Colossians 2 Cross References - Moffatt

¹ Striving? Yes, I want you to understand my deep concern for you and for those at Laodicea, for all who have never seen my face. ² May their hearts be encouraged! May they learn the meaning of love! May they have all the wealth of conviction that comes from insight! May they learn to know that open secret of God, the Father of Christ, ³ in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie hidden! ⁴ I say this to prevent you from being deluded by plausible arguments from anybody; ⁵ for although I am absent in body I am with you in spirit, and it is a joy to note your steadiness and the solid front of your faith in Christ. ⁶ Since you have had the messiah, even Jesus the Lord, brought to you, lead your life in him, ⁷ fixed and founded in him, confirmed in the faith as you have been taught it, and overflowing with thankfulness to God. ⁸ Beware of anyone getting hold of you by means of a theosophy which is specious make-believe, on the lines of human tradition, corresponding to the Elemental spirits of the world and not to Christ. ⁹ It is in Christ that the entire Fulness of deity has settled bodily, ¹⁰ it is in him that you reach your full life, and he is the Head of every angelic Ruler and Power; ¹¹ in him you have been circumcised with no material circumcision that cuts flesh from the body, but with Christ's own circumcision, ¹² when you were buried with him in your baptism and thereby raised with him as you believed in the power of the God who raised him from the dead. ¹³ For though you were dead in your trespasses, your flesh uncircumcised, He made you live with Christ, He forgave us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ He cancelled the regulations that stood against us — all these obligations he set aside when he nailed them to the cross, ¹⁵ when he cut away the angelic Rulers and Powers from us, exposing them to all the world and triumphing over them in the cross. ¹⁶ So let no one take you to task on questions of eating and drinking or in connexion with the observance of festivals or new moons or sabbaths. ¹⁷ All that is the mere shadow of what is to be; the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one lay down rules for you as he pleases, with regard to fasting and the cult of angels, presuming on his visions and inflated by his sensuous notions, ¹⁹ instead of keeping in touch with that Head under whom the entire Body, supplied with joints and sinews and thus compacted, grows with growth divine. ²⁰ As you died with Christ to the Elemental spirits of the world, why live as if you still belonged to the world? Why submit to rules and regulations like ²¹ "Hands off this!" "Taste not that!" "Touch not this!" — ²² referring to things that perish by being used? These rules are determined by human precepts and tenets; ²³ they get the name of 'wisdom' with their self-imposed devotions, with their fasting, with their rigorous discipline of the body, but they are of no value, they simply pamper the flesh!

²³ The maiden will conceive and bear a son, and his name will be called Immanuel (which may be translated, God is with us).

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets; they come to you with the garb of sheep but at heart they are ravenous wolves.

²⁴ Now, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts upon them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, for it was founded on rock.

¹⁷ Beware of men, they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues,

²⁶ Fear them not: — nothing is veiled that shall not be revealed, or hidden that shall not be known;

⁴⁰ He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives Him who sent me.

²⁵ At that time Jesus spoke and said, "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding all this from the wise and learned and revealing it to the simpleminded;

²⁷ All has been handed over to me by my Father: and no one knows the Son except the Father — nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸ Come to me, all who are labouring and burdened, and I will refresh you. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find your souls refreshed;

²⁹ Why, how can anyone enter the strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first of all binds the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

² "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they take their food." ³ He replied, "And why do you transgress the command of God with your traditions? ⁴ God enjoined, Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death. ⁵ But you say, whoever tells his father or mother, 'This money might have been at your service but it is dedicated to God,' ⁶ need not honour his father or mother. So you have repealed the law of God to suit your own tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you when he said, ⁸ This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: ⁹ vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts."

¹¹ it is not what enters a man's mouth that defiles him, what defiles a man is what comes out of his mouth."

⁶ Jesus said to them, "See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

²⁷ Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! you are like tombs white-washed; they look comely on the outside, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all manner of impurity. ²⁸ So to men you seem just, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

⁴ Jesus replied, "Take care that no one misleads you;

²⁴ for false Christs and false prophets will rise and bring forward great signs and wonders, so as to mislead the very elect, — if that were possible.

²⁷ And he said to them, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath: ²⁸ so that the Son of man is Lord even over the sabbath."

³ (The Pharisees and all the Jews decline to eat till they wash their hands up to the wrist, in obedience to the tradition of the elders; ⁴ they decline to eat what comes from the market till they have washed it; and they have a number of other traditions to keep about washing cups and jugs and basins [and beds].) ⁵ Then the Pharisees and scribes put this question to him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? Why do they take their food with 'common' hands?" ⁶ He said to them, "Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you hypocrites — as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: ⁷ vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts. ⁸ You drop what God commands and hold to human tradition. ⁹ Yes, forsooth," he added, "you set aside what God commands, so as to maintain your own tradition. ¹⁰ Thus, Moses said, Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death. ¹¹ But you say that if a man tells his father or mother, 'This money might have been at your service, but it is Korban' (that is, dedicated to God), ¹² he is exempt, so you hold, from doing anything for his father or mother. ¹³ That is repealing the word of God in the interests of the tradition which you keep up. And you do many things like that."

¹⁸ He said to them, "So you do not understand, either? Do you not see how nothing outside a man can defile him by entering him? ¹⁹ It does not enter his heart but his belly and passes from that into the drain" (thus he pronounced all food clean).

¹⁹ It does not enter his heart but his belly and passes from that into the drain" (thus he pronounced all food clean).

²² for false Christs and false prophets will rise and perform signs and wonders to mislead the elect if they can.

⁵⁸ "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'"

⁶ They were both just in the sight of God, blameless in their obedience to all the commands and regulations of God;

²¹ When the eight days had passed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus — the name given by the angel before he had been conceived in the womb.

²² and the holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my son, the Beloved, to-day have I become thy father."

⁴⁸ He is like a man engaged in building a house, who dug deep down and laid his foundation on the rock; when a flood came, the river dashed against that house but could not shake it, for it had been well built.

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; you go and spread the news of the Reign of God."

¹⁸ He said to them, "Yes, I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.

²¹ He thrilled with joy at that hour in the holy Spirit, saying, "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing this from the wise and learned and revealing it to the simple-minded; yes, Father, I praise thee that such was thy chosen purpose." Then turning to the disciples he said, ²² "All has been handed over to me by my Father: and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

²² but when a stronger man attacks and conquers him, he seizes the panoply on which he relied and divides up the spoil.

²⁴ for my son here was dead and he has come to life, he was lost and he is found.' So they began to make merry.

³² We could not but make merry and rejoice, for your brother here was dead and has come to life again, he was lost but he has been found.' "

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, "Give us more faith!"

⁴⁴ he fell into an agony and prayed with greater intensity, his sweat dropping to the ground like clots of blood.]

³⁹ One of the criminals who had been hung also abused him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well." ⁴⁰ But the other checked him, saying, "Have you no fear even of God? You are suffering the same punishment as he. ⁴¹ And we suffer justly; we are getting what we deserve for our deeds. But he has done no harm." ⁴² And he added, "Jesus, do not forget me when you come to reign." ⁴³ "I tell you truly," said Jesus, "you will be in paradise with me this very day."

¹ THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine. ² He was with God in the very beginning: ³ through him all existence came into being, no existence came into being apart from him.

¹² On those who have accepted him, however, he has conferred the right of being children of God, that is, on those who believe in his Name, ¹³ who owe this birth of theirs to God, not to human blood, nor to any impulse of the flesh or of man. ¹⁴ So the Logos became flesh and tarried among us; we have seen his glory — glory such as an only son enjoys from his father — seen it to be full of grace and reality.

¹⁶ For we have all been receiving grace after grace from his fulness; ¹⁷ while the Law was given through Moses, grace and reality are ours through Jesus Christ.

²¹ He meant the sanctuary of his body, however,

³ Jesus replied, "Truly, truly I tell you, no one can see God's Realm unless he is born from above." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb over again and be born?" ⁵ Jesus replied, "Truly, truly I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter God's Realm. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh: what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. ⁷ Do not wonder at me telling you, 'You must all be born from above.'

¹⁷ The reply of Jesus was, "As my Father has continued working to this hour, so I work too."

²¹ for as the Father raises the dead and makes them live, so the Son makes anyone live whom he chooses.

²³ that all men may honour the Son as they honour the Father. (He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him.)

²⁷ Work for no perishing food, but for that lasting food which means eternal life; the Son of man will give you that, for the Father, God, has certified him."

⁶³ What gives life is the Spirit: flesh is of no avail at all. The words I have uttered to you are spirit and life.

⁶⁹ and we believe, we are certain, that you are the holy One of God."

³⁰ I and my Father are one — ."

³⁸ but if I am, then believe the deeds, though you will not believe me — that you may learn and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

³¹ Now is this world to be judged; now the Prince of this world will be expelled. ³² But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."

²⁰ (Truly, truly I tell you, he who receives anyone I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.)"

⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the real and living way: no one comes to the Father except by means of me.

⁹ Jesus said to him, "Philip, have I been with you all this time, and yet you do not understand me? He who has seen me has seen the Father. What do you mean by saying, 'Let us see the Father'?

⁹ Jesus said to him, "Philip, have I been with you all this time, and yet you do not understand me? He who has seen me has seen the Father. What do you mean by saying, 'Let us see the Father'? ¹⁰ Do you not believe I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you all I do not speak of my own accord; it is the Father who remains ever in me, who is performing his own deeds.

¹⁰ Do you not believe I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you all I do not speak of my own accord; it is the Father who remains ever in me, who is performing his own deeds. ¹¹ Believe me, I am in the Father and the Father is in me: — or else, believe because of the deeds themselves.

²⁰ You will understand, on that day, that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.

⁴ Remain in me, as I remain in you: just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, without remaining on the vine, neither can you, unless you remain in me.

⁴ Remain in me, as I remain in you: just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, without remaining on the vine, neither can you, unless you remain in me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in me, as I in him, bears rich fruit (because apart from me you can do nothing).

⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in me, as I in him, bears rich fruit (because apart from me you can do nothing). ⁶ If anyone does not remain in me he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers up; then the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire to be burned.

¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love what it owned; it is because you do not belong to the world, because I have chosen you from the world, that the world hates you.

¹¹ of judgment, because the Prince of this world has been judged.

¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; that is why I say, 'he will draw upon what is mine and disclose it to you.'

³ And this is eternal life, that they know thee, the only real God, and him whom thou hast sent, even Jesus Christ.

¹⁴ I have given them thy word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. ¹⁵ I pray not that thou wilt take them out of the world, but that thou wilt keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

²¹ may they all be one! As thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, so may they be in us — that the world may believe thou hast sent me.

²¹ may they all be one! As thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, so may they be in us — that the world may believe thou hast sent me. ²² Yea, I have given them the glory thou gavest me, that they may be one as we are one — ²³ I in them and thou in me — that they may be made perfectly one, so that the world may recognize that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.

³⁰ And when Jesus took the vinegar, he said, "It is finished," bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

²³ this Jesus, betrayed in the predestined course of God's deliberate purpose, you got wicked men to nail to the cross and murder; ²⁴ but God raised him by checking the pangs of death. Death could not hold him.

²⁴ but God raised him by checking the pangs of death. Death could not hold him.

³² This Jesus God raised, as we can all bear witness. ³³ Uplifted then by God's right hand, and receiving from the Father the long-promised holy Spirit, he has poured on us what you now see and hear.) ³⁴ For it was not David who ascended to heaven; David says, The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, ³⁵ till I make your enemies a footstool for your feet'. ³⁶ So let all the house of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this very Jesus whom you have crucified."

⁴² They devoted themselves to the instruction given by the apostles and to fellowship, breaking bread and praying together.

¹⁹ Repent then, and turn to have your sins blotted out, so that a breathing-space may be vouchsafed you,

³² [Relocated to before vs 34] Now there was but one heart and soul among the multitude of the believers; not one of them considered anything his personal property, they shared all they had with one another.

⁴⁸ And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says,

³ "You went into the houses of the uncircumcised," they said, "and you ate with them!" ⁴ Then Peter proceeded to put the facts before them. ⁵ "I was in the town of Joppa at prayer," he said, "and in a trance I saw a vision — a vessel coming down like a huge sheet lowered from heaven by the four corners. It came down to me, ⁶ and when I looked steadily at it, I noted the quadrupeds of the earth, the wild beasts, the creeping things and the wild birds. ⁷ Also I heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter, kill and eat.' ⁸ I said, 'No, no, my Lord; nothing common or unclean has ever passed my lips.' ⁹ But a voice answered me for the second time out of heaven, 'What God has cleansed, you must not regard as common.' ¹⁰ This happened three times, and then the whole thing was drawn back into heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment three men reached the house where I was living, sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² The Spirit told me to have no hesitation in accompanying them; these six brothers went with me as well, and we entered the man's house. ¹³ He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is surnamed Peter; ¹⁴ he will tell you how you and all your household are to be saved.' ¹⁵ Now just as I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning; ¹⁶ and I remembered the saying of the Lord, that 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy Spirit.' ¹⁷ Well then, if God has given them exactly the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I — how could I try to thwart God?" ¹⁸ On hearing this they desisted and glorified God, saying, "So God has actually allowed the Gentiles to repent and live!"

³⁸ So you must understand, my brothers, that remission of sins is proclaimed to you through him, ³⁹ and that by him everyone who believes is absolved from all that the law of Moses never could absolve you from.

²⁷ On their arrival they gathered the church together and reported how God had been with them, what he had done, and how he had opened a door into faith for the Gentiles.

²⁰ but write them injunctions to abstain from whatever is contaminated by idols, from sexual vice, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from tasting blood;

¹⁸ Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also came across him. Some said, "Whatever does the fellow mean with his scraps of learning'?" Others said, "He looks like a herald of foreign deities" (this was because he preached 'Jesus' and 'the Resurrection').

²⁴ The God who made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are made by human hands;

³² But on hearing of a 'resurrection of dead men,' some sneered, while others said, "We will hear you again on that subject."

²⁵ I know to-day that not one of you will ever see my face again — not one of you among whom I moved as I preached the Reign.

³⁰ and men of your own number will arise with perversions of the truth to draw the disciples after them.

³⁸ sorrowing chiefly because he told them they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.

²¹ Though they knew God, they have not glorified him as God nor given thanks to him; they have turned to futile speculations till their ignorant minds grew dark. ²² They claimed to be wise, but they have become fools;

²⁵ since they have exchanged the truth of God for an untruth, worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed for ever: Amen.

²⁹ he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual not literal — praised by God, not by man.

¹⁷ (as it is written, I have made you a father of many nations). Such a faith implies the presence of the God in whom he believed, a God who makes the dead live and calls into being what does not exist.

²⁴ but for our sakes as well; faith will be counted to us as we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

² Never! How can we live in sin any longer, when we died to sin? ³ Surely you know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death!

³ Surely you know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death! ⁴ Our baptism in his death made us share his burial, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live and move in the new sphere of Life.

⁴ Our baptism in his death made us share his burial, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live and move in the new sphere of Life. ⁵ For if we have grown into him by a death like his, we shall grow into him by a resurrection like his,

⁵ For if we have grown into him by a death like his, we shall grow into him by a resurrection like his, ⁶ knowing as we do that our old self has been crucified with him in order to crush the sinful body and free us from any further slavery to sin

⁶ knowing as we do that our old self has been crucified with him in order to crush the sinful body and free us from any further slavery to sin ⁷ (for once dead, a man is absolved from the claims of sin). ⁸ We believe that as we have died with Christ we shall also live with him; ⁹ for we know that Christ never dies after his resurrection from the dead — death has no more hold over him; ¹⁰ the death he died was for sin, once for all, but the life he lives is for God. ¹¹ So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹³ you must not let sin have your members for the service of vice, you must dedicate yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, dedicating your members to God for the service of righteousness.

⁴ It is the same in your case, my brothers. The crucified body of Christ made you dead to the Law, so that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead that we might be fruitful to God.

⁴ It is the same in your case, my brothers. The crucified body of Christ made you dead to the Law, so that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead that we might be fruitful to God. ⁵ For when we were unspiritual, the sinful cravings excited by the Law were active in our members and made us fruitful to Death; ⁶ but now we are done with the Law, we have died to what once held us, so that we can serve in a new way, not under the written code as of old but in the Spirit.

⁶ The interests of the flesh mean death, the interests of the Spirit mean life and peace. ⁷ For the interests of the flesh are hostile to God; they do not yield to the law of God (indeed they cannot). ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot satisfy God.

¹¹ And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells within you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies live by his indwelling Spirit in your lives.

¹⁷ Supposing some of the branches have been broken off, while you have been grafted in like a shoot of wild olive to share the rich growth of the olive-stem,

¹⁷ Supposing some of the branches have been broken off, while you have been grafted in like a shoot of wild olive to share the rich growth of the olive-stem, ¹⁸ do not pride yourself at the expense of these branches. Remember, in your pride, the stem supports you, not you the stem.

³³ What a fathomless wealth lies in the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable his judgments! How mysterious his methods!

⁴ In our one body we have a number of members, and the members have not all the same function; ⁵ so too, for all our numbers, we form one Body in Christ and we are severally members one of another.

² While one man has enough confidence to eat any food, the man of weak faith only eats vegetables. ³ The eater must not look down upon the non-eater, and the non-eater must not criticize the eater, for God has welcomed him.

⁵ Then again, this man rates one day above another, while that man rates all days alike. Well, everyone must be convinced in his own mind; ⁶ the man who values a particular day does so to the Lord. The eater eats to the Lord, since he thanks God for his food; the non-eater abstains to the Lord, and he too thanks God.

¹⁰ So why do you criticize your brother? And you, why do you look down upon your brother? All of us have to stand before the tribunal of God —

¹³ So let us stop criticizing one another; rather make up your mind never to put any stumbling-block or hindrance in your brother's way. ¹⁴ I know, I am certain in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is in itself unclean; only, anything is unclean for a man who considers it unclean. ¹⁵ If your brother is being injured because you eat a certain food, then you are no longer living by the rule of love. Do not let that food of yours ruin the man for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Your rights must not get a bad name. ¹⁷ The Reign of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, it means righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit;

²⁰ You must not break down God's work for the mere sake of food! Everything may be clean, but it is wrong for a man to prove a stumbling-block by what he eats; ²¹ the right course is to abstain from flesh or wine or indeed anything that your brother feels to be a stumbling-block.

¹³ May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in your faith, that you may be overflowing with hope by the power of the holy Spirit!

¹⁷ Brothers, I beg of you to keep your eye on those who stir up dissensions and put hindrances in your way, contrary to the doctrine which you have been taught. Avoid them. ¹⁸ Such creatures are no servants of Christ our Lord, they are slaves of their own base desires; with their plausible and pious talk they beguile the hearts of unsuspecting people. But surely not of you!

¹⁸ Such creatures are no servants of Christ our Lord, they are slaves of their own base desires; with their plausible and pious talk they beguile the hearts of unsuspecting people. But surely not of you! ¹⁹ Everyone has heard of your loyalty to the gospel; it makes me rejoice over you. Still, I want you to be experts in good and innocents in evil.

²⁵ [Now to Him who can strengthen you by my gospel, by the preaching of Jesus Christ, by revealing the secret purpose which after the silence of long ages

¹⁰ Brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ I beg of you all to drop these party-cries. There must be no cliques among you; you must regain your common temper and attitude.

¹⁹ It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the sages, I will confound the insight of the wise. ²⁰ Sage, scribe, critic of this world, where are they all? Has not God stultified the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For when the world with all its wisdom failed to know God in his wisdom, God resolved to save believers by the 'sheer folly' of the Christian message. ²² Jews demand miracles and Greeks want wisdom, ²³ but our message is Christ the crucified — a stumbling-block to the Jews, 'sheer folly' to the Gentiles, ²⁴ but for those who are called, whether Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

³⁰ This is the God to whom you owe your being in Christ Jesus, whom God has made our 'Wisdom,' that is, our righteousness and consecration and redemption;

³⁰ This is the God to whom you owe your being in Christ Jesus, whom God has made our 'Wisdom,' that is, our righteousness and consecration and redemption; ³¹ so that, as it is written, let him who boasts boast of the Lord.

⁴ what I said, what I preached, did not rest on the plausible arguments of 'wisdom' but on the proof supplied by the Spirit and its power,

⁶ We do discuss 'wisdom' with those who are mature; only it is not the wisdom of this world or of the dethroned Powers who rule this world, ⁷ it is the mysterious Wisdom of God that we discuss, that hidden wisdom which God decreed from all eternity for our glory. ⁸ None of the Powers of this world understands it (if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory).

¹² Now we have received the Spirit — not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that comes from God, that we may understand what God bestows upon us.

³ you are still worldly. For with jealousy and quarrels in your midst, are you not worldly, are you not behaving like ordinary men?

⁶ I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but it was God who made the seed grow.

⁹ We work together in God's service; you are God's field to be planted, God's house to be built. ¹⁰ In virtue of my commission from God, I laid the foundation of the house like an expert master-builder. It remains for another to build on this foundation. Whoever he is, let him be careful how he builds. ¹¹ The foundation is laid, namely Jesus Christ, and no one can lay any other. ¹² On that foundation anyone may build gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ but in every case the nature of his work will come out; the Day will show what it is, for the Day breaks in fire, and the fire will test the work of each, no matter what that work may be. ¹⁴ If the structure raised by any man survives, he will be rewarded; ¹⁵ if a man's work is burnt up, he will be a loser — and though he will be saved himself, he will be snatched from the very flames.

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself about this; whoever of you imagines he is wise with this world's wisdom must become a 'fool,' if he is really to be wise. ¹⁹ For God ranks this world's wisdom as 'sheer folly.' It is written, He seizes the wise in their craftiness,

¹⁸ Certain individuals have got puffed up, have they, as if I were not coming myself?

³ For my part, present with you in spirit though absent in body, I have already, as in your presence, passed sentence on such an offender as this, ⁴ by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ; I have met with you in spirit, and by the power of our Lord Jesus

¹³ 'Food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach for food'? Yes, and God will do away with the one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body;

¹ With regard to food that has been offered to idols. Here, of course, 'we all possess knowledge'! Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.

⁵ (So-called gods there may be, in heaven or on earth — as indeed there are plenty of them, both gods and 'lords' — ⁶ but for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all comes, and for whom we exist; one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom all exists, and by whom we exist.) ⁷ But remember, it is not everyone who has this 'knowledge.' Some who have hitherto been accustomed to idols eat the food as food which has been really offered to an idol, and so their weaker conscience is contaminated. ⁸ Now mere food will not bring us any nearer to God; if we abstain we do not lose anything, and if we eat we do not gain anything. ⁹ But see that the exercise of your right does not prove any stumbling-block to the weak. ¹⁰ Suppose anyone sees you, a person of enlightened mind, reclining at meat inside an idol's temple; will that really 'fortify his weak conscience'? Will it not embolden him to violate his scruples of conscience by eating food that has been offered to idols? ¹¹ He is ruined, this weak man, ruined by your 'enlightened mind,' this brother for whose sake Christ died! ¹² By sinning against the brotherhood in this way and wounding their weaker consciences, you are sinning against Christ. ¹³ Therefore if food is any hindrance to my brother's welfare, sooner than injure him I will never eat flesh as long as I live, never!

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race, though all run, only one man gains the prize? Run so as to win the prize.

¹⁶ The cup of blessing, which we bless, is that not participating in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is that not participating in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ (for many as we are, we are one Bread, one Body, since we all partake of the one Bread).

²⁸ But if someone tells you, 'This was sacrificial meat,' then do not eat it; you must consider the man who told you, and also take conscience into account — ²⁹ his conscience, I mean, not your own; for why should one's own freedom be called in question by someone else's conscience? ³⁰ If one partakes of food after saying a blessing over it, why should one be denounced for eating what one has given thanks to God for? ³¹ So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, let it be all done for the glory of God.

³⁴ and if anyone is hungry let him eat at home. You must not gather, only to incur condemnation. I will give you my instructions upon the other matters when I come.

¹² As the human body is one and has many members, all the members of the body forming one body for all their number, so is it with Christ. ¹³ For by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen; we have all been imbued with one Spirit.

¹³ For by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen; we have all been imbued with one Spirit. ¹⁴ Why, even the body consists not of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot were to say, 'Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body. ¹⁶ If the ear were to say, 'Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body. ¹⁷ If the body were all eye, where would hearing be? If the body were all ear, where would smell be? ¹⁸ As it is, God has set the members in the body, each as it pleased him. ¹⁹ If they all made up one member, what would become of the body? ²⁰ As it is, there are many members and one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' ²² Quite the contrary. We cannot do without those very members of the body which are considered rather delicate, ²³ just as the parts we consider rather dishonourable are the very parts we invest with special honour; our indecorous parts get a special care and attention ²⁴ which does not need to be paid to our more decorous parts. Yes, God has tempered the body together, with a special dignity for the inferior parts, ²⁵ so that there may be no disunion in the body, but that the various members should have a common concern for one another. ²⁶ Thus if one member suffers, all the members share its suffering; if one member is honoured, all the members share its honour. ²⁷ Now you are Christ's Body, and severally members of it.

⁴ Love is very patient, very kind. Love knows no jealousy; love makes no parade, gives itself no airs,

⁴⁰ but let everything be done decorously and in order.

²⁰ But it is not so! Christ did rise from the dead, he was the first to be reaped of those who sleep in death.

³⁵ But, someone will ask, 'how do the dead rise? What kind of body have they when they come?' ³⁶ Foolish man! What you sow never comes to life unless it dies.

³⁶ Foolish man! What you sow never comes to life unless it dies.

⁴⁵ Thus it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became an animate being, the last Adam a life-giving Spirit';

⁵⁸ Well then, my beloved brothers, hold your ground, immovable; abound in work for the Lord at all times, for you may be sure that in the Lord your labour is never thrown away.

¹³ Watch, stand firm in the faith, play the man, be strong!

⁴ who comforts me in all my distress, so that I am able to comfort people who are in any distress by the comfort with which I myself am comforted by God. ⁵ For as the sufferings of Christ are abundant in my case, so my comfort is also abundant through Christ. ⁶ If I am in distress, it is in the interests of your comfort and salvation; if I am comforted, it is in the interests of your comfort, which is effective as it nerves you to endure the same sufferings as I suffer myself.

²¹ And it is God who confirms me along with you in Christ, who consecrated me,

⁶ and he has further qualified me to be the minister of a new covenant — a covenant not of written law but of spirit; for the written law kills but the Spirit makes alive.

⁴ there the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to prevent them seeing the light thrown by the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God.

¹ I know that if this earthly tent of mine is taken down, I get a home from God, made by no human hands, eternal in the heavens.

⁷ (for I have to lead my life in faith, without seeing him):

¹⁴ for I am controlled by the love of Christ, convinced that as One has died for all, then all have died, ¹⁵ and that he died for all in order to have the living live no longer for themselves but for him who died and rose for them.

¹⁷ There is a new creation whenever a man comes to be in Christ; what is old is gone, the new has come.

¹⁹ For in Christ God reconciled the world to himself instead of counting men's trespasses against them; and he entrusted me with the message of his reconciliation.

¹⁷ Therefore come away from them, separate, saith the Lord, touch not what is unclean; then I will receive you,

³ I do live in the flesh, but I do not make war as the flesh does;

⁵ I demolish theories and any rampart thrown up to resist the knowledge of God, I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ,

³ but I am afraid of your thoughts getting seduced from a single devotion to Christ, just as the serpent beguiled Eve with his cunning.

¹¹ Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do. ¹² No, I intend to go on as I am doing, in order to checkmate those who would fain make out that in the apostolate of which they boast they work on the same terms as I do. ¹³ 'Apostles'? They are spurious apostles, false workmen — they are masquerading as 'apostles of Christ.'

¹³ 'Apostles'? They are spurious apostles, false workmen — they are masquerading as 'apostles of Christ.' ¹⁴ No wonder they do, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. Their doom will answer to their deeds.

²⁰ For I am afraid I may perhaps come and find you are not what I could wish, while you may find I am not what you could wish; I am afraid of finding quarrels, jealousy, temper, rivalry, slanders, gossiping, arrogance, and disorder —

⁶ I am astonished you are hastily shifting like this, deserting Him who called you by Christ's grace and going over to another gospel. ⁷ It simply means that certain individuals are unsettling you; they want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ Now even though it were myself or some angel from heaven, whoever preaches a gospel that contradicts the gospel I preached to you, God's curse be on him! ⁹ I have said it before and I now repeat it: whoever preaches a gospel to you that contradicts the gospel you have already received, God's curse be on him!

¹⁴ and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house.

⁴ There were traitors of false brothers, who had crept in to spy out the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus; they did aim at enslaving us again.

¹² Before certain emissaries of James arrived, he ate along with the Gentile Christians; but when they arrived, he began to draw back and hold aloof, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. ¹³ The rest of the Jewish Christians also played false along with him, so much so that even Barnabas was carried away by their false play.

¹⁹ For through the Law I died to the Law that I might live for God; ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me; the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me; the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.

²⁶ you are all sons of God by your faith in Christ Jesus ²⁷ (for all of you who had yourselves baptized into Christ have taken on the character of Christ).

²⁷ (for all of you who had yourselves baptized into Christ have taken on the character of Christ). ²⁸ There is no room for Jew or Greek, there is no room for slave or freeman, there is no room for male and female; you are all one in Christ Jesus.

²⁸ There is no room for Jew or Greek, there is no room for slave or freeman, there is no room for male and female; you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ Now if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring; in virtue of the Promise, you are heirs.

¹ What I mean is this. As long as an heir is under age, there is no difference between him and a servant, though he is lord of all the property; ² he is under guardians and trustees till the time fixed by his father. ³ So with us. When we were under age, we lived under the thraldom of the Elemental spirits of the world;

³ So with us. When we were under age, we lived under the thraldom of the Elemental spirits of the world; ⁴ but when the time had fully expired, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

⁴ but when the time had fully expired, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, ⁵ to ransom those who were under the Law, that we might get our sonship.

⁹ but now that you know God — or rather, are known by God — how is it you are turning back again to the weakness and poverty of the Elemental spirits? Why do you want to be enslaved all over again by them?

⁹ but now that you know God — or rather, are known by God — how is it you are turning back again to the weakness and poverty of the Elemental spirits? Why do you want to be enslaved all over again by them? ¹⁰ You observe days and months and festal seasons and years!

¹⁰ You observe days and months and festal seasons and years! ¹¹ Why, you make me afraid I may have spent my labour on you for nothing! ¹² Do take my line, brothers, I beg of you — just as I once took yours. I have no complaint against you;

¹⁹ O my dear children, you with whom I am in travail over again till Christ be formed within you,

² Here, listen to Paul! I tell you, if you get circumcised, Christ will be no use to you. ³ I insist on this again to everyone who gets circumcised, that he is obliged to carry out the whole of the Law. ⁴ You are for justification by the Law? Then you are done with Christ, you have deserted grace,

¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are quite obvious, such as sexual vice, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, magic, quarrels, dissension, jealousy, temper, rivalry, factions, party-spirit,

²⁴ Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its emotions and passions.

¹⁴ But no boasting for me, none except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I crucified to the world.

⁸ So richly has God lavished his grace upon us!

¹⁷ May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, grant you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation for the knowledge of himself, ¹⁸ illuminating the eyes of your heart so that you can understand the hope to which He calls us, the wealth of his glorious heritage in the saints, ¹⁹ and the surpassing greatness of his power over us believers — a power which operates with the strength of the might

¹⁹ and the surpassing greatness of his power over us believers — a power which operates with the strength of the might ²⁰ which he exerted in raising Christ from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly sphere,

²⁰ which he exerted in raising Christ from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly sphere, ²¹ above all the angelic Rulers, Authorities, Powers, and Lords, above every Name that is to be named not only in this age but in the age to come — ²² he has put everything under his feet and set him as head over everything for the church,

²² he has put everything under his feet and set him as head over everything for the church, ²³ the church which is his Body, filled by him who fills the universe entirely.

¹ And as with us so with you. You were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you moved as you followed the course of this world, under the sway of the prince of the air — the spirit which is at present active within those sons of disobedience

⁴ But, dead in trespasses as we were, God was so rich in mercy that for his great love to us ⁵ he made us live together with Christ (it is by grace you have been saved); ⁶ together with Christ he raised and seated us within the heavenly sphere in Christ Jesus,

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, as you had faith; it is not your doing but God's gift,

¹⁰ God has made us what we are, creating us in Christ Jesus for the good deeds which are prepared beforehand by God as our sphere of action. ¹¹ Remember, then, that once upon a time you Gentiles in the flesh, who are called 'the Uncircumcision' by that so-called 'Circumcision' which is itself the product of human hands in the flesh —

¹¹ Remember, then, that once upon a time you Gentiles in the flesh, who are called 'the Uncircumcision' by that so-called 'Circumcision' which is itself the product of human hands in the flesh — ¹² remember you were in those days outside Christ, aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the Promise, devoid of hope and God within the world. ¹³ Whereas now, within Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he is our peace, he who has made both of us a unity and destroyed the barrier which kept us apart;

¹⁴ For he is our peace, he who has made both of us a unity and destroyed the barrier which kept us apart; ¹⁵ in his own flesh he put an end to the feud of the Law with its code of commands, so as to make peace by the creation of a new Man in himself out of both parties,

¹⁵ in his own flesh he put an end to the feud of the Law with its code of commands, so as to make peace by the creation of a new Man in himself out of both parties,

¹⁵ in his own flesh he put an end to the feud of the Law with its code of commands, so as to make peace by the creation of a new Man in himself out of both parties, ¹⁶ so as himself to give the death-blow to that feud by reconciling them both to God in one Body through the cross;

¹⁶ so as himself to give the death-blow to that feud by reconciling them both to God in one Body through the cross; ¹⁷ he came with a gospel of peace for those far away (that is, for you) and for those who were near, ¹⁸ for it is through him that we both enjoy our access to the Father in one Spirit.

²⁰ you are a building that rests on the apostles and prophets as its foundation, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone; ²¹ in him the whole structure is welded together and rises into a sacred temple in the Lord, ²² and in him you are yourselves built into this to form a habitation for God in the Spirit.

⁷ Such is the gospel which I was called to serve by the endowment of God's grace which was vouchsafed me, by the energy of his power;

⁹ and enlighten all men upon the new order of that divine secret which God the Creator of all concealed from eternity — ¹⁰ intending to let the full sweep of the divine wisdom be disclosed now by the church to the angelic Rulers and Authorities in the heavenly sphere,

¹⁷ May Christ dwell in your hearts as you have faith!

¹⁹ by knowing the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge! May you be filled with the entire fulness of God!

¹ As the Lord's prisoner, then, I beg of you to live a life worthy of your calling,

³ to preserve the unity of the Spirit by binding peace upon yourselves.

⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

⁸ Thus it is said, When he ascended on high he led a host captive and granted gifts to men.

¹⁴ instead of remaining immature, blown from our course and swayed by every passing wind of doctrine, by the adroitness of men who are dexterous in devising error; ¹⁵ we are to hold by the truth, and by our love to grow up wholly into Him. For He, Christ, is the head, and under him, ¹⁶ as the entire Body is welded together and compacted by every joint with which it is supplied, the due activity of each part enables the Body to grow and build itself up in love.

²⁰ That is not how you have understood the meaning of Christ ²¹ (for it is Christ whom you have been taught, it is in Christ that you have been instructed — the real Christ who is in Jesus); ²² you must lay aside the old nature which belonged to your former course of life, that nature which crumbles to ruin under the passions of moral deceit,

¹ Copy God, then, as his beloved children, ² and lead lives of love, just as Christ loved you and gave himself up for you to be a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

⁶ Let no one deceive you with specious arguments; these are the vices that bring down God's anger on the sons of disobedience.

¹⁴ Thus it is said, 'Wake up, O sleeper, and rise from the dead; so Christ will shine upon you.'

²⁰ and render thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ at all times and for all things.

²⁹ For no one ever hates his flesh; no, he nourishes and cherishes it (just as Christ does the church

¹² For we have to struggle, not with blood and flesh but with the angelic Rulers, the angelic Authorities, the potentates of the dark present, the spirit-forces of evil in the heavenly sphere.

²² that is why I am sending him to you, to let you know how I am and to encourage your hearts.

²⁷ Only, do lead a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. Whether I come and see you or only hear of you in absence, let me know you are standing firm in a common spirit, fighting side by side like one man for the faith of the gospel.

²⁹ For on behalf of Christ you have the favour of suffering no less than of believing in him, ³⁰ by waging the same conflict that, as once you saw and now you hear, I wage myself.

¹ So by all the stimulus of Christ, by every incentive of love, by all your participation in the Spirit, by all your affectionate tenderness, ² I pray you to give me the utter joy of knowing you are living in harmony, with the same feelings of love, with one heart and soul, ³ never acting for private ends or from vanity, but humbly considering each other the better man, ⁴ and each with an eye to the interests of others as well as to his own. ⁵ Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus.

⁹ Therefore God raised him high and conferred on him a Name above all names, ¹⁰ so that before the Name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven, on earth, and underneath the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that 'Jesus Christ is Lord,' to the glory of God the Father.

² Beware of these dogs, these wicked workmen, the incision-party! ³ We are the true Circumcision, we who worship God in spirit, we who pride ourselves on Christ Jesus, we who rely upon no outward privilege.

⁸ indeed I count anything a loss, compared to the supreme value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything (I count it all the veriest refuse) in order to gain Christ

¹⁴ to press on to the goal for the prize of God's high call in Christ Jesus.

⁹ Hence, from the day we heard of it, we have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and insight, ¹⁰ so that you may lead a life that is worthy of the Lord and give him entire satisfaction. May you be fruitful and increase in the doing of all good, as you thus know God!

¹² thanking the Father who has qualified us to share the lot of the saints in the Light, ¹³ rescuing us from the power of the Darkness and transferring us to the realm of his beloved Son!

¹⁵ He is the likeness of the unseen God, born first before all the creation — ¹⁶ for it was by him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angelic Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers; all things have been created by him and for him;

¹⁶ for it was by him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angelic Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers; all things have been created by him and for him;

¹⁶ for it was by him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angelic Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers; all things have been created by him and for him; ¹⁷ he is prior to all, and all coheres in him.

¹⁷ he is prior to all, and all coheres in him. ¹⁸ Also, he is the head of the Body, that is, of the church, in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead — that gives him pre-eminence over all.

¹⁸ Also, he is the head of the Body, that is, of the church, in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead — that gives him pre-eminence over all. ¹⁹ For it was in him that the divine Fulness willed to settle without limit,

²³ that is, if you adhere to the foundations and stability of the faith, instead of moving away from the hope you have learned in the gospel, that gospel which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I Paul was made a minister. ²⁴ I am suffering now on your behalf, but I rejoice in that; I would make up the full sum of all that Christ has to suffer in my person on behalf of the church, his Body;

²⁷ It is His will that they should understand the glorious wealth which this secret holds for the Gentiles, in the fact of Christ's presence among you as your hope of glory.

²⁹ I labour for that end, striving for it with the divine energy which is a power within me.

¹ Striving? Yes, I want you to understand my deep concern for you and for those at Laodicea, for all who have never seen my face. ² May their hearts be encouraged! May they learn the meaning of love! May they have all the wealth of conviction that comes from insight! May they learn to know that open secret of God, the Father of Christ,

² May their hearts be encouraged! May they learn the meaning of love! May they have all the wealth of conviction that comes from insight! May they learn to know that open secret of God, the Father of Christ, ³ in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie hidden! ⁴ I say this to prevent you from being deluded by plausible arguments from anybody; ⁵ for although I am absent in body I am with you in spirit, and it is a joy to note your steadiness and the solid front of your faith in Christ. ⁶ Since you have had the messiah, even Jesus the Lord, brought to you, lead your life in him, ⁷ fixed and founded in him, confirmed in the faith as you have been taught it, and overflowing with thankfulness to God. ⁸ Beware of anyone getting hold of you by means of a theosophy which is specious make-believe, on the lines of human tradition, corresponding to the Elemental spirits of the world and not to Christ.

⁸ Beware of anyone getting hold of you by means of a theosophy which is specious make-believe, on the lines of human tradition, corresponding to the Elemental spirits of the world and not to Christ. ⁹ It is in Christ that the entire Fulness of deity has settled bodily,

¹⁴ He cancelled the regulations that stood against us — all these obligations he set aside when he nailed them to the cross,

¹⁶ So let no one take you to task on questions of eating and drinking or in connexion with the observance of festivals or new moons or sabbaths.

¹⁸ Let no one lay down rules for you as he pleases, with regard to fasting and the cult of angels, presuming on his visions and inflated by his sensuous notions,

²⁰ As you died with Christ to the Elemental spirits of the world, why live as if you still belonged to the world? Why submit to rules and regulations like

²² referring to things that perish by being used? These rules are determined by human precepts and tenets; ²³ they get the name of 'wisdom' with their self-imposed devotions, with their fasting, with their rigorous discipline of the body, but they are of no value, they simply pamper the flesh!

¹ Since then you have been raised with Christ, aim at what is above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; ² mind what is above, not what is on earth, ³ for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁸ but off with them all now, off with anger, rage, malice, slander, foul talk! ⁹ Tell no lies to one another; you have stripped off the old nature with its practices,

¹¹ In it there is no room for Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free man; Christ is everything and everywhere.

¹⁴ And above all you must be loving, for love is the link of the perfect life.

¹⁶ Let the inspiration of Christ dwell in your midst with all its wealth of wisdom; teach and train one another with the music of psalms, with hymns, and songs of the spiritual life; praise God with thankful hearts. ¹⁷ Indeed, whatever you say or do, let everything be done in dependence on the Lord Jesus, giving thanks in his name to God the Father.

⁸ The reason why I am sending him to you is that he may ascertain how you are, and encourage your hearts.

¹² Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, salutes you — a servant of Christ Jesus who is always earnest in prayer for you, that you may stand firm like mature and convinced Christians, whatever be the will of God for you. ¹³ I can testify to his exertions on your behalf and on behalf of those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.

¹⁵ Salute the brothers at Laodicea, also Nympha and the church which meets at her house. ¹⁶ And when this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans; also, see that you read the letter that reaches you from Laodicea.

⁵ for our gospel came to you not with mere words but also with power and with the holy Spirit, with ample conviction on our part (you know what we were to you, for your own good),

² At Philippi, as you know, we had been ill-treated and insulted, but we took courage and confidence in our God to tell you the gospel of God in spite of all the strain.

¹⁷ Brothers, when we were bereft of you for a little while (out of sight, not out of mind), we were the more eager to see you. We had a keen longing for you.

² I sent Timotheus our brother, a minister of God in the gospel of Christ, for your strengthening and encouragement in the faith,

⁸ It is life to me now, if you stand firm in the Lord.

¹² And may the Lord make you increase and excel in love to one another and to all men (as is my love for you),

¹ Finally, brothers, we beg and beseech you in the Lord Jesus to follow our instructions about the way you are to live so as to satisfy God; you are leading that life, but you are to excel in it still further.

¹⁰ as indeed is your practice towards all the brothers throughout all Macedonia. We beseech you, brothers, to excel in this more and more;

¹⁴ We beseech you, brothers, keep a check upon loafers, encourage the faint-hearted, sustain weak souls, never lose your temper with anyone;

¹⁸ thank God for everything — such is his will for you in Christ Jesus;

³ We are bound always to thank God for you, brothers — it is proper that we should, because your faith grows apace and your mutual love, one and all, is increasing.

⁷ For the secret force of lawlessness is at work already; only, it cannot be revealed till he who at present restrains it is removed.

⁹ that One whose arrival is due to Satan's activity, with the full power, the miracles and portents, of falsehood, ¹⁰ and with the full deceitfulness of evil for those who are doomed to perish, since they refuse to love the Truth that would save them. ¹¹ Therefore God visits them with an active delusion, till they put faith in falsehood,

¹⁶ And may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ graciously encourage your hearts and strengthen them for all good in deed and word.

¹⁷ graciously encourage your hearts and strengthen them for all good in deed and word.

⁷ doctors of the Law is what they want to be, but they have no idea either of the meaning of the words they use or of the themes on which they harp.

⁴ to the God who desires all men to be saved and to attain the knowledge of the Truth. ⁵ For "there is one God" and "one intermediary between God and men, ⁶ the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all": — in due time this was attested,

¹⁶ And who does not admit how profound is the divine truth of our religion? — it is He who was "manifest in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by the angels, preached among the nations, believed on throughout the world, taken up to glory."

¹ But in later days, the Spirit distinctly declares, certain people will rebel against the faith; they will listen to spirits of error and to the doctrines that daemons teach

¹ But in later days, the Spirit distinctly declares, certain people will rebel against the faith; they will listen to spirits of error and to the doctrines that daemons teach ² through plausible sophists who are seared in conscience — ³ men who prohibit marriage and insist on abstinence from foods which God created for believing men, who understand the Truth, to partake of with thanksgiving.

³ men who prohibit marriage and insist on abstinence from foods which God created for believing men, who understand the Truth, to partake of with thanksgiving. ⁴ Anything God has created is good, and nothing is to be tabooed — provided it is eaten with thanksgiving, ⁵ for then it is consecrated by the prayer said over it.

⁸ The training of the body is of small service, but religion is of service in all directions; it contains the promise of life both for the present and for the future.

⁶ whereas the widow who plunges into dissipation is dead before ever she dies.

¹³ In the presence of God who is the Life of all, and of Christ Jesus who testified to the good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you

²⁰ O Timotheus, keep the securities of the faith intact: avoid the profane jargon and contradictions of what is falsely called 'Knowledge.'

¹⁶ Avoid all that profane jargon, for it leads people still further into irreligion, ¹⁷ and their doctrine spreads like a gangrene. So it is with Hymenaeus and Philetus; ¹⁸ they have failed in the Truth by arguing that the resurrection has taken place already, and they are undermining some people's faith.

¹³ Bad characters and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves;

¹⁵ remember you have known from childhood the sacred writings that can impart saving wisdom by faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for amendment, and for moral discipline, ¹⁷ to make the man of God proficient and equip him for good work of every kind.

¹⁰ For there are plenty of insubordinate creatures who impose on people with their empty arguments, particularly those who have come over from Judaism; ¹¹ they must be silenced, for they are undermining whole families by teaching objectionable doctrine for the base end of making money.

¹⁴ instead of studying Jewish myths and rules laid down by men who have discarded the Truth.

¹³ awaiting the blessed hope of the appearance of the Glory of the great God and of our Saviour Christ Jesus,

⁵ and he saved us, not for anything we had done but from his own pity for us, by the water that means regeneration and renewal under the holy Spirit ⁶ which he poured upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,

¹⁴ Since the children then share blood and flesh, he himself participated in their nature, so that by dying he might crush him who wields the power of death (that is to say, the devil)

¹⁴ For we only participate in Christ provided that we keep firm to the very end the confidence with which we started,

¹ Well then, as the promise of entrance into his Rest is still left to us, let us be afraid of anyone being judged to have missed it. ² For we have had the good news as well as they; only, the message they heard was of no use to them, because it did not meet with faith in the hearers. ³ For we do enter the Rest by our faith: according to his word, As I swore in my anger, they shall never enter my Rest — although his works were all over by the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he says this somewhere about the seventh day: And God rested from all his works on the seventh day. ⁵ And again in this passage, they shall never enter my Rest. ⁶ Since then it is reserved for some to enter it, and since those who formerly got the good news failed to enter owing to their disobedience, ⁷ he again fixes a day; To-day — as he says in 'David' after so long an interval, and as has been already quoted — To-day, when you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. ⁸ Thus if Joshua had given them Rest, God would not speak later about another day. ⁹ There is a sabbath-Rest, then, reserved still for the People of God ¹⁰ (for once a man enters his rest, he rests from work just as God did). ¹¹ Let us be eager then to enter that Rest, in case anyone falls into the same sort of disobedience.

⁷ In the days of his flesh, with bitter cries and tears, he offered prayers and supplications to Him who was able to save him from death; and he was heard, because of his godly fear.

⁹ and by being thus perfected he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

¹ Let us pass on then to what is mature, leaving elementary Christian doctrine behind, instead of laying the foundation over again with repentance from dead works, with faith in God, ² with instruction about ablutions and the laying on of hands, about the resurrection of the dead and eternal punishment.

¹¹ It is my heart's desire that each of you would prove equally keen upon realizing your full hope to the very end,

¹⁹ anchoring the soul to it safe and sure, as it enters the inner Presence behind the veil.

¹⁸ A previous command is set aside on account of its weakness and uselessness

⁵ (men who serve a mere outline and shadow of the heavenly — as Moses was instructed, when he was about to execute the building of the tabernacle: see, God said, that you make everything on the pattern shown you upon the mountain).

¹⁰ This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; ¹¹ one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. ¹² I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. ¹³ By saying 'a new covenant,' he antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.

⁹ (which foreshadowed the present age) was still standing, with its offerings of gifts and sacrifices which cannot possibly make the conscience of the worshipper perfect,

⁹ (which foreshadowed the present age) was still standing, with its offerings of gifts and sacrifices which cannot possibly make the conscience of the worshipper perfect, ¹⁰ since they relate merely to food and drink and a variety of ablutions — outward regulations for the body, that only hold till the period of the New Order.

¹⁰ since they relate merely to food and drink and a variety of ablutions — outward regulations for the body, that only hold till the period of the New Order. ¹¹ But when Christ arrived as the high priest of the bliss that was to be, he passed through the greater and more perfect tent which no hands had made (no part, that is to say, of the present order),

¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who in the spirit of the eternal offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God?

²⁴ For Christ has not entered a holy place which human hands have made (a mere type of the reality!); he has entered heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

¹ For as the Law has a mere shadow of the bliss that is to be, instead of representing the reality of that bliss, it never can perfect those who draw near with the same annual sacrifices that are perpetually offered.

⁸ He begins by saying, thou hast no desire for, thou takest no delight in, sacrifices and offerings and holocausts and sin-offerings (and these are what are offered in terms of the Law); ⁹ he then adds, Here I come to do thy will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

²² let us draw near with a true heart, in absolute assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from a bad conscience, and our bodies washed in pure water;

² our eyes fixed upon Jesus as the pioneer and the perfection of faith — upon Jesus who, in order to reach his own appointed joy, steadily endured the cross, thinking nothing of its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

⁹ Never let yourselves be carried away with a variety of novel doctrines; for the right thing is to have one's heart strengthened by grace, not by the eating of food — that has never been any use to those who have had recourse to it.

¹⁵ And by him let us constantly offer praise to God as our sacrifice, that is, the fruit of lips that celebrate his Name.

²⁰ May the God of peace who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, with the blood of the eternal covenant, ²¹ furnish you with everything for the doing of his will, creating in your lives by Jesus Christ what is acceptable in his own sight! To him be glory for ever and ever: Amen.

¹⁶ Make no mistake about this, my beloved brothers: ¹⁷ all we are given is good, and all our endowments are faultless, descending from above, from the Father of the heavenly lights, who knows no change of rising and setting, who casts no shadow on the earth.

¹⁷ So faith, unless it has deeds, is dead in itself.

²⁰ But will you understand, you senseless fellow, that faith without deeds is dead?

²⁶ For as the body without the breath of life is dead, so faith is dead without deeds.

¹⁴ But if you are cherishing bitter jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on that — and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ That is not the wisdom which comes down from above, it is an earthly wisdom, sensuous, devilish; ¹⁶ for wherever jealousy and rivalry exist, there disorder reigns and every evil.

¹ Where do conflicts, where do wrangles come from, in your midst? Is it not from these passions of yours that war among your members? ² You crave, and miss what you want: you envy and covet, but you cannot acquire: you wrangle and fight — you miss what you want because you do not ask God for it; ³ you do ask and you do not get it, because you ask with the wicked intention of spending it on your pleasures. ⁴ (Wanton creatures! do you not know that the world's friendship means enmity to God? Whoever, then, chooses to be the world's friend, turns enemy to God.

⁴ (Wanton creatures! do you not know that the world's friendship means enmity to God? Whoever, then, chooses to be the world's friend, turns enemy to God. ⁵ What, do you consider this is an idle word of scripture? — 'He yearns jealously for the spirit he set within us.') ⁶ Yet he gives grace more and more: thus it is said, The haughty God opposes, but to the humble he gives grace.

¹¹ [vss 11 & 12 follow 2:13] Do not defame one another, brothers; he who defames or judges his brother defames and judges the Law; and if you judge the Law, you pass sentence on it instead of obeying it.

⁸ You never knew him, but you love him; for the moment you do not see him, but you believe in him, and you will thrill with an unspeakable and glorious joy

¹⁸ you know it was not by perishable silver or gold that you were ransomed from the futile traditions of your past,

¹ So off with all malice, all guile and insincerity and envy and slander of every kind! ² Like newly-born children, thirst for the pure, spiritual milk to make you grow up to salvation. ³ You have had a taste of the kindness of the Lord: ⁴ come to him then — come to that living Stone which men have rejected and God holds choice and precious, ⁵ come and, like living stones yourselves, be built into a spiritual house, to form a consecrated priesthood for the offering of those spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For thus it stands in the scripture: Here I lay a Stone in Sion, a choice, a precious cornerstone: he who believes in him will never be disappointed.

²⁴ he bore our sins in his own body on the gibbet, that we might break with sin and live for righteousness; and by his wounds you have been healed.

⁸ Lastly, you must all be united, you must have sympathy, brotherly love, compassion, and humility,

²¹ Baptism, the counterpart of that, saves you to-day (not the mere washing of dirt from the flesh but the prayer for a clean conscience before God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ ²² who is at God's right hand — for he went to heaven after angels, authorities, and powers celestial had been made subject to him.)

¹ Well, as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, let this very conviction that he who has suffered in the flesh gets quit of sin, ² nerve you to spend the rest of your time in the flesh for the will of God and no longer for human passions. ³ It is quite enough to have done as pagans choose to do, during the time gone by! You used to lead lives of sensuality, lust, carousing, revelry, dissipation and illicit idolatry,

⁹ Resist him; keep your foothold in the faith, and learn to pay the same tax of suffering as the rest of your brotherhood throughout the world. ¹⁰ Once you have suffered for a little, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will repair and recruit and strengthen you.

³ Inasmuch as his power divine has bestowed on us every requisite for life and piety by the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence —

¹⁰ So be the more eager, brothers, to ratify your calling and election, for as you practise these qualities you will never make a slip;

¹⁴ their eyes are full of harlotry, insatiable for sin; their own hearts trained to lust, they beguile unsteady souls. Accursed generation!

¹⁷ Now, beloved, you are forewarned: mind you are not carried away by the error of the lawless and so lose your proper footing;

¹⁷ Now, beloved, you are forewarned: mind you are not carried away by the error of the lawless and so lose your proper footing; ¹⁸ but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory now and to the day of eternity: Amen.

¹⁸ but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory now and to the day of eternity: Amen.

⁷ but if we live and move within the light, as he is within the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin. ⁸ If we say, 'We are not guilty,' we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us; ⁹ if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, he forgives our sins and cleanses us from all iniquity;

⁶ he who says he 'remains in him' ought to live as he lived.

¹² My dear children, I am writing to you, because your sins are forgiven for his sake:

¹⁸ Children, it is the last hour. You have learned that 'Antichrist is coming.' Well, but many antichrists have appeared — which makes us sure it is the last hour.

²⁶ I am writing to you in this way about those who would deceive you,

¹⁹ Thus it is that we may be sure we belong to the truth and reassure ourselves

¹ Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see if they come from God; for many false prophets have emerged in the world.

¹ Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see if they come from God; for many false prophets have emerged in the world. ² You can recognize the Spirit of God by this: every spirit which confesses Jesus as the Christ incarnate comes from God,

¹² God no one has ever seen; but if we love one another, then God remains within us, and love for him is complete in us. ¹³ This is how we may be sure we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us a share in his own Spirit;

⁷ The Spirit is the witness to this, for the Spirit is truth.

¹¹ And the testimony is, that God gave us life eternal and this life is in his Son. ¹² He who possesses the Son possesses life: he who does not possess the Son does not possess life.

¹⁹ We know that we belong to God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil One. ²⁰ We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us insight to know Him who is the Real God; and we are in Him who is real, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the real God, this is life eternal.

⁷ I say this, because a number of impostors have emerged in the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; that marks the real 'impostor' and 'antichrist.'

⁷ I say this, because a number of impostors have emerged in the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; that marks the real 'impostor' and 'antichrist.' ⁸ Watch yourselves; you must not lose what you have been working for, but gain a full reward.

⁸ Watch yourselves; you must not lose what you have been working for, but gain a full reward.

⁸ Watch yourselves; you must not lose what you have been working for, but gain a full reward. ⁹ Anyone who is 'advanced' and will not remain by the doctrine of Christ, does not possess God: he who remains by the doctrine of Christ possesses both the Father and the Son.

⁹ Anyone who is 'advanced' and will not remain by the doctrine of Christ, does not possess God: he who remains by the doctrine of Christ possesses both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not admit him to the house — do not even greet him, ¹¹ for he who greets him shares in his wicked work.

³ Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you on the subject of our common salvation, but I am forced to write you an appeal to defend the faith which has once for all been committed to the saints;

¹² These people are stains on your love-feasts; they have no qualms about carousing in your midst, they look after none but themselves — rainless clouds, swept along by the wind, trees in autumn without fruit, doubly dead and so uprooted,

²⁰ But do you, beloved, build up yourselves on your most holy faith and pray in the holy Spirit,

²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from slipping and to make you stand unblemished and exultant before his glory —

¹¹ "Write your vision in a book, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum and Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia and Laodicea."

¹⁷ Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches: 'The conqueror I will allow to share the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, unknown to any except him who receives it.'

¹¹ I am coming very soon: hold to what you have, in case your crown is taken from you.

¹⁴ Then to the angel of the church at Laodicea write thus: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation. ¹⁵ I know your doings, you are neither cold nor hot — would you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You declare, 'I am rich, I am well off, I lack nothing!' — not knowing you are a miserable creature, pitiful, poor, blind, naked. ¹⁸ I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, white raiment to clothe you and prevent the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to rub on your eyes, that you may see. ¹⁹ I reprove and discipline those whom I love; so be in warm earnest and repent. ²⁰ Lo, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me. ²¹ 'The conqueror I will allow to sit beside me on my throne, as I myself have conquered and sat down beside my Father on his throne.' ²² Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches."

⁹ singing a new song: "Thou deservest to take the scroll and open its seals, for thou wast slain and by shedding thy blood hast ransomed for God men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation; ¹⁰ thou hast made them kings and priests for our God, and they shall reign on earth." ¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels round the throne and of the living Creatures and of the Presbyters, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹² crying aloud, "The slain Lamb deserves to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing." ¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth crying, "Blessing and honour and glory and dominion for ever and ever, to him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!"

⁹ So the huge dragon was thrown down — that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, the seducer of the whole world — thrown down to the earth, and his angels thrown down along with him.

⁸ and all the dwellers on earth will be his worshippers, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of Life.

¹⁴ and by dint of the miracles he is allowed to perform in presence of the Beast, he seduces the dwellers on earth; he bids the dwellers on earth erect a statue to the Beast who lived after being wounded by the sword,

¹⁸ As for the woman you have seen, she is the great City which reigns over the kings of the earth."

¹⁰ Then I fell before his feet to worship him; but he said to me, "No, not that! I am but a servant like yourself and your brothers, who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God" (for the testimony borne by Jesus is the breath of all prophecy).

² he gripped the dragon, that old serpent (who is the devil and Satan), and bound him for a thousand years, ³ flinging him into the abyss and shutting and sealing it on the top of him, to prevent him seducing the nations again until the thousand years were completed — after which he has to be released for a little while.

³ flinging him into the abyss and shutting and sealing it on the top of him, to prevent him seducing the nations again until the thousand years were completed — after which he has to be released for a little while.

⁸ and he will emerge to seduce the nations at the four corners of the earth, even Gog and Magog, mustering them for the fray. Their number was like the sand of the sea,

¹⁰ and their seducer, the devil, was flung into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the Beast and the false Prophet also lie, to be tortured day and night for ever and ever.

⁸ I John saw and heard all this; and when I heard and saw it, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me it all. ⁹ But he said to me, "No, not that! I am but a servant like yourself and your brothers the prophets, who lay to heart the words of this book. Worship God."