you were formerly darkness, but being now a light in the Lord, walk as children of light
9 [for the fruit of this light consists of goodness and righteousness and truth of every sort]
10 proving what is well pleasing to the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them:
12 for as to the things done by them in secret, it is shameful even to mention them.
13 But all these reprehensible things are exposed to view by the light. For it is light which exposeth every thing to view;
14 therefore it is said, "Awake thou who sleepest and arise from the dead and the Christ will shine upon thee.
15 Take heed therefore how circumspectly you walk, not as unwise, but as wise,
16 redeeming the time. Because these are evil days,
17 therefore be not without understanding, but intelligent with regard to what is the will of the Lord.
18 And be not intoxicated with wine in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit
19 when: you are speaking to one another, when with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs you are singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord:
20 and give thanks on all occasions for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to the God and Father.
21 Be subject to one another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord;
23 because the husband is the head of the wife, even as the Christ is the head of the congregation. He indeed is the saviour of the body;
24 but as the congregation is subject to the Christ, so let wives be to their husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands love your wives, even as the Christ loved the congregation, and gave himself up for it,
26 that having purified it with the bath of the water, he might hallow it; indeed
27 that he might present it to himself as the glorious congregation, having neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor any defect whatever; but that it may be holy and without blemish.
28 In the same manner husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loveth his wife, loveth himself.
29 Now no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord doth the congregation,
30 because we are members of his body; of his flesh and of his bones.
31 Instead of this, "a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they two will be one flesh,"
32 this is the great mystery, I mean in regard to Christ and the congregation.
33 However with regard to you individually, let every one love his wife as himself, and let the wife reverence her husband.
6 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.
2 Honour thy father and mother [this is the first commandment with a promise]
3 that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayst live long on the earth.
4 And you, parents, exasperate not your children, but educate them with the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
5 Servants, obey them who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your hearts, as you do the Christ
6 not with eye-service as men pleasers, but as servants of the Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 performing service with good will, as to the Lord and not to men;
8 knowing that whatever good any one doth, the Lord will reward him for it, whether he be a bondman or freeman.
9 And you, masters, observe the same conduct towards them, abating your threats, knowing that you yourselves have a master in heaven, and that with him there is no respect of persons.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the complete armour of God, that you may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil.
12 Because our conflict is not barely with flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers; against the rulers of this dark age, against the spiritual [assaults] of the wickedness in the heavenly dispensation;
13 take up therefore the complete armour of God, that you may be able to make resistance in the evil day, and having put a stop to them all, to maintain your ground.
14 Stand, therefore, having your loins girded with truth, and having on the breast plate of righteousness,
15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the glad tidings of peace,
16 covering all with the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one.
17 Take also the helmet of salvation, and the sword o" the spirit, that is the word of God;
18 in every prayer and supplication, always praying with the spirit [being for this purpose in a continual state of watchfulness and prayer] for all the saints
19 particularly for me, that to me a word may be given, that with the opening of my mouth, and with freedom am plainness of speech, I may make known the secret of the glad tidings,
20 for which I am performing the office of an ambassador in a chain, that in this situation I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
21 Now that you may know the state of my affairs, and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will give you a particular account,
22 as I have sent him for this very purpose, that you may know the state of our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.
23 Peace to the brethren and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
24 this favour be with all them who love our Lord Jesus Christ without any mixture of Corruption. Amen.
Philippians
1 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, to them who are at Philippi, with overseers and deacons,
2 favour be to you and peace from God our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God at every mention of you,
4 always, in ever prayer of mine for you all, making such supplication with joy,
5 for your contribution for the glad tidings; having from the first day till now
6 the same confidence, that he who hath begun a good work in you will continue completing it until the day of Jesus Christ;
7 as it is just for me to be thus affected towards you all, because you have me in your heart; and in my bonds and in the defence and support of the glad tidings you all continue to be fellow sharers with me of this favour.
8 For God be my witness how tenderly I love you all with the affection of Jesus Christ;
9 and this I pray that your love may abound still more and more, in knowledge and all discernment,
10 that you may prove the things which differ"that you may be sincere and inoffensive till the day of Christ,
11 filled with fruits of righteousness, which are by means of Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.
12 Now I wish you, brethren, to know that what hath happened to me hath rather conduced to the furtherance of the
13 gospel; so that in the whole imperial palace, and all other places, my bonds are well known to be for Christ;
14 and a greater number of the brethren in the Lord are emboldened by my bonds to venture to speak the word with more freedom and intrepidity.
15 Some indeed proclaim the Christ out of envy and contention, but others do it out of good will
16 the former for the sake of strife proclaim the Christ not in a pure manner, thinking to add affliction to my bonds;
17 but the latter for love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
18 What then? Still in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. At this therefore I rejoice and will rejoice.
19 For I know that this will issue in my deliverance, through your supplications and a supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ,
20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that I shall in no wise be ashamed; but that in the most open manner, as always so now, Christ shall be magnified in my body, either by life or by death.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But whether the living in flesh is for me a fruit of labour, and what I should chuse, I do not know.
23 For I am strained between the two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is by far the best;
24 but to abide in the flesh is more needful on your account.
25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall abide and continue some time with you all for your furtherance and joy in the faith;
26 that by me your glorying in Christ Jesus may abound, by means of my being present with you again.
27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner becoming the glad tidings of the Christ, that whether I come and see you, or if absent I may hear this of you, that you are stedfast in one spirit, and that without being in the least daunted by your opposers, you contend unanimously for the belief of the gospel,
28 which is to them indeed a manifestation of destruction, but to you, of salvation. Now with respect to this from God
29 because this hath been granted to you for Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him and you are engaged in the same conflict as that in which you saw me and now hear that I am engaged,
2 1 if therefore there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any participation of spirit, if any compassion and tender mercies,
2 complete my joy. In order that you may be like minded, exercising the same love, having your souls knit together, your minds bent on the one thing
3 upon nothing out of a spirit of contention or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind esteeming one another better than yourselves,
4 look not every one to his own interests, but every one of you to the interests also of others.
5 For let this temper of mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus,
6 who being in the form of God did not think it robbery to be like God,
7 but he emptied himself"having taken the form of a servant, being in the likeness of men,
8 and found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of a cross;
9 wherefore God highly exalted him, and granted him a name which is above every name,
10 that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those beneath the earth;
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father.
12 Therefore, as you, my beloved, have always been obedient, not only when I was present, but now much more when I am absent, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is working in you both the will and the power to act.
14 For this good pleasure do you all things without murmurings and surmises,
15 that you may be blameless and sincere, spotless children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, amongst whom shine ye forth as lights in the world,
16 displaying the word of life, that I may have matter of boasting for the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain, nor labour in vain,
17 but can if I am even poured out as a libation on the sacrifice and service of your belief, rejoice and congratulate with you all.
18 For the same cause then rejoice ye also and congratulate with me.
19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy very soon to you, that I may be refreshed by knowing the state of your affairs.
20 For I have none of a like disposition who will sincerely interest himself in your concerns.
21 For all are seeking their own things, not the things of the Christ Jesus.
22 But of him you know this proof, that as a son serveth a father, he hath served with me for the gospel.
23 Him therefore I hope to send as soon as I see the issue of my affairs here.
24 And I have a confidence in the Lord that I myself shall come very soon.
25 But I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother, and fellow labourer and fellow soldier, and your missionary and agent to supply my want;
26 as he hath been longing for you all, and is much distressed because you heard that he was sick.
27 For he was indeed sick, nigh to death; but God had pity on him, and not on him only, but also on me, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.
28 I have therefore sent him with the greater despatch, that upon seeing him again you may rejoice, and that I may be less sorrowful.
29 Receive him then in the Lord with all joy and hold such in high esteem
30 because he was on the brink of death, for the work of the Christ, having exposed his life that he might supply the want of your religious service for me.
3 1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you the same things is not troublesome to me; and to you it is safe.
2 Beware of the dogs; beware of the evil workers; beware of the concision;
3 for we are the circumcision, who serve God in spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in flesh.
4 Though, with regard to my having a confidence even in flesh, if any other thinketh that he hath a confidence in flesh, I have greater pretensions
5 circumcision performed on the eighth day; a descent from Israel; of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; with respect to the law, a Pharisee;
6 with respect to zeal, a persecutor of the congregation; with respect to righteousness which is by law, blameless;
7 yet what were gain to me these I have counted refuse on account of the Christ
8 nay more, I do therefore indeed count all things but refuse, on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have given up all and account them but dregs, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having for my righteousness, that which is of the law, but that which is by a belief in Christ"that which is of God"a righteousness for this belief.
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, I have conformed myself to his death,
11 that I may somehow arrive at the resurrection of the dead
12 not that I have already received, or am yet made perfect, but I continue the pursuit, that I may lay hold that for which I have been laid hold on by the Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I do not reckon myself to have laid hold on it, but one thing [I do], forgetting the things which are behind, and intent on the things before,
14 I press forward to the mark, for the prize of the call of God from above by Christ Jesus.
15 Let as many of us therefore as are full grown, have our minds bent on this; and if any of you are otherwise minded, when God shall reveal this to you,
16 [over and above the advance which we have made by walking by this rule,"by minding this itself]
17 be ye, brethren, imitators of me, and keep your eyes fixed on those who walk thus, as you have us for an example.
18 For many walk of whom I have frequently told you, and now tell you with tears, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 Their end is destruction; their God is their belly; and their glory is their shame. Their minds are bent on earthly things.
20 But we are citizens of heaven, from which we earnestly expect a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform the body of this our humble state, that it may be made conformable to his glorious body, according to the energy of his power to subject all to himself.
4 1 Wherefore, my brethren, my beloved, and much longed for! my joy and my crown! stand thus stedfast in the Lord, my beloved!
2 I beseech Euodia, and I beseech Syntiche, to be of one mind in the Lord.
3 And I intreat thee also, my faithful colleague, assist them; for they were fellow labourers of mine in the gospel, with Clement in particular, and the rest of mv fellow labourers whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice.
5 Let your meekness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand:
6 Be anxious about nothing; but on all occasions, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds safe in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are venerable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are friendly, whatsoever things are reputable, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think of these things,
9 and practise what you have learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me; and the God of peace be with you.
10 Now I was greatly rejoiced in the Lord that now at length you revived your care for me, for whom you indeed were concerned, but had not an opportunity.
11 Not that I speak with regard to want; for I have learned, in whatever circumstances I am, to be contented.
12 I know how to be brought low; and I know how to abound: in every respect, and in all things, I have been initiated into the mysteries of feeding plentifully, and suffering hunger; of abounding, and being in want.
13 I can undergo all things through Christ who strengthened me.
14 Notwithstanding this you did well in assisting me in my distress.
15 Now you, Philippians, yourselves know, that at the beginning of the glad tidings when I was departing from Macedonia, no congregation communicated with me in respect to giving and receiving, but you only
16 that when I was at Thessalonica you sent once and again to supply my want.
17 Not that I desire a gift, but I wish for the fruit which aboundeth to your account.
18 Now I have all things and abound. I am fully supplied, having received your presents by Epaphroditus, a fragrant odour, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.
19 And my God will supply all your wants, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
20 Now to our God and father be the glory for the ages of the ages. Amen.
21 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren with me salute you.
22 All the saints salute you, they especially who are of Caesar's household.
23 The favour of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Colossians
1 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy the brother,
2 to the holy and faithful brethren in Christ at Colosse: favour be to you, and peace, from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you,
4 [having heard of your belief in Christ Jesus, and of your love for all the saints]
5 on account of the hope laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before by the true word of the gospel,
6 which is come to you as it hath also to all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it doth among you, from the day you heard and acknowledged the favour of God in truth,
7 as you learned it from Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of the Christ,
8 and the person who informed us of your love in spirit.
9 For this cause, we indeed, from the day we heard of it do not cease praying for you, and requesting, in order that you may be filled, in respect to the acknowledgment of his will
10 with all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, to all well pleasing. By every good work we bear fruit, and grow up for the acknowledgment of God;
11 being strengthened with all might according to the power of his glory for all patience and long suffering we with joy
12 give thanks to the Father who hath fitted us for a portion of the inheritance of the saints in light;
13 who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and removed us into the kingdom of his beloved son,
14 by whom we have this redemption, even the remission of our sins by the blood of him
15 who is an image of the invisible God, a first born of the whole creation.
16 Because all the things which are in the heavens and which are on the earth were created by him, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, they were all created by him, and for him;
17 therefore he is before all, and they are all kept in consistence by him,
18 and he is the head of the body, namely of the congregation. He who is the beginning is a first born from the dead that in all things he might be pre-eminent.
19 Because all the plenitude was pleased to dwell in him, and by him to reconcile all to himself,
20 he having by the blood of his cross"by himself, brought them to be at peace, [whether they be the things on earth or the things in heaven,]
21 hath now therefore brought you, who were for a time alienated, and enemies in your minds by wicked works, to a state of reconcilement
22 by the body of his flesh by his death, to present you holy and without blemish, and exempt from accusation in his sight,
23 provided you continue in this belief, grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the glad tidings which you have heard, which have been proclaimed to this whole creation under heaven, of which I Paul was made a minister.
24 Now I rejoice in these sufferings of mine for you, and am in my turn making up in my flesh the remainders of the sufferings of the Christ, for his body, namely, the congregation
25 of which I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was committed to me for you, to confirm the word of God
26 the mystery which was hidden from the ages and from the generations, but is now manifested to his saints;
27 to whom God hath been pleased to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations: namely Christ in you the hope of Glory,
28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man, and teaching every man with all wisdom; that we may present every one a full grown man in Christ Jesus;
29 for which I indeed labour, and struggle with all my might, according to that energy of his which operateth in me with power.
2 1 For I wish you to know what a great struggle I have for you, and for them in Laodicea, and as many as have not seen me in person,
2 that, they being knit together in love, their hearts may be comforted, even to all the riches of the full assurance of this knowledge"to the acknowledgement of the mystery of the God and Father and the Christ,
3 in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 Now I say this in order that none may deceive you with enticing discourse;
5 for though I am absent in person, yet in spirit I am present with you, rejoicing and beholding the regularity of your conduct and the stedfastness of your belief in Christ.
6 As you therefore have received the Christ Jesus for your Lord, walk in him
7 rooted and built up in him, and firmly established in this belief, as you have been taught; abounding in it with thankfulness.
8 Be on your guard, that none may make a prey of you by their philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.
9 Because all the plenitude of the deity resideth substantially in him, 10 therefore you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power;
11 in whom also you have been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands; with the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh; with the circumcision of the Christ;
12 having been buried with him in that baptism in which also you were raised with him by your belief in the mighty power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh he raised you to life with him. Having freely forgiven you all those trespasses
14 having blotted out the hand-writing which was against us by the ordinances; that which was adverse to us he removed out of the way; having nailed this to the cross.
15 having divested himself of the principalities and the powers, he exposed them to public view- when he triumphed over them on it.
16 Let none therefore judge you in respect to eating or drinking, or in respect to a festival, or a new moon, or sabbaths,
17 which are a shadow of the things to come. And with respect to the body of the Christ,
18 let no one deprive you of the prize; however delighted he may be with an affected humility and the religion of angels, prying into matters which he hath not seen, being vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 and not adhering to the head, from which the whole body, being by means of joints and ligaments supplied and knit together, is to receive the divine increase.
20 If you, then, have died with the Christ from the elements of the world, why are you, as if you were living in the world, troubled with these dogmas,
21 "Touch not; taste not; handle not;"
22 which all tend to corruption by this improper use according to the injunctions and doctrines of those men.
23 These indeed have a show of wisdom in will-worship and humility and self denial. Are they not in some estimation for the gratification of the flesh?
3 1 Since you then have been raised up with the Christ, seek the things which are above; where the Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your affections on the things above and not on the things of this earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God.
4 When the Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify, therefore, with regard to your members which are on earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate passions, wicked desire, and that licentiousness, which is idolatry,
6 on the account of which things the wrath of God is coming on the children of disobedience,
7 and in which even you yourselves "walked formerly when you lived among them.
8 But now lay ye aside also all these things, anger, wrath, malice, detraction, obscene discourse out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another. Having put off the old man, with his deeds,
10 and put on the new man, which is renewed for knowledge after the image of him who created it,
11 where there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian, bondman, freeman, but the all, and in all, Christ;
12 put on therefore as chosen of God, holy and beloved, bowels of tender mercies, gentleness, humility, meekness, long suffering,
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If any one hath a cause of complaint against another; as the Christ hath freely forgiven you, so do ye.
14 And over all these put on love which is the band of this perfection;
15 and let the peace of God, to which you have been called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be ye grateful.
16 Let the word of the Christ dwell richly in you with all wisdom, when you teach and admonish one another; when with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs you sing gratefully to the Lord with your heart.
17 Indeed whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the God and Father by him.
18 Wives, be submissive to your own husbands, as is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and be not imbittered against them
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
21 Fathers, exasperate not your children, lest they be discouraged
22 Servants, obey in all respects them who are your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service as men pleasers, but with singleness of heart, fearing God;
23 and whatever you do, do it heartily as for the Lord, and not for men,
24 knowing that you will receive from the Lord the reward of the inheritance; for you are serving the Lord Christ,
25 and he who doth wrong shall receive according to the wrong he hath done. There is no respect of persons.
4 1 Masters, render to your servants what is just and equitable; knowing that you have a master in heaven.
2 Continue in the constant exercise of prayer, watching there in with thanksgiving;
3 praying at the same time for us also, that God would open for us the door of the word, that we may declare the mystery of the Christ [for which I indeed am in. bonds]
4 that I may publish it in the manner ought to do.
5 Walk in wisdom towards them who are without, redeeming the time.
6 Let your conversation be always with courteousness, seasoned with salt, with a knowledge how you ought to answer every one.
7 With regard to my affairs, you will receive full information from Tychicus, the beloved brother, and faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord,
8 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that he may know your situation and comfort your hearts;
9 together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will inform you of the state of all things here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, saluteth you. So doth Marcus the nephew of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received letters of recommendation, If he come to you, receive him.
11 Jesus also, who is called Justus, saluteth you. These are the only persons of the circumcision who are my fellow labourers for the kingdom of God. These have been a comfort to me.
12 Epaphras who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always in his prayers making the most fervent supplications for you, that you may stand perfect and confirmed in all the will of God.
13 For I bear him witness that he hath a great zeal for you, and for those of Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Luke the physician, the beloved, saluteth you: so doth Demas.
15 Salute the brethren at Laodicea, particularly Nymphas and the congregation at his house.
16 And when this letter hath been read among you cause it to be read also in the congregation of the Laodiceans; and read ye that from Laodicea.
17 And say to Archippus, Be careful to discharge the office which thou hast received from the Lord.
18 The salutation of me Paul with my own hand. Remember my bonds. The favour be with you. Amen.
1 Thessalonians
1 1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the congregation of the Thessalonians in God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Favour be to you, and peace, from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers,
3 remembering incessantly the work of your belief, and the labour of your love, and the perseverance of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and Father;
4 knowing, brethren beloved of God, the choice made of you
5 that our glad tidings did not come to you in word only, but with power, and with a holy spirit, and with much assurance. As you knew what manner of persons we were among you
6 for your sakes, you indeed became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having embraced the word in much affliction, with the joy of a holy spirit;
7 so that you became patterns for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
8 For from you the word of the Lord hath been sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia; but, in every place, your belief in God is spread to such a degree, as rendereth it unnecessary for us to say any thing.
9 For they themselves relate concerning us what an entrance we had among you; and how you turned to God from the idols, to serve the living and true God,
10 and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, namely Jesus, who delivered! us from the wrath to come
2 1 For you, brethren, yourselves know that entrance of ours among you, that it was not in vain.
2 Though we indeed had suffered before, and had been treated injuriously, as you know, at Philippi; we had the courage, by the help of our God, to declare to you the glad tidings of God with much earnestness.
3 For our exhortation did not proceed from error, nor from impurity; nor was it with deceit;
4 but as we had been approved by God to be entrusted with the glad tidings, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who trieth our hearts.
5 For never did we at any time use flattering words, as you know; nor a pretext for covetousness, God is witness;
6 nor were we seeking human glory either from you or from others. We might have appeared with weight as Christ's apostles;
7 but we were gentle among you. Our affectionate regard for you being such, as that with which a nursing mother would cherish her own children,
8 we were willing to impart to you not only the glad tidings of God, but even our own lives, because you were dear to us.
9 For you, brethren, remember our labour and our toil: for working day and night that we might not be burthensome to any of you, we proclaimed to you the glad tidings of God.
10 You are witnesses, and God is witness, how holy, how just, how irreproachable our behaviour was to you who believed
11 how, as you know, we [exhorted] every one of you, as a father would his children,
12 exhorting you, and comforting you, and testifying that you should walk worthy of God who inviteth you to his kingdom and glory.
13 On this account also we give thanks to God continually, because, when you received from us this message of God, you embraced it, not as a word of men, but, as it really is, a word of God, which operateth with powerful effect in you who believe.
14 For you, brethren, became imitators of the congregations of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. Because you suffered from your countrymen the same treatment as they did from the Jews
15 [from those indeed who slew the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and persecuted us, and who please not God, and are in opposition to all men,
16 hindering us from speaking to the nations that they may be saved; thus, filling up the measure of their sins continually: but the wrath is at last coming upon them,]
17 therefore we brethren, being torn from you for a short time in person, not in heart, did the more earnestly endeavour to see your face. Having therefore a longing desire,
18 we wished to come to you, [particularly I Paul] once and again, but Satan obstructed us.
19 For what is our hope, or will be our joy, or crown of rejoicing? Will it not be you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
20 For you are our glory and our joy.
3 1 Wherefore not being able to bear any longer, we acquiesced in being left alone in Athens,
2 and sent Timothy our brother, and a minister of God, and our fellow labourer in the glad tidings of the Christ, to establish you and comfort you concerning your belief;
3 that none of you might be staggered by those afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
4 For when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we should soon be afflicted, as it hath actually come to pass, and you know;
5 therefore not being able to bear any longer, I sent to know your faith, for fear the tempter might have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.
6 But Timothy having now come to us from you, and brought us the good news of your belief and love, and that you have always a good remembrance of us, earnestly desiring to see us, as we do to see you;
7 we therefore, brethren, under all our affliction and distress are comforted in respect to you, by your faith.
8 Now because we live if you continue stedfast in the Lord,
9 what thanks then can we render to God respecting you, for all the joy with which we rejoice on your account, in the presence of our God;
10 day and night supplicating in the most earnest; manner to see your face and to complete the remainders of! your belief!
11 now may he himself, our God and father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you!
12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all men, [as we do for you]
13 so as to establish your hearts unblameable in holiness, in the presence of our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy ones.
4 1 Wherefore, as to what remaineth, we beseech you brethren, and exhort you, by the Lord Jesus, that as you have received from us how you ought to walk and please God, you would abound more and more.
2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the Lord Jesus:
3 for this is the will of God even your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication;
4 that every one of you know how to use his own vessel in sanctification and honour;
5 not in lustful indulgence, like the nations which know not God;
6 not overreaching and injuring his brother in this matter; for the Lord is the avenger of all such things, as we told you before and testified.
7 For God hath not called us for uncleanness, but to sanctification.
8 He therefore who rejecteth [these instructions] rejecteth not man, but God, even him who hath given us his holy spirit.
9 In respect to brotherly love you have no need of our writing to you, for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another,
10 and this indeed you practise to all the brethren, through all Macedonia; but we beseech you, brethren, to abound therein more and more;
11 and to make it your ambition to live quietly, and to mind your own business, and work with your own hands, as we charged you;
12 that your walk may appear orderly to the world, and that you may be in want of nothing.
13 Now I would not, brethren, have you ignorant in respect to them who are composed to rest, that you may not be afflicted with grief, like others who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so [should we] also, that God will, by the agency of Jesus, bring with him them who are composed to rest.
15 For this we tell you by a word of the Lord, that we the living who are left till the coming of the Lord shall not anticipate them who are laid to rest
16 that the Lord himself, with an authoritative command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall be raised first;
17 afterwards we who are left alive shall, together with them, be conveyed in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall be forever with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
5 1 Now, in respect to the times and the seasons, you brethren, have no need of our writing to you;
2 for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief at night.
3 For whilst they are saying, there is peace and safety, sudden destruction is then upon them, like the pangs of a woman in travail, and they cannot escape.
4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that this day should break upon you at unawares as a thief.
5 You are all children of light and children of the day. We are not of night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep as others do; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they who sleep, sleep at night; and they who get drunk are drunk at night.
8 But as we are of the day, let us be sober, arming ourselves with the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet with the hope of salvation.
9 Because God hath not stationed us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep we may live with him;
11 therefore comfort one another, and edify one another, as indeed you do.
12 Now we intreat you, brethren, to consider them who labour among you, and preside over you in the Lord, and instruct you:
13 and esteem them very highly in love on account of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
14 And we exhort you, brethren; admonish the disorderly; comfort the desponding; support the weak; exercise forbearance towards all;
15 see that none return evil for evil to any one; but on all occasions do all the good you can, both to one another and to all men.
16 Be always cheerful.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 Render thanks for every thing; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
19 Quench not the spirit.
20 Despise not prophesyings.
21 Prove all things and adhere to what is good.
22 Abstain from every appearance of evil.
23 And may the God of this peace himself sanctify you entirely! And may the whole of you: the spirit and the soul, and the body, be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calleth you is faithful, and will do this.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
26 Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss.
27 I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brethren.
28 The favour of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
2 Thessalonians
1 1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the congregation of the Thessalonians in God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Favour be to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as it is fit; because your faith increaseth exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all towards one another aboundeth:
4 So that we ourselves boast of you in the congregations of God, on account of your perseverance and belief, in all your persecutions. Indeed by these afflictions which you endure
5 there is a clear evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you are accounted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you, actually suffer;
6 since it is just with God to retribute affliction to them who afflict you;
7 and to you who are afflicted, rest with us at the manifestation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 executing, with flaming fire, vengeance on them who know not God, and on them who hearken not to the glad tidings of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 These shall suffer punishment, an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty,
10 on the day when he shall come to be glorified by his saints, and to be admired by all those who believe that he was intrusted with this testimony of ours to you:
11 for which purpose we are continually praying for you, that our God would make you worthy of this invitation, and confirm all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith, with power;
12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the favour of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
2 1 Now, with respect to this coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the gathering of us together to him,
2 we beseech you, brethren, not to be hastily shaken from your purpose; nor alarmed by any spirit, or by any word, or by any letter as from us, as if the day of the Christ was at hand.
3 Let no one by any means deceive you that it is, until the apostacy hath first come, and the man of sin hath been revealed: that son of perdition
4 who setteth himself against, and exalteth himself above, all that is called God, or an object of worship; so as to seat himself as God in the temple of God, pointing himself out that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that while I was yet with you I told you these things?
6 And you know what it is which now restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 For the mystery of this iniquity is now in operation, but there is one who yet restraineth. When he is out of the way,
8 then will be revealed that lawless one, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth. With the brightness of his coming he will indeed put a stop to the operations
9 of him, whose coming is according to the energy of satan, with' all the power, and signs, and wonders of falsehood,
10 and with all the deceit of this unrighteousness among them who perish. Because they did not embrace the love of the truth that they might be saved;
11 for this cause therefore God will send them the energy of delusion, that they may believe this falsehood;
12 that all may be condemned who have not believed the truth, but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 Now we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath, from the beginning, chosen you for salvation by a sanctification of spirit and a belief of the truth
14 to which he hath called you by our glad tidings, to be an acquisition of glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and keep firm hold of the doctrines which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.
16 And may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God and Father, who hath loved us and graciously given us everlasting comfort and good hope,
17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work!
3 1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, as it is among you;
2 and that we may be delivered from unprincipled and malicious men: for all have not this belief.
3 But the Lord is faithful, and will establish you, and guard you from the wicked one:
4 and we have this hope in the Lord with regard to you, that you both do, and will do, what we tell you.
5 And may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the perseverance of the Christ.
6 Now we charge you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to withdraw yourselves from every brother who walketh disorderly and not according to the doctrine which he received from us.
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us: that we did not behave ourselves irregularly among you,
8 nor eat any man's bread for nothing; but with labour and toil worked night and day, that we might not be burthensome to any of you;
9 not because we are destitute of authority, but that we might exhibit ourselves as a pattern for you to imitate.
10 For when we were with you we gave you this charge, that he who would not work should not eat.
11 For we hear that there are some among you who walk disorderly, doing no work, but busying themselves impertinently.
12 Now we charge such, and intreat them by the Lord Jesus Christ, to work quietly, and eat their own bread.
13 And as for you, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
14 And if any one doth not obey this injunction of ours by this letter, mark that man, and have no intimate connection with him, that he may be ashamed.
15 Yet count him not an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
16 And may the Lord of peace himself grant you peace continually in every respect. The Lord be with you all.
17 The salutation of me Paul, with my own hand, which is a mark in every letter. Thus I write
18 The favour of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
1 Timothy
1 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the appointment of God our Saviour, and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope; Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is by Christ Jesus;
2 to Timothy, my genuine son by belief, be favour, mercy, peace from God our father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I entreated thee, when I was going to Macedonia, to continue at Ephesus; that thou mightest charge certain persons not to teach a different doctrine,
4 nor pay attention to fables and endless genealogies, which rather promote disputes than the godly edification, which is by faith:
5 Now the end of that charge is love, from a pure heart, and good conscience, and an unfeigned belief;
6 from which some having swerved, have turned aside to vain discourse,
7 desiring to be teachers of the law. not understanding what they say, nor about what they are so positive.
8 We know indeed that the law is good, if one use it as a law,
9 considering this, that law is not enacted for a righteous man, but for the lawless and refractory; for the impious and sinful; for the immoral and profane; for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers; for homicides,
10 fornicators, sodomites, enslavers of men, liars, perjured persons, and whatever else is contrary to the wholesome doctrine
11 according to the glorious glad tidings of the blessed God with which I have been intrusted,
12 and am thankful to Christ Jesus our Lord who qualified me; for his counting me faithful, putting into office me
13 who was before a reviler, and a persecutor, and an outrageous offender: but I obtained mercy because I acted ignorantly, in unbelief.
14 And this favour of our Lord superabounded with faith and love which is by Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful word and worthy of all acceptation, That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am a chief;
16 but I obtained mercy for this purpose, that Jesus Christ might display the utmost forbearance in me, a chief, for an example to them who should afterwards trust in him for everlasting life.
17 Now to the king of the ages; the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God, be honour and glory, for the ages of the ages. Amen.
18 This charge I commit to thee, son Timothy, according to the preceding gifts of prophesying conferred on thee, that by them thou mayst carry on this good warfare,
19 having faith and a good conscience, which last some having discarded, they have, in respect to the faith, suffered shipwreck,
20 of which number are Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
2 1 I therefore exhort thee first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men;
2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life with all piety and honesty;
3 for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our saviour,
4 who willeth all men to be saved, and to come to an acknowledgment of truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave himself as a ransom for all; as the testimony for his own times;
7 for which I have been appointed a herald and an apostle, [I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie] a teacher of nations in belief and truth.
8 I therefore give it in charge that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and surmise:
9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in comely apparel, with bashful modesty; not with curls, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
10 but with good works, as it becometh women who profess a reverence for God.
11 Let women learn in quietness with all submission.
12 For I do not allow a woman to teach or to usurp authority over man, but to be in quietness.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve;
14 and Adam was not deceived: but the woman being deceived was in transgression,
15 but to be saved by the child birth, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification, with a sober mind.
3 1 This is a faithful word. If any one desireth the office of an overseer, he desireth a good work.
2 The overseer therefore ought to be blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, discreet, well behaved, hospitable, qualified to teach,
3 not addicted to wine, no striker, not attached to sordid gain, but of a gentle disposition, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money,
4 one who presideth well over his own household, having his children in due subordination, with all gravity,
5 [for if one doth not know how to preside over his own household, how can he take care of the congregation of God;]
6 not one newly converted, lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7 He ought also to have a good character from those without, that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8 Almoners in like manner should be grave, not double tongued, not addicted to much wine, not attached to sordid gain,
9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience;
10 and let even such be first tried, then, if found blameless, let them exercise the office of almoners.
11 Women in like manner should be grave, not addicted to slander, sober, faithful in all things.
12 Let almoners be the husbands of one wife, presiding well over their children and their own households;
13 for they who discharge the office of an almoner well, acquire for themselves an honourable rank, and much freedom of speech in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
14 These things I write to thee, hoping to come to thee in a little time;
15 but if I be delayed, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to conduct thyself in the house of God, that is in the congregation of the living God. The pillar and firm support of the truth is
16 [and unquestionably great is the mystery of this religion,] God hath been manifested in flesh, justified by spirit, hath appeared to messengers, been proclaimed among nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
4 1 But the spirit saith expressly that in latter times some will apostatise from this belief, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines concerning demons,
2 through the hypocrisy of liars, who have their own conscience seared,
3 forbidding marriage, and enjoining an abstinence from meats which God hath created to be partaken of with thankfulness by the faithful, and by them who are convinced of this truth,
4 that every thing which God created is good, and nothing to be rejected; for when taken with thankfulness
5 it is sanctified by the permission of God and prayer.
6 By suggesting these things to the brethren thou wilt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished by the words of this belief, and this good doctrine, which thou hast followed.
7 But as for vain and groundless fables, reject them, and exercise thyself for godliness.
8 For bodily exercise is of little service, but this godliness is profitable for all things, having a promise of the present life and of that to come.
9 This is a faithful word and worthy of all acceptation;
10 for it is for this that we both labour and suffer reproach, because we have trusted in the living God, who is the saviour of all men, especially of the faithful.
11 Announce these things and teach them.
12 Let none despise thy youth; but be thou a pattern to the faithful in doctrine, in behaviour, in love, in spirit, in fidelity, in purity.
13 Until I come apply thyself to reading, to exhortation, to teaching.
14 Neglect not the gift which is in thee, which was given thee by prophesy with the laying on of the hands of the assembled elders.
15 Meditate on these things; be intent upon them. That thy improvement in all things may be manifest,
16 take heed to thyself and to thy doctrine; continue in them: for by doing this thou wilt save thyself and them who hearken to thee.
5 1 Rebuke not an aged man with sharpness; but admonish him as a father; young men, as brothers;
2 aged women, as Mothers; young women, as sisters, with all purity.
3 Honour widows who are widows indeed.
4 But if any widow hath children, or grand children; let these first learn to respect their own household, and to make suitable returns to their parents; for this is good and acceptable in the sight of the Lord.
5 Now she, who being really a widow and desolate, hath trusted in God, will continue in her supplications and prayers night and day;
6 but she, who indulgeth herself in sensuality, is dead, though she liveth.
7 Announce these things, that they may be irreprehensible.
8 Now if any one doth not provide for his own, and especially for those of his family, he hath renounced his belief, and is worse than an infidel.
9 Let no widow under sixty years old be put on the list, Having been the wife of one man,
10 is she eminent for good works? Hath she brought up children? Hath she exercised hospitality? Hath she washed the feet of the saints? Hath she assisted the afflicted? Hath she been assiduous to perform every good work?
11 As for young widows, reject them; for when they become impatient of the restraints of the Christ, they will wish to marry,
12 incurring blame for having violated their former engagement.
13 Add to this, that, being idle, they learn to ramble from house to house, and are not only idle, but are indeed tatlers, and intermedlers, speaking tilings which are unbecoming.
14 My decision therefore is, that the younger widows marry, bear children, govern their families, give no advantage, no occasion of reproach to the adversary.
15 For some have already turned aside after satan.
16 If any believer of either sex hath widows, let him or her relieve them, and let not the congregation be burdened, that they may relieve them who are really widows.
17 Let the elders who preside well be accounted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in word and doctrine;
18 for the scripture saith, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox treading out corn," and, "The labourer is worthy of wages."
19 Receive not an accusation against an elder, but on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
20 Them, who sin, rebuke before all, that others may fear.
21 I charge thee before the God and Lord Jesus Christ, and the chosen angels, to observe these things without prejudging, and to do nothing by partiality.
22 Lay hands upon no one hastily, nor be a partaker in the sins of others. Keep thyself pure.
23 Discontinue the drinking of water, and take a little wine on account of thy stomach, and thy frequent indisposition.
24 The sins of some are so notorious that they go before them to judgment. Some indeed they follow.
25 In like manner also the good works of some are open and manifest; and such as are otherwise cannot be hid.
6 1 Let as many as are under a yoke of bondage account their masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God, and this doctrine, may not be reviled.
2 And let not those who have believing masters disregard them because they are brethren, but serve them the more, because they who receive the good service are believers, and beloved. Teach these things, and enforce them by exhortation.
3 If any one teacheth otherwise, and doth not attend to the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine according to godliness,
4 he is puffed up, knowing nothing, but raving upon questions and debates about words, from which proceed envy, contention, abusive language, evil suspicions,
5 preposterous studies of men whose minds are corrupt and devoid of truth, who suppose this religion to be a matter of gain. From such withdraw thyself.
6 Now this religion, with contentment, is a great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world; and it is evident that we can carry nothing out of it.
8 Having then food and raiment let us be content with these.
9 But they who determine to be rich, fall headlong into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil; to gratify which, some have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, man of God, shun these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
12 Maintain the good combat of faith. Lay hold on the life everlasting to which thou hast been invited, and of which thou hast made a good profession before many witnesses.
13 I charge thee in the presence of God, who giveth life to all, and of Christ Jesus who witnessed before Pontius Pilate the good confession,
14 to keep thyself, in respect to this command, unspotted, irreprehensible, until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 which, in his own proper times will be displayed by him, who is the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and the lord of lords,
16 who alone hath immortality, who inhabiteth light inaccessible, whom no man hath seen, or can see, to whom be honour and everlasting dominion. Amen.
17 Charge them who are rich in this present state not to be high minded; not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who imparteth to us richly all things for enjoyment;
18 to be beneficent; to be rich in good works, ready to distribute; willing to communicate,
19 laying up for themselves a good deposit for the time to come, that they may obtain the life everlasting.
20 O Timothy keep this deposit, avoiding the profane empty declamations, and the antitheses of that falsely called science,
21 which some making a profession of, have, in respect to this belief, wandered from the mark. The favor be with thee. Amen.