Colossians Cross References - ISV

¹ Greetings from PaulFrom: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.
² To: The holy and faithful brothers in Colossae who are in union with the Messiah.
May grace and peace from God our Father be yours!
³ Paul’s Prayer for the ColossiansWe give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, praying always for you, ⁴ because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hope through the word of truth, the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. ⁷ You learned about this gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiah on your behalf. ⁸ He has told us about your love in the Spirit.
⁹ The Messiah is Above AllFor this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. ¹¹ You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy ¹² and might thank the Father, who has enabled us to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. ¹³ God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, ¹⁴ through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
¹⁵ The Centrality of JesusThe Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He himself existed before anything else did, and he holds all things together. ¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all of his divine essence inhabit him. ²⁰ Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thereby making peace through the blood of his cross.
²¹ You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil, ²² he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him. ²³ However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
²⁴ Paul’s Service in the ChurchNow I am rejoicing while suffering for you as I complete in my flesh whatever remains of the Messiah’s sufferings on behalf of his body, which is the church. ²⁵ I became its servant as God commissioned me to work for you, so that I may complete my ministry of the word of God. ²⁶ This secret was hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints, ²⁷ to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles—which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope. ²⁸ It is he whom we proclaim as we admonish and wisely teach everyone, so that we may present everyone mature in the Messiah. ²⁹ I work hard and struggle to do this, using the energy that he powerfully provides in me.

¹ Greetings from PaulFrom: Paul, a servant of Jesus the Messiah, called to be an apostle and set apart for God’s gospel,

¹ Paul Greets the Church in CorinthFrom: Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.

¹ Paul Greets the Church in CorinthFrom: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.
To: God’s church in Corinth, and to all the holy people throughout Achaia.

¹ Greetings from PaulFrom: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by God’s will.
To: His holy and faithful people in Ephesus who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.

¹ Greetings from Paul and TimothyFrom: Paul and Timothy, servants of the Messiah Jesus.
To: All the holy ones in Philippi, along with their overseers and ministers, who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.

¹ GreetingsFrom: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.
To: The church of the Thessalonians in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.
May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

² and send Timothy, our brother who works with us for God in the gospel of the Messiah, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,

¹ GreetingsFrom: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.
To: The church of the Thessalonians in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

¹ GreetingsFrom: Paul, a prisoner of the Messiah Jesus, and Timothy our brother.
To: Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker,

³ As for the saints that are in the land, they are noble, and all my delight is in them.

⁷ To: Everyone in Rome, loved by God and called to be holy.
May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

² To: God’s church in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by the Messiah Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah—their Lord and ours.

¹⁷ That’s why I sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and dependable son in the Lord and will help you remember how I live for the Messiah Jesus as I teach everywhere in every church.

³ May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

⁹ Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham, the one who believed.

²¹ Final GreetingSo that you may know what has happened to me and how I am doing, Tychicus, our dear brother and a faithful minister in service to the Lord, will tell you everything.

² the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah, and to be sprinkled with his blood.
May grace and peace be yours in abundance!

² May grace and peace be yours in abundance through full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!

² May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance!

⁴ From John to the seven churches in Asia. May grace and peace be yours from the one who is, who was, and who is coming, from the seven spirits who are in front of his throne,

⁸ Paul’s Prayer and Desire to Visit RomeFirst of all, I thank my God through Jesus the Messiah for all of you, because the news about your faith is being reported throughout the world. ⁹ For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel about his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you

⁴ You are RichI always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given you by the Messiah Jesus.

¹⁵ Paul’s Prayer for the EphesiansTherefore, because I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

¹⁴ To Know the Messiah’s LoveThis is the reason I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that he would give you, according to his glorious riches, strength in your inner being and power through his Spirit, ¹⁷ and that the Messiah would make his home in your hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ you will be able to understand, along with all the saints, what is wide, long, high, and deep— ¹⁹ that is, you will know the love of the Messiah— which transcends knowledge, and will be filled with all the fullness of God.

³ Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the PhilippiansI thank my God every time I remember you, ⁴ always praying joyfully in every one of my prayers for all of you ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love will keep on growing more and more with full knowledge and insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to choose what is best and be pure and blameless until the day when the Messiah returns, ¹¹ having been filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus the Messiah so that God will be glorified and praised.

⁶ Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving.

⁹ The Messiah is Above AllFor this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

¹³ God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves,

² Paul’s Prayer for the ThessaloniansWe always thank God for all of you when we mention you in our prayers.

¹⁰ We pray very hard night and day that we may see you again face to face, so that we may equip you with whatever is lacking in your faith.
¹¹ Now may our God and Father and our Lord Jesus provide a way for us to visit you. ¹² May the Lord greatly increase your love for each other and for all people, just as we love you. ¹³ Then your hearts will be strong, blameless, and holy in the presence of God, who is our Father, when our Lord Jesus appears with all his saints.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus, the Messiah himself, and may God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good action and word.

³ Paul’s Advice for TimothyI constantly thank my God—whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you in my prayers night and day,

⁷ and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing for me, your sorrow, and your eagerness to take my side, and this made me even happier.

⁶ for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love.

³ In the presence of our God and Father, we constantly remember how your faith is active, your love is hard at work, and your hope in our Lord Jesus the Messiah is enduring.

⁶ Paul Rejoices about the ThessaloniansBut Timothy has just now returned from visiting you and has told us the good news about your faith and love. He also told us that you always have fond memories of us and want to see us, just as we want to see you.

⁹ Now you do not need anyone to write to you about brotherly love, since you have been taught by God to love each other. ¹⁰ In fact, you are showing love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia, but we urge you, brothers, to keep on doing this even more.

³ Endurance in AfflictionBrothers, at all times we are obligated to thank God for you. It is right to do this because your faith is growing all the time and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.

⁵ because I keep hearing about your love for all the saints and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus.

¹⁰ For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have ministered to the saints and continue to minister to them.

²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.
²² Love One AnotherNow that you have obeyed the truth and have purified your souls to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish—by the living and everlasting word of God.

¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love one another. The person who does not love remains spiritually dead.

²³ And this is his commandment: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus the Messiah, and to love one another as he commanded us.

¹⁶ We have come to know and rely on the love that God has for us. God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

³ I was overjoyed when some brothers arrived and testified about your truthfulness and how you live according to the truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.

¹⁹ How great is your goodness that you have reserved for those who fear you, that you have set in place for those who take refuge in you, in the presence of the children of men.

¹⁹ Teaching about Treasures
“Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But keep on storing up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal,

³³ “Sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a dependable treasure in heaven, where no thief can get close and no moth can destroy anything.

³⁶ He has sent his word to the descendants of Israel and brought them the good news of peace through Jesus the Messiah. This man is the Lord of everyone.

²⁶ “My brothers, descendants of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.

⁶ When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I’m on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected.”

¹⁵ I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish—that there is to be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked.

⁶ “And now I stand here on trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our ancestors. ⁷ Our twelve tribes, worshiping day and night with intense devotion, hope to attain it. It is because of this hope, O King, that I am accused by the Jews.

⁸ But what does it say? “The message is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the message about faith that we are proclaiming:

¹³ Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

¹⁹ If we have set our hopes on the Messiah in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people.

¹⁹ for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us.

⁷ truthful speech, and divine power; through the weapons of righteousness in the right and left hands;

⁵ Through the Spirit by faith we confidently await the fulfillment of our righteous hope,

¹³ You, too, have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

¹⁸ Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the confidence that is produced by God having called you, the rich glory that is his inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and the unlimited greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength,

²³ However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

²⁷ to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles—which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope.

¹⁶ Let the word of the Messiah inhabit you richly with wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and singing to God with thankfulness in your hearts.

¹³ How the Thessalonians Welcomed the GospelHere is another reason why we constantly give thanks to God: When you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you did not accept it as the word of humans but for what it really is—the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus, the Messiah himself, and may God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,

¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying that deserves complete acceptance: To this world Messiah came, sinful people to reclaim. I am the worst of them.

⁸ The victor’s crown of righteousness is now waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on the day that he comes, and not only to me but also to all who eagerly wait for his appearing.

² which is based on the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.

¹⁹ since the Law made nothing perfect, and a better hope is presented, by which we approach God.

³ Our Hope and Joy are in the MessiahBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead ⁴ and to an inheritance kept in heaven for you that can’t be destroyed, corrupted, or changed.

² Like newborn babies, thirst for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in your salvation.

¹⁵ Instead, exalt the Messiah” as Lord in your lives. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to explain the hope you have.

³ And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, just as the Messiah is pure.

³ He has remembered his gracious love; his faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth saw our God’s deliverance.

³ Your soldiers are willing volunteers on your day of battle; in majestic holiness, from the womb, from the dawn, the dew of your youth belongs to you.

¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

¹⁹ Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

⁸ But others fell on good soil and produced a crop. They grew up, increased in size, and produced 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.”

²⁶ The Parable about a Growing SeedHe was also saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground. ²⁷ He sleeps and gets up night and day while the seeds sprout and grow, although he doesn’t know how ²⁸ the ground produces grain by itself—first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, he immediately starts cutting with his sickle because the harvest time has come.”

¹⁵ Then he told them, “As you go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to everyone.

²³ Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him.

¹⁶ “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

¹⁸ When they heard this, they calmed down, and praised God by saying, “So God has given repentance that leads to life even to gentiles.”

²⁴ But the word of God continued to grow and spread.

¹⁴ A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple goods, was listening to us. She was a worshiper of God, and the Lord opened her heart to listen carefully to what was being said by Paul.

¹⁸ You will help them understand and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan’s control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the gentiles.

¹⁷ Consequently, faith results from listening, and listening results through the word of the Messiah.
¹⁸ But I ask, “Didn’t they hear?” Certainly they did! In fact, “Their voice has gone out into the whole world, and their words to the ends of the earth.”

¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of the Messiah from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum.

²⁸ So when I have completed this task and have put my seal on this contribution of theirs, I will visit you on my way to Spain.

²⁶ but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience that springs from faith—

¹⁰ But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others—not I, of course, but God’s grace that was with me. ¹¹ So, whether it was I or the others, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

¹ Workers with GodSince, then, we are working with God, we plead with you not to accept God’s grace in vain.

¹⁴ For it is not as though we were overstepping our limits when we came to you. We were the first to reach you with the gospel of the Messiah.

² Surely you have heard about the responsibility of administering God’s grace that was given to me on your behalf,

²¹ Surely you have listened to him and have been taught by him, since truth is in Jesus.

²³ to be renewed in your mental attitude,

⁹ for the fruit that the light produces consists of every form of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

¹¹ having been filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus the Messiah so that God will be glorified and praised.

¹⁷ It is not that I am looking for a gift. No, I want to see that you receive the fruit that increases to your benefit.

¹⁰ so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God.

⁵ for the gospel we brought did not come to you in words only, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. Indeed, you know what kind of people we proved to be while we were with you, acting on your behalf.

¹³ At all times we are obligated to thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you to be the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through faith in the truth.

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. ¹² It trains us to renounce ungodly living and worldly passions so that we might live sensible, honest, and godly lives in the present age

² the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah, and to be sprinkled with his blood.
May grace and peace be yours in abundance!
³ Our Hope and Joy are in the MessiahBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead

¹² Final GreetingThrough Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is to be the true grace of God in which you are to stand firm!

⁷ But that’s not how it is with my servant Moses, since he has been entrusted with my entire household!

⁴⁵ The Faithful or the Wicked Servant
“Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others their food at the right time?

²¹ “His master told him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy servant! Since you’ve been trustworthy with a small amount, I’ll put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master’s joy!’

² Now it is required of servant managers that each one should prove to be trustworthy.

²⁵ Concerning VirginsNow concerning virgins, although I do not have any command from the Lord, I will give you my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.

²³ Are they the Messiah’s servants? I am insane to talk like this, but I am a far better one! I have been involved in far greater efforts, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and have faced death more than once.

²¹ and you will submit to one another out of reverence for the Messiah.

¹⁹ News about Paul’s CompanionsNow I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I can be encouraged when I learn of your condition. ²⁰ I do not have anyone else like him who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. ²¹ For all the others look after their own interests, not after those of Jesus the Messiah. ²² But you know his proven worth—how like a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.

²⁵ Meanwhile, I thought it best to send Epaphroditus—my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and minister to my need—back to you.

⁷ Greetings from Paul and His Fellow WorkersTychicus will tell you everything that has happened to me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord.

¹² Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of the Messiah Jesus, sends you his greetings. He is always wrestling in his prayers for you, so that you may stand mature, completely convinced of the entire will of God.

⁶ How to be a Good Servant of the Messiah JesusIf you continue to point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of the Messiah Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the healthy teaching that you have followed closely.

² What you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.

²³ Greetings from Paul’s Fellow WorkersEpaphras, my fellow prisoner in the Messiah Jesus, sends you greetings,

¹⁷ thereby becoming like his brothers in every way, so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people’s sins.

² He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was in all God’s household,

⁵ Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

³⁰ Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and by the love that the Spirit produces, to join me in my struggle, earnestly praying to God for me

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

⁴ because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints,

⁷ For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.

²² Love One AnotherNow that you have obeyed the truth and have purified your souls to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart.

²³ Now as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. I’ll also instruct you in the way that is good and right.

⁹⁹ I am more insightful than my teachers, because your decrees are my meditations.

¹⁰ Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

¹⁷ If anyone wants to do his will, he’ll know whether this teaching is from God or whether I’m speaking on my own.

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God for him was being offered by the assembly.

⁸ Paul’s Prayer and Desire to Visit RomeFirst of all, I thank my God through Jesus the Messiah for all of you, because the news about your faith is being reported throughout the world. ⁹ For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel about his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you ¹⁰ in my prayers at all times, asking that somehow by God’s will I may at last succeed in coming to you.

² Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.

⁵ For by him you have become rich in every way—in speech and knowledge of every kind—

⁸ that he lavished on us, along with all wisdom and understanding,

¹⁵ Paul’s Prayer for the EphesiansTherefore, because I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I never stop giving thanks for you as I mention you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the most glorious Father, would give you a wise spirit, along with revelation that comes through knowing the Messiah fully. ¹⁸ Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the confidence that is produced by God having called you, the rich glory that is his inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and the unlimited greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰ which he brought about in the Messiah when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm.

¹⁰ Determine what pleases the Lord,

¹⁷ Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

⁶ Do not do this only while you’re being watched in order to please them, but be like slaves of the Messiah, who are determined to obey God’s will.

⁴ always praying joyfully in every one of my prayers for all of you

³ Paul’s Prayer for the ColossiansWe give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, praying always for you, ⁴ because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints,

⁶ that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth.

⁵ Behave wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of your time.

¹⁷ Continually be prayerful.

¹¹ With this in mind, we always pray for you, asking that our God might make you worthy of his calling and that through his power he might help you accomplish every good desire and faithful action.

³ Paul’s Advice for TimothyI constantly thank my God—whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you in my prayers night and day, ⁴ recalling your tears and longing to see you so that I can be filled with joy.

⁴ Paul’s Prayer for PhilemonI always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers,

³⁶ For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will you can receive what he has promised.

²¹ equip you with everything good to do his will, accomplishing in us what pleases him through Jesus, the Messiah. To him be glory forever and ever! Amen.

⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him.

¹⁷ However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of compassion and good deeds, and without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.

¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

² so that he can live the rest of his mortal life guided, not by human desires, but by the will of God.

¹⁷ And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God’s will remains forever.

²⁰ We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true God. We are in union with the one who is true, his Son Jesus the Messiah, who is the true God and eternal life.

⁷ When a person’s ways please the LORD, even his enemies will be at peace with him.

¹¹ Out of the suffering of his soul he will see light and find satisfaction. And through his knowledge his servant, the righteous one, will make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities.

⁴ Now as for you, Daniel, roll up your scroll and seal your words until the time of the end. Many will rush around, while knowledge increases.’”

⁵ “Because all of the people will walk, each person in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.

¹⁴ Indeed, the earth will be filled with knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as water fills the sea.”

⁸ This is how my Father is glorified, when you produce a lot of fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

³ And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent—Jesus the Messiah.

¹² He is also the ancestor of the circumcised—those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

⁴ Therefore, through baptism we were buried with him into his death so that, just as the Messiah was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too may live an entirely new life.

¹⁴ But thanks be to God! He always leads us triumphantly by the Messiah and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing him.

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus the Messiah.

⁸ Besides, God is able to make every blessing of yours overflow for you, so that in every situation you will always have all you need for any good work.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the most glorious Father, would give you a wise spirit, along with revelation that comes through knowing the Messiah fully.

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.

¹ The Messiah’s Gifts to the ChurchI, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to live in a way that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

¹³ until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God’s Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah.

² Live lovingly, just as the Messiah also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God.

¹⁵ Wise BehaviorSo, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise,

²⁷ Standing Firm in One SpiritThe only thing that matters is that you continue to live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel of the Messiah. Then, whether I come to see you or whether I stay away, I may hear all about you—that you are standing firm in one spirit, struggling with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

¹⁸ I have been paid in full and have more than enough. I am fully supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus what you sent—a fragrant aroma, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

⁶ Fullness of LifeSo then, just as you have received the Messiah Jesus the Lord, continue to live dependent on him.

¹⁹ He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it.

²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

¹² We comforted and encouraged you, urging you to live in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

¹ Instructions on the Way Christians Should LiveNow then, brothers, you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God, as in fact you are doing. We ask and encourage you in the Lord to do so even more.

⁴ No one serving in the military gets mixed up in civilian matters, for his aim is to please his commanding officer.

¹ Concentrate on Doing What is GoodRemind believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, and to be ready to do any honorable kind of work.

¹⁴ Our own people should also learn to make good deeds a priority when urgent needs arise, so they won’t be unproductive.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken away without experiencing death. He could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he won approval as one who pleased God.

¹⁶ Do not neglect to do good and to be generous, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

² May grace and peace be yours in abundance through full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!
³ We are Called to Holy LivingHis divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.

⁸ For if you possess these qualities, and if they continue to increase among you, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

¹⁸ Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah. Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen.

²² Whatever we request we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

⁶ Your right hand, LORD, was majestic in strength, your right hand, LORD, shattered the enemy.

² So I have looked for you in the sanctuary, to behold your power and glory.

¹⁰ If you grow weary when times are troubled, your strength is limited.

²⁴ One will say of me, ‘Only in the LORD are victories and might.’ All who raged against him will come to him and will be put to shame.

⁸ But you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁴¹ They left the Council, rejoicing to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name.

⁷ eternal life to those who strive for glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing good;

³ Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ endurance produces character, and character produces hope. ⁵ Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁷ But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that its extraordinary power comes from God and not from us.

⁴ Instead, in every way we demonstrate that we are God’s servants by tremendous endurance in the midst of difficulties, hardships, and calamities; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger; ⁶ with purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; with the Holy Spirit, genuine love,

⁹ but he has told me, “My grace is all you need, because my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most happily boast about my weaknesses, so that the Messiah’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why I take such pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for the Messiah’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹⁶ I pray that he would give you, according to his glorious riches, strength in your inner being and power through his Spirit,

² demonstrating all expressions of humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another in love.

¹⁰ Putting on the Whole Armor of GodFinally, be strong in the Lord, relying on his mighty strength.

¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

³ so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions, for which you are aware that we were destined. ⁴ In fact, when we were with you, we told you ahead of time that we were going to suffer persecution. And as you know, that is what happened.

¹ Remain Committed to the Messiah JesusAs for you, my child, be strong by the grace that is in the Messiah Jesus. ² What you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. ³ Join me in suffering like a good soldier of the Messiah Jesus.

³⁴ For you sympathized with the prisoners and cheerfully submitted to the violent seizure of your property, because you know that you have a better and more permanent possession.
³⁵ So don’t lose your confidence, since it holds a great reward for you. ³⁶ For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will you can receive what he has promised. ³⁷ For “in a very little while the one who is coming will return— he will not delay; ³⁸ but my righteous one will live by faith, and if he turns back, my soul will take no pleasure in him.”

³⁴ put out raging fires, escaped death by the sword, found strength in weakness, became powerful in battle, and routed foreign armies. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised back to life. Other people were brutally tortured, but refused to be ransomed, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others endured taunts and floggings, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated. ³⁸ The world wasn’t worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and from caves to holes in the ground.

¹ We Must Look Off to JesusTherefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us, ² fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

² Responding Wisely to LifeConsider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

⁷ Be PatientSo be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop from his land, being patient with it until it receives the fall and the spring rains. ⁸ You, too, must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is near.

⁶ your knowledge with self-control, your self-control with endurance, your endurance with godliness,

²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and for all eternity! Amen.

¹² A Call for EnduranceHere is a call for the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to their faithfulness in Jesus:

⁷ The Temple was constructed of stone precut at the quarry so that no hammer, axe, or any other iron implement would be heard in the Temple while it was being built.

²⁰ Then David told the entire assembly, “Bless the LORD your God, please.” So the entire assembly blessed the LORD God of their ancestors, bowing their heads and falling in the LORD’s presence and before the king.

⁹ For with you is a fountain of life, and in your light we will see light.

¹³ Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you always, from generation to generation. We will declare your praise.

¹¹ Light shines on the righteous; gladness on the morally upright.

²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his gracious love, and for his awesome deeds for mankind. ²² Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and talk about his works with shouts of joy.

⁷ Return to your resting place, my soul, for the LORD treated you generously.

¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that grows brighter until the full light of day.

¹ Wisdom’s Blessings People do the planning, but the end result is from the LORD.

¹⁹ “The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon shine on you by night— for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. ²⁰ Your sun won’t set, nor will your moon withdraw itself— for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning will end.

²³ To you, God of my ancestors, I give thanks and praise, because you have given me wisdom and power; you have now revealed to me what we asked of you by making known to us what the king commanded.”

³⁴ “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

¹⁷ Jesus told her, “Don’t hold on to me, because I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I’m ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

³² “I’m now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

¹⁷ Now if we are children, we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah—if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

²³ Can’t he also reveal his glorious riches to the objects of his mercy that he has prepared ahead of time for glory—

¹⁷ Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree,

²⁷ Yes, they were eager to do this, and in fact they are obligated to help them, for if the gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to be of service to them in material things.

⁶ yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom everything came into being and for whom we live. And there is only one Lord, Jesus the Messiah, through whom everything came into being and through whom we live.

²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel in order to have a share in its blessings.

⁵ God has prepared us for this and has given us his Spirit as a guarantee.

¹¹ In the Messiah we were also chosen when we were predestined according to the purpose of the one who does everything that he wills to do,

¹⁸ Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the confidence that is produced by God having called you, the rich glory that is his inheritance among the saints,

⁶ The gentiles are heirs-in-common, members-in-common of the body, and common participants in what was promised by the Messiah Jesus through the gospel.

⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in all.

⁴ Obscene, flippant, or vulgar talk is totally inappropriate. Instead, let there be thanksgiving.

²⁰ you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah;

² Because they are united in love, I pray that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of the Messiah, who is the mystery of God.

¹⁵ Let the peace of the Messiah also rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful.

¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether by speech or action, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

¹⁴ He gave himself for us to set us free from every wrong and to cleanse us so that we could be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good deeds.

¹ The Messiah is Superior to MosesTherefore, holy brothers, partners in a heavenly calling, keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.

¹⁴ because we are the Messiah’s partners only if we hold on to our original confidence to the end.

²³ to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to a judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of righteous people who have been made perfect,

⁹ With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in God’s likeness.

² the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah, and to be sprinkled with his blood.
May grace and peace be yours in abundance!
³ Our Hope and Joy are in the MessiahBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead ⁴ and to an inheritance kept in heaven for you that can’t be destroyed, corrupted, or changed. ⁵ Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era.

¹ Be Shepherds of God’s FlockTherefore, as a fellow elder, a witness of the Messiah’s sufferings, and one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:

³ What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah.

¹ We are God’s ChildrenSee what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God’s children—and that is what we are! For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him, either.
² Dear friends, we are now God’s children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiah is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. ³ And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, just as the Messiah is pure.

²³ The city doesn’t need any sun or moon to give it light, because the glory of God gave it light, and the lamb was its lamp.

⁵ There will be no more night, and they will not need any light from lamps or the sun because the Lord God will shine on them. They will rule forever and ever.

¹⁴ “How blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city!

⁶ “I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
⁷ The Anointed King SpeaksLet me announce the decree of the LORD that he told me: “You are my son, today I have become your father.

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the growth of his government and peace there will be no end. He will rule over his kingdom, sitting on the throne of David, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.

¹ The Servant of the LORD “Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I delight. I’ve placed my Spirit upon him; and he’ll deliver his justice throughout the world.

²⁴ “Can they seize plunder from warriors, or can the captives of tyrants be rescued? ²⁵ But this is what the LORD says: “He will seize even the warriors’ plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children.

¹² Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions.”

¹³ The Vision of the Son of Man“I continued to observe the night vision—and look!—someone like the Son of Man was coming, accompanied by heavenly clouds. He approached the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. ¹⁴ To him dominion was bestowed, along with glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and languages are to serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion—it will never pass away—and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

⁹ The Coming of Zion’s King“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁷ Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him!”

²⁹ How can someone go into a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man? Then he can ransack his house. ³⁰ The person who isn’t with me is against me, and the person who isn’t gathering with me is scattering.

⁵ He was still speaking when a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them.
A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him. Keep on listening to him!”

²⁴ “Keep on struggling to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you that many people will try to enter, but won’t be able to do so.

⁵³ While I was with you day after day in the Temple, you didn’t lay a hand on me. But this is your hour, when darkness reigns!”

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands.

²⁴ “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, whoever hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has passed from death to life.

³¹ Now is the time for the judgment of this world to begin. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. ³² As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.”

²⁴ Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

¹⁷ But thank God that, though you were once slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching with which you were entrusted! ¹⁸ And since you have been freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
¹⁹ I am speaking in simple terms because of the frailty of your human nature. Just as you once offered the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater disobedience, so now, in the same way, you must offer the parts of your body as slaves to righteousness that leads to sanctification. ²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were “free” as far as righteousness was concerned. ²¹ What benefit did you get from doing those things you are now ashamed of? For those things resulted in death. ²² But now that you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves, the benefit you reap is sanctification, and the result is eternal life.

¹⁷ For God’s kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit.

⁹ You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don’t you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, ¹⁰ thieves, greedy people, drunks, slanderers, and robbers will not inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ That is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God.

²³ However, this will happen to each person in the proper order: first the Messiah, then those who belong to the Messiah when he comes. ²⁴ Then the end will come, when after he has done away with every ruler and every authority and power, the Messiah hands over the kingdom to God the Father. ²⁵ For he must rule until God puts all the Messiah’s enemies under his feet.

⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.

¹⁷ Therefore, “Get away from them and separate yourselves from them,” declares the Lord, “and don’t touch anything unclean. Then I will welcome you. ¹⁸ I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters,” declares the Lord Almighty.

⁶ so that we would praise his glorious grace that he gave us in the Beloved One.

³ Indeed, all of us once behaved like them in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and senses. By nature we were destined for wrath, just like everyone else. ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us ⁵ even when we were dead because of our offenses, made us alive together with the Messiah (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly realm in the Messiah Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might display the limitless riches of his grace that comes to us through his kindness in the Messiah Jesus. ⁸ For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God ⁹ and not the result of actions, to put a stop to all boasting. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.

¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.

⁸ For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,

¹² For our struggle is not against human opponents, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us, and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm.

³ After all, we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and misled. We were slaves to many kinds of lusts and pleasures, spending our days in malice and jealousy. We were despised, and we hated one another. ⁴ In grace our Savior God appeared, to make his love for mankind clear. ⁵ ‘Twas not for deeds that we had done, but by his steadfast love alone, he saved us through a second birth, renewed us by the Spirit’s work, ⁶ and poured him out upon us, too, through Jesus the Messiah our Savior true.

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the devil)

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹¹ For in this way you will be generously granted entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah.

⁸ On the other hand, I am writing to you a new commandment that is truly in him and in you. For the darkness is fading away, and the true light is already shining.

⁸ The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the devil has been doing.

¹ A Davidic instruction.
The Blessings of Forgiveness How blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² How blessed is the person against whom the LORD does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be feared.

²⁸ That’s the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

²⁰ When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Mister, your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁷ So I’m telling you that her sins, as many as they are, have been forgiven, and that’s why she has shown such great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.”
⁴⁸ Then Jesus told her, “Your sins are forgiven!”
⁴⁹ Those who were at the table with them began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
⁵⁰ But Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

³⁸ Peter answered them, “Every one of you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

⁴³ All the prophets testify to this: everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses.

²⁸ Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to be shepherds of God’s church, which he acquired with his own blood.

²⁴ By his grace they are justified freely through the redemption that is in the Messiah Jesus, ²⁵ whom God offered as a place where atonement by the Messiah’s blood would occur through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because he had waited patiently to deal with sins committed in the past.

⁶ Likewise, David also speaks of the blessedness of the person whom God regards as righteous apart from actions: ⁷ “How blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered! ⁸ How blessed is the person whose sins the Lord will never charge against him!”

¹³ The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, “A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!”

⁷ In union with him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of God’s grace

³² And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in the Messiah.

¹³ Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses,

¹³ Be tolerant of one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, you also should forgive.

⁶ He gave himself as a ransom for everyone, the testimony at the proper time.

¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he went into the Most Holy Place once for all and secured our eternal redemption.

²² In fact, under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness.

¹² But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God.” ¹³ Since that time, he has been waiting for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹⁹ but with the precious blood of the Messiah, like that of a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ On the one hand, he was foreknown before the creation of the world, but on the other hand, he was revealed at the end of time for your sake.

¹⁸ For the Messiah also suffered for sins once for all, an innocent person for the guilty, so that he could bring you to God. He was put to death in a mortal body but was brought to life by the Spirit,

⁹ If we make it our habit to confess our sins, in his faithful righteousness he forgives us for those sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

² It is he who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world’s.

¹² I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

⁵ and from Jesus the Messiah, the witness, the faithful one, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

⁹ They sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered. With your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

⁴ They have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins, and they follow the lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from among humanity as the first fruits for God and the lamb.

¹⁰ and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky.

⁸ I speak to him audibly and in visions, not in mysteries. If he can gaze at the image of the LORD, why aren’t you afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

²⁷ “Indeed, I myself made him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁹ when he set a boundary for the sea so the waters would not exceed his limits, when he marked out the foundations of the earth. ³⁰ Then I was with him, his master craftsman— I was his delight daily, continuously rejoicing in his presence, ³¹ rejoicing in his inhabitable world and taking delight in mankind.”

²⁶ From above the canopy that was spread out over their heads, there appeared to be something reminiscent of a throne, resembling sapphire in form.
The Vision of the Glory of GodThere was the likeness of the appearance of a human being seated on the likeness of the throne high above. ²⁷ I noticed that from what appeared to look like his waist upward there was something that looked like metal that glowed as if it were immersed in fire. Below this there was something resembling fire, with a radiant light surrounding him. ²⁸ The appearance of the radiant light resembled that of a rainbow shining in a cloud on a rainy day. This was what the appearance of the form of the glory of the LORD resembled. When I saw all of this, I fell flat on my face. Then I heard a voice speaking.

¹ The Word and CreationIn the beginning, the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

¹⁴ The Word Becomes HumanThe Word became flesh and lived among us. We gazed on his glory, the kind of glory that belongs to the Father’s unique Son, who is full of grace and truth.

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. The unique God, who is close to the Father’s side, has revealed him.

¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique Son so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but have eternal life.

⁹ “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?” Jesus asked him. “The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

²⁴ If I hadn’t done among them the actions that no one else did, they wouldn’t have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers.

⁶ In God’s own form existed he, and shared with God equality, deemed nothing needed grasping.

¹⁶ For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He himself existed before anything else did, and he holds all things together.

¹⁷ Now to the King Eternal—the immortal, invisible, and only God—be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁶ He alone has endless life and lives in inaccessible light. No one has ever seen him, nor can anyone see him. Honor and eternal power belong to him! Amen.

³ He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of his being, and he holds everything together by his powerful word. After he had provided a cleansing from sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Highest Majesty

⁶ And again, when he brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, without being afraid of the king’s anger, and he persevered because he saw the one who is invisible.

¹⁴ The Letter to the Church in Laodicea“To the messenger of the church in Laodicea, write:
‘The Amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the originator of God’s creation, says this:

³⁹ “May you acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in the heavens above and over the earth below—there is no other God.

¹¹ To you, LORD, belongs the greatness, and the valor, and the splendor, and the endurance, and the majesty because all that is in heaven and on earth is yours. To you belongs the kingdom, LORD, and you are exalted as head over all.

²⁵ You established the earth long ago; the heavens are the work of your hands. ²⁶ They will perish, but you will remain; and they all will become worn out, like a garment. You will change them like clothing, and they will pass away. ²⁷ But you remain the same; your years never end.

⁴ The LORD made everything answerable to him, including the wicked at the time of trouble.

⁹ Here is Your God“Climb up a high mountain, you messenger of good news to Zion! Lift up your voice with strength, you messenger to Jerusalem! Lift it up! Don’t be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’ ¹⁰ Look! The Lord GOD comes with strength, and his arm rules for him. Look! His reward is with him, and his payment accompanies him. ¹¹ Like a shepherd, he tends his flock. He gathers the lambs in his arms, carries them close to his heart, and gently leads the mother sheep.”
¹² Who is Like the LORD?“Who has measured the waters of the sea in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens by the width of his hand? Who has enclosed the dust of the earth in a measuring bowl, or weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

²¹ the people whom I formed for myself and so that they may speak my praise.”

²⁴ “This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer and the one who formed you in the womb: ‘I am the LORD, who has made everything, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth— Who was with me at that time?—

³ Through him all things were made, and apart from him nothing was made that has been made.

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

³⁶ For all things are from him, by him, and for him. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.

¹⁰ to usher in the fullness of the times and to bring together in the Messiah all things in heaven and on earth.

²⁰ which he brought about in the Messiah when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm. ²¹ He is far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion, and every name that can be named, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come.

⁹ and help everyone see how this secret that has been at work was hidden for ages by God, who created all things. ¹⁰ He did this so that now, through the church, the wisdom of God in all its variety might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm

¹⁰ And so, when Jesus’ name is called, the knees of everyone should fall, wherever they’re residing.

¹⁵ The Centrality of JesusThe Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

²⁰ Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thereby making peace through the blood of his cross.

¹⁰ And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

¹⁵ And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.

² has in these last days spoken to us by a Son whom he appointed to be the heir of everything and through whom he also made the universe.

¹⁰ And, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ¹¹ They will come to an end, but you will remain forever. They will all wear out like clothes. ¹² You will roll them up like a robe, and they will be changed like clothes. But you remain the same, and your life will never end.”

¹⁰ It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering as part of his plan to glorify many children,

³ because he is worthy of greater glory than Moses in the same way that the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴ After all, every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

²² who has gone to heaven and is at the right hand of God, where angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to him.

¹³ I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that is in them, saying, “To the one who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise, honor, glory, and power forever and ever!” ¹⁴ Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!”, and the elders bowed down and worshipped.

⁸ He raises the poor up from the dust, he lifts up the needy from the trash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. Indeed the pillars of the earth belong to the LORD, and he has set the world on them.

³ While the earth and all its inhabitants melt away, it is I who keep its pillars firm.” Interlude

²² The Agelessness of Wisdom“The LORD made me as he began his planning, before his ancient activity commenced. ²³ From eternity I was appointed, from the beginning, from before there was land.

¹¹ I, yes I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. ¹² I’ve revealed and saved and proclaimed, when there was no foreign god among you — and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD. ¹³ “I am God; also from ancient days I am the one. And there is no one who can deliver out of my hand; when I act, who can reverse it?”

⁶ I am the First and the LastThis is what the LORD says, the King of Israel and its Redeemer— the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name— “I am the first and I am the last, and apart from me there is no God.

² The Ruler from Bethlehem“As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, even though you remain least among the clans of Judah, nevertheless, the one who rules in Israel for me will emerge from you. His existence has been from antiquity, even from eternity.

¹ The Word and CreationIn the beginning, the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He existed in the beginning with God. ³ Through him all things were made, and apart from him nothing was made that has been made.

¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I, too, am working.” ¹⁸ So the Jewish leaders were trying all the harder to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.

⁵⁸ Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, before there was an Abraham, I AM!”

⁵ “So now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.

²⁸ For we live, move, and exist because of him, as some of your own poets have said: ‘…Since we are his children, too.’

⁸ Jesus, the Messiah, is the same yesterday and today—and forever!

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” declares the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”

¹¹ saying, “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. But he placed his right hand on me and said, “Stop being afraid! I am the first and the last,

⁸ The Letter to the Church in Smyrna“To the messenger of the church in Smyrna, write:
‘The first and the last, who was dead and became alive, says this:

² You are the most handsome of Adam’s descendants; grace has anointed your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. ³ Strap your sword to your side, mighty warrior, along with your honor and majesty. ⁴ In your majesty ride forth for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness; and your strong right hand will teach you awesome things. ⁵ Your arrows are sharpened to penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies. People will fall under you.

¹⁰ The Loved OneMy beloved is dazzling, with a dark and healthy complexion, outstanding among ten thousand.

¹³ The Suffering Servant“Look! My servant will prosper, and he will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have only one teacher, and all of you are brothers.

¹⁸ Then Jesus approached them and told them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

¹⁶ We have all received one gracious gift after another from his abundance,

²⁷ the one who is coming after me, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to untie.”

²⁹ It is the bridegroom who gets the bride, yet the bridegroom’s friend, who merely stands by and listens for him, is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That’s why this joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must become more important, but I must become less important.”
³¹ The One who Comes from AboveThe one who comes from above is superior to everything. The one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is superior to everything.

³⁴ The one whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God does not give the Spirit in limited measure to him. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands.

²⁵ Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. ²⁶ Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”

²³ that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and would bring light both to our people and to the gentiles.”

³ Advice about Head CoveringsNow I want you to realize that the Messiah is the head of every man, and man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of the Messiah.

²⁰ But at this moment the Messiah stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest of those who have died. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in the Messiah will all be made alive. ²³ However, this will happen to each person in the proper order: first the Messiah, then those who belong to the Messiah when he comes.

²⁵ For he must rule until God puts all the Messiah’s enemies under his feet.

²² God has put everything under the Messiah’s feet and has made him the head of everything for the good of the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills everything in every way.

¹⁵ Instead, by speaking the truth in love, we will grow up completely and become one with the head, that is, one with the Messiah, ¹⁶ in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body builds itself up in love.

²³ For the husband is the head of his wife as the Messiah is the head of the church. It is he who is the Savior of the body.

²⁴ Paul’s Service in the ChurchNow I am rejoicing while suffering for you as I complete in my flesh whatever remains of the Messiah’s sufferings on behalf of his body, which is the church.

¹⁰ And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹ In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah. ¹² When you were buried with the Messiah in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses, ¹⁴ having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.

⁵ God’s Son is Superior to the AngelsFor to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? ⁶ And again, when he brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

¹ Jesus, the Word of LifeWhat existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life!

¹⁸ the living one. I was dead—but look!—I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys of Death and Hades.

⁹ They sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered. With your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation. ¹⁰ You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
¹¹ The Vision of the Song of the LambThen I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels, the living creatures, and the elders surrounding the throne. They numbered 10,000’s times 10,000 and thousands times thousands. ¹² They sang with a loud voice, “Worthy is the lamb who was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise!” ¹³ I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that is in them, saying, “To the one who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise, honor, glory, and power forever and ever!”

¹⁵ The Vision of the Seventh Angel Blowing His TrumpetWhen the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The world’s kingdom has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever.”

⁶ Then he told me, “It has happened! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give a drink from the spring of the water of life to the one who is thirsty.

²³ The city doesn’t need any sun or moon to give it light, because the glory of God gave it light, and the lamb was its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

²⁵ Jesus Praises the Father and Invites the Disciples to Come to Him
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from wise and intelligent people and have revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, Father, because this is what was pleasing to you. ²⁷ All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and the person to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²¹ Jesus Praises the Father
At that moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus extremely joyful, so Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from wise and intelligent people and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this is what was pleasing to you.

³⁴ The one whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God does not give the Spirit in limited measure to him.

³ The Many Blessings of SalvationBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! He has blessed us in the Messiah with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm,

⁵ he predestined us for adoption to himself through Jesus the Messiah, according to the pleasure of his will,

²³ which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills everything in every way.

¹⁰ The one who went down is the same one who went up above all the heavens so that all things would be fulfilled.

³ In him are stored all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁹ because all the essence of deity inhabits him in bodily form.

¹¹ In him there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free person. Instead, the Messiah is all and in all.

³⁰ Any sin offering from which its blood was brought to the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the sacred place is not to be eaten. Instead, it is to be incinerated.”

¹⁰ Gracious love and truth meet; righteousness and peace kiss. ¹¹ Truth sprouts up from the ground, while righteousness looks down from the sky.

¹⁷ The Regent Prince is to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings at the festivals, on the New Moons and Sabbaths, and at all of the prescribed festivals of the house of Israel. He is to provide the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings in order to make atonement for the house of Israel.”
¹⁸ “This is what the Lord GOD says, ‘On the first day of the first month, you are to present a young bull without defect in order to cleanse the sanctuary. ¹⁹ The priest is to place some of the blood from the sin offering on the door posts of the Temple, on the four corners of the ledge around the altar, and on the posts of the gate leading to the inner court. ²⁰ You are also to do this on the seventh day of the month, to make atonement for any person who wanders away or who sins through ignorance in order to make atonement for the Temple.

²⁴ Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city: to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for lawlessness, to establish everlasting righteousness, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ So be informed and discern that seven weeks and 62 weeks will elapse from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed Commander. The plaza and moat will be rebuilt, though in troubled times. ²⁶ Then after the 62 weeks, the anointed one will be cut down (but not for himself). Then the people of the Coming Commander will destroy both the city and the Sanctuary. Its ending will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war, with desolations having been decreed.

⁵ And he will be our peace.”
God’s Judgment on Assyria “When the Assyrian invades our land, trampling through our palaces, we will raise up seven shepherds against him, even eight significant men.

⁹ The Coming of Zion’s King“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ¹⁰ I will banish chariots from Ephraim and horses from Jerusalem. War weapons will be banished, and your king will speak peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the River to the farthest portion of the earth.

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to people who enjoy his favor!”

³⁰ Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, three o’clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my home. All at once a man in radiant clothes stood in front of me

¹ We Enjoy Peace with God through JesusTherefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

¹⁸ All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through the Messiah and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰ Therefore, we are the Messiah’s representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God!” ²¹ God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that God’s righteousness would be produced in us.

¹³ But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.
¹⁴ For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them. ¹⁵ He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace, ¹⁶ and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility. ¹⁷ He came and proclaimed peace for you who were far away and for you who were near.

²¹ You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil, ²² he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him.

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good to do his will, accomplishing in us what pleases him through Jesus, the Messiah. To him be glory forever and ever! Amen.

⁹ This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent his unique Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents,

⁹ Now that we have been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved from wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life!

⁷ That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God’s Law because it is powerless to do so. ⁸ Indeed, those who are under the control of human nature cannot please God.

¹ God Has Brought Us from Death to LifeYou used to be dead because of your offenses and sins ² that you once practiced as you lived according to the ways of this present world and according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now active in those who are disobedient. ³ Indeed, all of us once behaved like them in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and senses. By nature we were destined for wrath, just like everyone else.

¹² At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. You had no hope and were in the world without God.

¹⁹ That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

¹⁵ Everything is clean to those who are clean, but nothing is clean to those who are corrupt and unbelieving. Indeed, their very way of thinking and their consciences have been corrupted. ¹⁶ They claim to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.

³ After all, we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and misled. We were slaves to many kinds of lusts and pleasures, spending our days in malice and jealousy. We were despised, and we hated one another. ⁴ In grace our Savior God appeared, to make his love for mankind clear. ⁵ ‘Twas not for deeds that we had done, but by his steadfast love alone, he saved us through a second birth, renewed us by the Spirit’s work, ⁶ and poured him out upon us, too, through Jesus the Messiah our Savior true. ⁷ And so, made heirs by his own grace, eternal life we now embrace.

⁴ You adulterers! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility with God? So whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.

¹⁵ Look, if God doesn’t trust his holy ones, if even the heavens aren’t pure as he looks at them,

⁵ Behold, even the moon isn’t bright, and the stars aren’t pure in his eyes.

⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁷⁵ and be holy and righteous before him all of our days.

⁴ In the same way, my brothers, through the Messiah’s body you also died as far as the Law is concerned, so that you may belong to another person, the one who was raised from the dead, and may bear fruit for God.

² I am jealous of you with God’s own jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to the Messiah.

⁴ just as he chose us in the Messiah before the creation of the universe to be holy and blameless in his presence. In love

¹⁵ He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace, ¹⁶ and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility.

²⁷ and might present the church to himself in all its glory, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and without fault.

⁷ For God did not call us to be impure, but to be holy.

¹⁰ By God’s will we have been sanctified once and for all through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah.

²⁰ the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to have the Lord find you at peace and without spot or fault.

²⁴ Final PrayerNow to the one who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand joyful and faultless in his glorious presence,

²⁵ Starting today I will begin to instill fear and terror of you on the part of every nation under heaven who hears reports about you. They’ll tremble in anguish before you.’”

¹⁹ Do not gaze toward the heavens and observe the sun, the moon, the stars—the entire array of the sky—with the intent to worship and serve what the LORD your God gave every nation.

¹³ Planted in the LORD’s Temple, they will flourish in the courtyard of our God. ¹⁴ They will still bear fruit even in old age; they will be luxuriant and green.

⁵ But for those who choose their own devious paths, the LORD will lead them away, along with those who practice evil. Peace be upon Israel.

⁶⁶ Pursue them in your anger and destroy them from under the LORD’s heaven.

²⁶ “When a righteous person turns from his righteous deeds and does evil, he’ll die because of that evil. He’ll die because of his unrighteous acts that he committed.

³ Let us know, let us pursue knowledge of the LORD; his coming is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth. ⁴ “What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your love is like a morning rain cloud— it passes away like the morning dew.

⁶ those who turn away from the LORD, don’t seek the LORD, and never ask for his help.”
The Approaching Day of the LORD

²⁴ The Two Foundations
“Therefore, everyone who listens to these messages of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. ²⁵ The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation was on the rock.

¹³ But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

⁴⁸ They are like a person building a house, who dug a deep hole to lay the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the floodwaters pushed against that house but couldn’t shake it, because it had been founded on the rock.

¹³ The ones on the stony ground are the people who joyfully welcome the word when they hear it. But since they don’t have any roots, they believe for a while, but in a time of testing they fall away. ¹⁴ The ones that fell among the thorn bushes are the people who listen, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries, wealth, and pleasures of life, and their fruit doesn’t mature. ¹⁵ But the ones on the good soil are the people who hear the word but also hold on to it with good and honest hearts, producing a crop through endurance.”

³² but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail. When you have come back, you must strengthen your brothers.”

³⁰ While he was saying these things, many believed in him.
³¹ Freedom and SlaverySo Jesus told those Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are really my disciples. ³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

⁶ Unless a person abides in me, he is thrown away like a pruned branch and dries up. People gather such branches, throw them into a fire, and they are burned up.

⁹ Just as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. So abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you’ll abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

¹⁷ because he was one of our number and was appointed to share in this ministry.”

²⁵ to serve in this office of apostle, from which Judas left to go to his own place.”

⁵ Now devout Jews from every nation on earth were living in Jerusalem.

¹² There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

²³ When he arrived, he rejoiced to see what the grace of God had done, and with hearty determination he kept encouraging all of them to remain faithful to the Lord,

²² strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships,” they said, “to get into the kingdom of God.”

²⁴ But I don’t place any value on my life, if only I can finish my race and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet, because I’ve appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you to be my servant and witness of what you’ve seen and of what I’ll show you.

¹⁸ But I ask, “Didn’t they hear?” Certainly they did! In fact, “Their voice has gone out into the whole world, and their words to the ends of the earth.”

¹⁶ to be a minister of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering brought by gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

⁵ Who is Apollos, anyhow? Or who is Paul? They’re merely servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord gave to each of us his task.

¹ Faithful Servants of the MessiahThink of us as servants of the Messiah and as servant managers entrusted with God’s secrets. ² Now it is required of servant managers that each one should prove to be trustworthy. ³ It is a very small thing to me that I should be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I don’t even evaluate myself.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that the work that you do for the Lord isn’t wasted.

⁶ who has also qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, which is not written but spiritual, because the written text brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

¹ Treasure in Clay JarsTherefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy shown to us, we do not get discouraged.

¹⁸ All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through the Messiah and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰ Therefore, we are the Messiah’s representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God!”

¹¹ I am afraid for you! I don’t want my work for you to have been wasted!

⁷ You were running the race beautifully. Who cut in on you and stopped you from obeying the truth?

⁹ Let’s not get tired of doing what is good, for at the right time we will reap a harvest—if we do not give up.

²¹ In union with him the whole building is joined together and rises into a holy sanctuary for the Lord.

⁷ I have become a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. ⁸ To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given so that I might proclaim to the gentiles the immeasurable wealth of the Messiah

¹⁷ and that the Messiah would make his home in your hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁶ in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body builds itself up in love.

⁵ based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hope through the word of truth, the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth.

²⁵ I became its servant as God commissioned me to work for you, so that I may complete my ministry of the word of God.

⁷ For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you continue to be thankful.

³ so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions, for which you are aware that we were destined.

⁵ But when I could stand it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid that the tempter had tempted you in some way, and that our work had been a waste of time.

⁸ But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober. We must put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

¹² I thank the Messiah Jesus, our Lord, who gives me strength, that he has considered me faithful and has appointed me to his service.

⁷ For this reason I was appointed to be an announcer, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the gentiles. (I am telling you the truth. I am not lying.)

¹¹ For the sake of this gospel I was appointed to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the gentiles. ¹² That is why I suffer as I do. However, I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I’m convinced that he is able to protect what he has entrusted to me until the day that he comes.

⁵ But you must be clear-headed about everything. Endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Devote yourself completely to your ministry.
⁶ I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for my departure has come.

⁷ And so, made heirs by his own grace, eternal life we now embrace.

⁶ but the Messiah was faithful as the Son in charge of God’s household, and we are his household if we hold on to our courage and the hope in which we rejoice.

¹⁴ Our Compassionate High PriestTherefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us live our lives consistent with our confession of faith.

¹⁹ That hope, firm and secure like an anchor for our souls, reaches behind the curtain

³⁸ but my righteous one will live by faith, and if he turns back, my soul will take no pleasure in him.”

³ Our Hope and Joy are in the MessiahBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead

⁵ Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era.

¹⁸ By talking high-sounding nonsense and using sinful cravings of the flesh, they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ Promising them freedom, they themselves are slaves to depravity, for a person is a slave to whatever conquers him.
²⁰ For if, after escaping the world’s corruptions through a full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah, they are again entangled and conquered by those corruptions, then their last condition is worse than their former one. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them. ²² The proverb is true that describes what has happened to them: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and “A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud.”

²⁷ The anointing you received from God abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this. Instead, because God’s anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do.

¹⁰ Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. For ten days you will undergo suffering. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the victor’s crown of life.

¹¹ “How blessed are you whenever people insult you, persecute you, and say all sorts of evil things against you falsely because of me! ¹² Rejoice and be extremely glad, because your reward in heaven is great! That’s how they persecuted the prophets who came before you.”

³ Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

⁵ For as the Messiah’s sufferings overflow into us, so also our comfort overflows through the Messiah. ⁶ If we suffer, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are suffering. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, because we know that as you share our sufferings, you also share our comfort.
⁸ How God Rescued PaulFor we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about the suffering we experienced in Asia. We were so crushed beyond our ability to endure that we even despaired of living.

⁸ In every way we’re troubled but not crushed, frustrated but not in despair, ⁹ persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We are always carrying around the death of Jesus in our bodies, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our bodies. ¹¹ While we are alive, we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our mortal bodies. ¹² And so death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

⁴ I have great confidence in you. I am very proud of you. I am very much encouraged. I am overjoyed in all our troubles.

²³ Are they the Messiah’s servants? I am insane to talk like this, but I am a far better one! I have been involved in far greater efforts, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and have faced death more than once. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews 40 lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with a stick, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, and I drifted on the sea for a day and a night. ²⁶ I have traveled extensively and have been endangered from rivers, robbers, my own people, and gentiles. I’ve also been in danger in the city, in the open country, at sea, from false brothers, ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger, thirst, many periods of fasting, coldness, and nakedness.

¹ Paul’s Ministry to the GentilesFor this reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of the Messiah Jesus for the sake of you gentiles.

¹³ So then, I ask you not to become discouraged because of my troubles on your behalf, which work toward your glory.

¹⁷ Yet even if I am being poured out like an offering as part of the sacrifice and service I offer for your faith, I rejoice, and I share my joy with all of you. ¹⁸ In the same way, you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.

¹⁰ I want to know the Messiah—what his resurrection power is like and what it means to share in his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,

¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything.

⁸ Therefore, never be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner. Instead, by God’s power, join me in suffering for the sake of the gospel.

⁹ Because of it I am experiencing trouble, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. However, God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰ For that reason, I endure everything for the sake of those who have been chosen so that they, too, may receive the salvation that is in the Messiah Jesus, along with eternal glory.

² Responding Wisely to LifeConsider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials,

¹⁵ However, on some points I have written to you rather boldly, both as a reminder to you and because of the grace given me by God ¹⁶ to be a minister of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering brought by gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
¹⁷ Therefore, in the Messiah Jesus I have the right to boast about my work for God. ¹⁸ For I am bold enough to tell you only about what the Messiah has accomplished through me in bringing gentiles to obedience. By my words and actions, ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of the Messiah from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum.

¹⁷ For if I preach voluntarily, I get a reward, but if I am unwilling to do it, I am still entrusted with that obligation.

⁷ In fact, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised. ⁸ For the one who worked through Peter by making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me by sending me to the gentiles.

² to proclaim the message. Be ready to do this whether or not the time is convenient. Refute, warn, and encourage with the utmost patience when you teach. ³ For the time will come when people will not tolerate healthy doctrine, but with itching ears will surround themselves with teachers who cater to their people’s own desires. ⁴ They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths. ⁵ But you must be clear-headed about everything. Endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Devote yourself completely to your ministry.

¹⁴ The intimate counsel of the LORD is for those who fear him so they may know his covenant.

¹¹ He answered them, “You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom from heaven, but it hasn’t been given to them,

¹¹ He told them, “The secret about the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything comes in parables

¹⁰ So he said, “You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom of God. But to others they are given in parables, so that ‘they might look but not see, and they might listen but not understand.’”

²⁵ Final DoxologyNow to the one who is able to strengthen you with my gospel and the message that I preach about Jesus, the Messiah, by revealing the secret that was kept hidden from long ago ²⁶ but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience that springs from faith—

⁷ Instead, we speak about God’s wisdom in a hidden secret, which God destined before the world began for our glory.

³ and how this secret was made known to me through a revelation, just as I wrote about briefly in the past. ⁴ By reading this, you will be able to grasp my understanding of the secret about the Messiah, ⁵ which in previous generations was not made known to human beings as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This is that secret: ⁶ The gentiles are heirs-in-common, members-in-common of the body, and common participants in what was promised by the Messiah Jesus through the gospel.
⁷ I have become a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. ⁸ To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given so that I might proclaim to the gentiles the immeasurable wealth of the Messiah

¹⁰ Now, however, that grace has been revealed through the coming of our Savior the Messiah Jesus, who has destroyed death and through the gospel has brought life and release from death into full view.

⁹ Therefore, my heart is glad, my whole being rejoices, and my body will dwell securely. ¹⁰ For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, you will not allow your holy one to experience corruption. ¹¹ You cause me to know the path of life; in your presence is joyful abundance, at your right hand there are pleasures forever.

²¹ People won’t be saying, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ because now the kingdom of God is among you.”

⁵⁶ The person who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

¹⁷ He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor recognizes him. But you recognize him, because he lives with you and will be in you.

²⁰ At that time, you’ll know that I am in my Father, that you are in me, and that I am in you.

²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. Then my Father will love him, and we will go to him and make our home within him.

² He cuts off every branch that does not produce fruit in me, and he cuts back every branch that does produce fruit, so that it might produce more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of what I’ve spoken to you.
⁴ “Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot produce fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who abides in me while I abide in him produces much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

²² “I have given them the glory that you gave me, so that they may be one, just as we are one. ²³ I am in them, and you are in me. May they be completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me and that you have loved them as you loved me.

²⁶ I made your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them.”

² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace by which we have been established, and we boast because of our hope in God’s glory.

¹⁰ But if the Messiah is in you, your bodies are dead due to sin, but the spirit is alive due to righteousness.

¹⁸ God’s Spirit Helps UsFor I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God’s children,

³³ In Praise of God’s WaysO how deep are God’s riches, and wisdom, and knowledge! How unfathomable are his decisions and unexplainable are his ways!

¹² Now, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we can understand the things that were freely given to us by God. ¹³ We don’t speak about these things with words taught us by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, as we explain spiritual things to spiritual people. ¹⁴ A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the things of God’s Spirit, for they are nonsense to him. He can’t understand them because they are spiritually evaluated.

¹⁶ You know that you are God’s sanctuary and that God’s Spirit lives in you, don’t you?

¹⁷ This light, temporary nature of our suffering is producing for us an everlasting weight of glory, far beyond any comparison,

¹⁶ What agreement can a temple of God make with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said: “I will live and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with another human being at any time,

²⁰ I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

¹⁹ My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until the Messiah is formed in you.

¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the most glorious Father, would give you a wise spirit, along with revelation that comes through knowing the Messiah fully. ¹⁸ Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the confidence that is produced by God having called you, the rich glory that is his inheritance among the saints,

²² You, too, are being built in him, along with the others, into a place for God’s Spirit to dwell.

¹⁶ I pray that he would give you, according to his glorious riches, strength in your inner being and power through his Spirit, ¹⁷ and that the Messiah would make his home in your hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁹ And my God will fully supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah Jesus.

⁵ based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hope through the word of truth, the gospel

¹ GreetingsFrom: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus, by the command of God our Savior and the Messiah Jesus, our hope.

⁴ Little children, you belong to God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

²⁰ Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me.

⁵ See! I taught you the statutes and the ordinances, just as the LORD God commanded. Therefore, observe them when you enter the land you are about to possess.

⁵ Understand prudence, you naïve people; and gain an understanding heart, you foolish ones.

⁹ ConclusionsMoreover, besides being wise himself, the Teacher taught people what he had learned by listening, making inquiries, and composing many proverbs.

¹⁵ I’ll give you shepherds after my own heart, and they’ll shepherd you with knowledge and good sense.”

¹⁰ To whom will I speak and give a warning so they’ll listen? Look, their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. Look, this message from the LORD is contemptible to them; they don’t delight in it.

¹⁷ “Son of Man,” he said, “I’ve appointed you to be a watchman over the house of Israel. Therefore when you hear a message that comes from me, you are to warn them for me.
¹⁸ “So when I say to a wicked person, ‘You’re about to die,’ if you don’t warn or instruct that wicked person that his behavior is wicked so he can live, that wicked person will die in his sin, but I’ll hold you responsible for his death. ¹⁹ If you warn the wicked person, and he doesn’t repent of his wickedness or of his wicked behavior, he’ll die in his sin, but you will have saved your own life.
²⁰ “When a righteous man abandons his righteousness to practice unrighteousness, I’ll set a stumbling block before him. He’ll die. If you don’t warn him, he’ll die in his sin and the righteous deeds that he had practiced won’t be remembered, but you’ll be held responsible for his death. ²¹ If you warn the righteous person, so that he doesn’t commit sin, then he’ll live, since he had been warned. And you will have saved your life.”

¹⁰ The Harvest Approaches“Look out! The day!
“Look out! It’s coming!
“Doom has blossomed.
“Arrogance has sprouted!

⁴ then if anyone who hears the sound of the alarm does not heed the warning, when the sword arrives and destroys him, his shed blood will remain his own responsibility. ⁵ After all, he heard the alarm sounding, but did not heed the warning, so his shed blood will remain his own responsibility. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved himself. ⁶ If that sentinel notices that violence is approaching, but does not sound an alarm, then because the nation does not take warning and the sword arrives and destroys their lives because of their guilt, I’ll seek retribution for their shed blood from the one who was acting as sentinel.’”
⁷ Warning for Ezekiel“Now as for you, Son of Man, I’ve established you as a sentinel for the house of Israel. So whenever you hear a message from me, you are to warn the people from me. ⁸ If I should say to a certain wicked person, ‘You wicked man, you’re certainly about to die,’ but you don’t warn him to turn from his wicked behavior, he’ll die in his guilt, but I’ll seek retribution for his bloodshed from you. ⁹ However, if you warn the wicked to turn from his behavior and he does not do so, he will die in his guilt, and you will have saved yourself.”

⁷ But when John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he told them, “You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁴⁸ So be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

²⁰ teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age.”

³⁴ When he got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.

¹⁵ because I will give you the ability to speak, along with wisdom, that none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

²⁰ so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and so that he may send you Jesus, whom he appointed long ago to be the Messiah.

⁴² Every day in the Temple and from house to house they kept teaching and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.

⁵ Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began to preach the Messiah to the people.

³⁵ Then Philip began to speak, and, starting from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.

²⁰ He immediately started to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This is the Son of God.”

²⁰ But among them were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began proclaiming the Lord Jesus even to the Hellenistic Jews.

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³ He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah.”

¹⁸ Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some asked, “What is this blabbermouth trying to say?” while others said, “He seems to be preaching about foreign gods.” This was because Paul was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

²⁷ because I never shrank from telling you the whole plan of God. ²⁸ Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to be shepherds of God’s church, which he acquired with his own blood.

³¹ So be alert! Remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped tearfully warning each of you.

²⁵ Final DoxologyNow to the one who is able to strengthen you with my gospel and the message that I preach about Jesus, the Messiah, by revealing the secret that was kept hidden from long ago

²³ but we preach the Messiah crucified. He is a stumbling block to Jews and nonsense to gentiles,

³⁰ It is because of God that you are in union with the Messiah Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

⁶ God’s Spirit Reveals EverythingHowever, when we are among mature people, we do speak a message of wisdom, but not the wisdom of this world or of the rulers of this world, who are passing off the scene.

¹⁵ The spiritual person evaluates everything but is subject to no one else’s evaluation.

¹⁴ Fatherly AdviceI’m not writing this to make you feel ashamed, but to warn you as my dear children.

⁸ To one has been given a message of wisdom by the Spirit; to another the ability to speak with knowledge according to the same Spirit;

¹² The Resurrection of the DeadNow if we preach that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how can some of you keep claiming there is no resurrection of the dead?

⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but rather Jesus the Messiah as Lord, and ourselves as merely your servants for Jesus’ sake.

⁸ To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given so that I might proclaim to the gentiles the immeasurable wealth of the Messiah

¹¹ And it is he who gifted some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and still others to be pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints, to do the work of ministry, and to build up the body of the Messiah ¹³ until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God’s Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah.

¹⁵ Some are preaching the Messiah because of jealousy and dissension, while others do so because of their good will. ¹⁶ The latter are motivated by love, because they know that I have been appointed to defend the gospel. ¹⁷ The former proclaim the Messiah because they are selfishly ambitious and insincere, thinking that they will stir up trouble for me during my imprisonment.
¹⁸ But so what? Just this—that in every way, whether by false or true motives, the Messiah is being proclaimed. Because of this, I rejoice and will continue to rejoice.

²² he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him.

⁶ Furthermore, you must never take advantage of or exploit a brother in this regard, because the Lord avenges all these things, just as we already told you and warned you.

¹² Paul Gives Final Instructions to the ChurchBrothers, we ask you to show your appreciation for those who work among you, set an example for you in the Lord, and instruct you. ¹³ Hold them in the highest regard, loving them because of their work. Live in peace with each other. ¹⁴ We urge you, brothers, to admonish those who are idle, cheer up those who are discouraged, and help those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

² Therefore, an elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, stable, sensible, respectable, hospitable to strangers, and teachable.

¹⁶ By common confession, the secret of our godly worship is great: In flesh was he revealed to sight, kept righteous by the Spirit’s might, adored by angels singing. To nations was he manifest, believing souls found peace and rest, our Lord in heaven reigning!

²⁴ A servant of the Lord must not argue. Instead, he must be kind to everyone, teachable, willing to suffer wrong, ²⁵ and gentle when refuting opponents. After all, maybe God will allow them to repent and to come to a full knowledge of the truth,

¹⁴ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹⁵ Think of our Lord’s patience as facilitating salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.

²⁰ My one ambition is to proclaim the gospel where the name of the Messiah is not known, so I don’t build on someone else’s foundation.

²⁵ Everyone who enters an athletic contest practices self-control in everything. They do it to win a wreath that withers away, but we run to win a prize that never fades. ²⁶ That is the way I run, with a clear goal in mind. That is the way I fight, not like someone shadow boxing. ²⁷ No, I keep on disciplining my body, making it serve me so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified.

⁶ There are varieties of results, but it is the same God who produces all the results in everyone.

¹¹ But one and the same Spirit produces all these results and gives what he wants to each person.

¹⁰ But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others—not I, of course, but God’s grace that was with me.

⁹ So whether we are at home or away from home, our goal is to be pleasing to him.

⁵ in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger;

³ since you want proof that the Messiah is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is making his power felt among you.

¹⁹ and the unlimited greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength,

⁷ I have become a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power.

²⁰ Now to the one who can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is working among us—

³⁰ You have the same struggle that you saw in me and now hear that I am still having.

¹³ For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.

¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I will be proud when the Messiah returns that I did not run in vain or work hard in vain.

¹ For I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen me face to face.

⁹ Brothers, you remember our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not become a burden to any of you while we proclaimed the gospel of God to you.

⁸ We did not eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, with toil and labor we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you.

¹⁰ For that reason, I endure everything for the sake of those who have been chosen so that they, too, may receive the salvation that is in the Messiah Jesus, along with eternal glory.

⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

³ You have endured and suffered because of my name, yet you have not grown weary.