1 Thessalonians 3 Cross References - WNT

¹ So when we could endure it no longer, we decided to remain behind in Athens alone; ² and sent Timothy our brother and God's minister in the service of Christ's Good News, that he might help you spiritually and encourage you in your faith; ³ that none of you might be unnerved by your present trials: for you yourselves know that they are our appointed lot. ⁴ For even when we were with you, we forewarned you, saying, "We are soon to suffer affliction;" and this actually happened, as you well know. ⁵ For this reason I also, when I could no longer endure the uncertainty, sent to know the condition of your faith, lest perchance the Tempter might have tempted you and our labour have been lost. ⁶ But now that Timothy has recently come back to us from you, and has brought us the happy tidings of your faith and love, and has told us how you still cherish a constant and affectionate recollection of us, and are longing to see us as we also long to see you-- ⁷ for this reason in our distress and trouble we have been comforted about you, brethren, by your faith. ⁸ For now life is for us life indeed, since you are standing fast in the Lord. ⁹ For what thanksgiving on your behalf can we possibly offer to God in return for all the joy which fills our souls before our God for you, ¹⁰ while night and day, with intense earnestness, we pray that we may see your faces, and may bring to perfection whatever may be still lacking in your faith? ¹¹ But may our God and Father Himself--and our Lord Jesus--guide us on our way to you; ¹² and as for you, may the Lord teach you to love one another and all men, with a growing and a glowing love, resembling our love for you. ¹³ Thus He will build up your characters, so that you will be faultlessly holy in the presence of our God and Father at the Coming of our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones.

¹⁵ Those who were caring for Paul's safety went with him as far as Athens, and then left him, taking a message from him to Silas and Timothy, asking them to join him as speedily as possible.

¹³ yet, obtaining no relief for my spirit because I did not find our brother Titus, I bade them farewell and went on into Macedonia.

²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led astray into sin, and I am not aflame with indignation? ³⁰ If boast I must, it shall be of things which display my weakness.

¹⁷ But we, brethren, having been for a short time separated from you in bodily presence, though not in heart, endeavoured all the more earnestly, with intense longing, to see you face to face.

⁵ For this reason I also, when I could no longer endure the uncertainty, sent to know the condition of your faith, lest perchance the Tempter might have tempted you and our labour have been lost.

²² Everywhere they strengthened the disciples by encouraging them to hold fast to the faith, and warned them saying, "It is through many afflictions that we must make our way into the Kingdom of God." ²³ And in every Church, after prayer and fasting, they selected Elders by show of hands, and commended them to the Lord on whom their faith rested.

¹ He also came to Derbe and to Lystra. At Lystra he found a disciple, Timothy by name--the son of a Christian Jewess, though he had a Greek father.

⁵ So the Churches went on gaining a stronger faith and growing in numbers from day to day.

¹⁴ Then the brethren promptly sent Paul down to the sea-coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. ¹⁵ Those who were caring for Paul's safety went with him as far as Athens, and then left him, taking a message from him to Silas and Timothy, asking them to join him as speedily as possible.

⁵ Now at the time when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was preaching fervently and was solemnly telling the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

²¹ Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you greetings, and so do my countrymen Lucius, Jason and Sosipater.

¹⁷ For this reason I have sent Timothy to you. Spiritually he is my dearly-loved and faithful child. He will remind you of my habits as a Christian teacher--the manner in which I teach everywhere in every Church.

¹⁰ If Timothy pays you a visit, see that he is free from fear in his relations with you; for he is engaged in the Master's work just as I am. ¹¹ Therefore let no one slight him, but all of you should help him forward in peace to join me; for I am waiting for him and others of the brethren. ¹² As for our brother Apollos, I have repeatedly urged him to accompany the brethren who are coming to you: but he is quite resolved not to do so at present. He will come, however, when he has a good opportunity.

¹ Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God--and our brother Timothy: To the Church of God in Corinth, with all God's people throughout Greece.

¹⁹ For Jesus Christ the Son of God--He who was proclaimed among you by us, that is by Silas and Timothy and myself--did not show Himself a waverer between "Yes" and "No." But it was and always is "Yes" with Him.

²³ As for Titus, remember that he is a partner with me, and is my comrade in my labours for you. And as for our brethren, remember that they are delegates from the Churches, and are men in whom Christ is glorified.

²¹ But in order that you also may know how I am doing, Tychicus our dearly-loved brother and faithful helper in the Lord's service will tell you everything. ²² I have sent him to you for the very purpose--that you may know about us and that he may encourage you.

²⁵ I am convinced of this, and I know that I shall remain, and shall go on working side by side with you all, to promote your progress and joy in the faith;

¹⁹ But, if the Lord permits it, I hope before long to send Timothy to you, that I, in turn, may be cheered by getting news of you. ²⁰ For I have no one likeminded with him, who will cherish a genuine care for you. ²¹ Everybody concerns himself about his own interests, not about those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know Timothy's approved worth--how, like a child working with his father, he has served with me in furtherance of the Good News. ²³ So it is he that I hope to send as soon as ever I see how things go with me; ²⁴ but trusting, as I do, in the Lord, I believe that I shall myself also come to you before long. ²⁵ Yet I deem it important to send Epaphroditus to you now--he is my brother and comrade both in labour and in arms, and is your messenger who has ministered to my needs.

¹ Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God--and Timothy our brother:

⁷ as you learned it from Epaphras our dearly-loved fellow servant. He is to you a faithful minister of Christ in our stead,

⁹ And with him I send our dear and trusty brother Onesimus, who is one of yourselves. They will inform you of everything here.

¹² Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, sends greetings to you, always wrestling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand firm--Christians of ripe character and of clear conviction as to everything which is God's will.

¹³ Thus He will build up your characters, so that you will be faultlessly holy in the presence of our God and Father at the Coming of our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones.

¹⁶ "Remember it is I who am sending you out, as sheep into the midst of wolves; prove yourselves as sagacious as serpents, and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to appear before Sanhedrins, and will flog you in their synagogues; ¹⁸ and you will even be put on trial before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles.

⁹ "At that time they will deliver you up to punishment and will put you to death; and you will be objects of hatred to all the nations because you are called by my name. ¹⁰ Then WILL MANY STUMBLE AND FALL, and they will betray one another and hate one another.

¹² "But before all these things happen they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you up to synagogues and to prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my sake.

¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. ²⁰ Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me.

² You will be excluded from the synagogues; nay more, the time is coming when any one who has murdered one of you will suppose he is offering service to God.

³³ "I have spoken all this to you in order that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction. But keep up your courage: *I* have won the victory over the world."

²⁵ For David says in reference to Him, "'I CONSTANTLY FIXED MY EYES UPON THE LORD, BECAUSE HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND IN ORDER THAT I MAY CONTINUE UNSHAKEN.

¹⁶ For I will let him know the great sufferings which he must pass through for My sake."

²² Everywhere they strengthened the disciples by encouraging them to hold fast to the faith, and warned them saying, "It is through many afflictions that we must make our way into the Kingdom of God."

²³ except that the Holy Spirit, at town after town, testifies to me that imprisonment and suffering are awaiting me. ²⁴ But even the sacrifice of my life I count as nothing, if only I may perfect my earthly course, and be faithful to the duty which the Lord Jesus has entrusted to me of proclaiming, as of supreme importance, the Good News of God's grace.

¹¹ When he arrived he took Paul's loincloth, and bound his own feet and arms with it, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So will the Jews in Jerusalem bind the owner of this loincloth, and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'"

¹³ His reply was, "What can you mean by thus breaking my heart with your grief? Why, as for me, I am ready not only to go to Jerusalem and be put in chains, but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

³ And not only so: we also exult in our sufferings, knowing as we do, that suffering produces fortitude;

³⁵ Who shall separate us from Christ's love? Shall affliction or distress, persecution or hunger, nakedness or danger or the sword? ³⁶ As it stands written in the Scripture, "FOR THY SAKE THEY ARE, ALL DAY LONG, TRYING TO KILL US. WE HAVE BEEN LOOKED UPON AS SHEEP DESTINED FOR SLAUGHTER." ³⁷ Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who has loved us.

⁹ God, it seems to me, has exhibited us Apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; for we have come to be a spectacle to all creation--alike to angels and to men.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brethren, be firm, unmovable, busily occupied at all times in the Lord's work, knowing that your toil is not fruitless in the Lord.

¹³ Therefore I entreat you not to lose heart in the midst of my sufferings on your behalf, for they bring you honour.

²⁸ Never for a moment quail before your antagonists. Your fearlessness will be to them a sure token of impending destruction, but to you it will be a sure token of your salvation--a token coming from God.

²³ if, indeed, you are still firmly holding to faith as your foundation, without ever shifting from your hope that rests on the Good News that you have heard, which has been proclaimed in the whole creation under Heaven, and in which I Paul have been appointed to serve.

⁹ For God has not pre-destined us to meet His anger, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ;

⁴ It so increases that we ourselves make honourable mention of you among the Churches of God because of your patience and faith amid all your persecutions and amid the afflictions which you are enduring.

⁸ Do not be ashamed then to bear witness for our Lord and for me His prisoner; but rather share suffering with me in the service of the Good News, strengthened by the power of God.

¹¹ and the persecutions and sufferings which I have endured; the things which happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. You know the persecutions I endured, and how the Lord delivered me out of them all. ¹² And indeed every one who is determined to live a godly life as a follower of Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

²¹ And it is to this you were called; because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you an example so that you should follow in His steps.

¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at finding that that scorching flame of persecution is raging among you to put you to the test--as though some surprising thing were accidentally happening to you. ¹³ On the contrary, in the degree that you share in the sufferings of the Christ, rejoice, so that at the unveiling of His glory you may also rejoice with triumphant gladness. ¹⁴ You are to be envied, if you are being reproached for bearing the name of Christ; for in that case the Spirit of glory-- even the Spirit of God--is resting upon you.

¹⁰ Dismiss your fears concerning all that you are about to suffer. I tell you that the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be put to the test, and for ten days you will have to endure persecution. Be faithful to the End, even if you have to die, and then I will give you the victor's Wreath of Life.

¹³ Satan's throne is there; and yet you are true to Me, and did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas My witness and faithful friend, who was put to death among you, in the place where Satan dwells.

¹ "These things I have spoken to you in order to clear stumbling-blocks out of your path. ² You will be excluded from the synagogues; nay more, the time is coming when any one who has murdered one of you will suppose he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things because they have failed to recognize the Father and to discover who I am.

¹ Then, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went to Thessalonica. Here there was a synagogue of the Jews.

⁵ But the jealousy of the Jews was aroused, and, calling to their aid some ill-conditioned and idle fellows, they got together a riotous mob and filled the city with uproar. They then attacked the house of Jason and searched for Paul and Silas, to bring them out before the assembly of people. ⁶ But, failing to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other brethren before the magistrates of the city, loudly accusing them. "These men," they said, "who have raised a tumult throughout the Empire, have come here also. ⁷ Jason has received them into his house; and they all set Caesar's authority at defiance, declaring that there is another Emperor-- one called Jesus." ⁸ Great was the excitement among the crowd, and among the magistrates of the city, when they heard these charges. ⁹ They required Jason and the rest to find substantial bail, and after that they let them go.

¹³ As soon, however, as the Jews of Thessalonica learnt that God's Message had been proclaimed by Paul at Beroea, they came there also, and incited the mob to a riot.

²⁴ But even the sacrifice of my life I count as nothing, if only I may perfect my earthly course, and be faithful to the duty which the Lord Jesus has entrusted to me of proclaiming, as of supreme importance, the Good News of God's grace.

¹ But we desire to let you know, brethren, of the grace of God which has been bestowed on the Churches of Macedonia; ² how, while passing through great trouble, their boundless joy even amid their deep poverty has overflowed to increase their generous liberality.

² But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition.

¹⁴ For you, brethren, followed the example of the Churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judaea; seeing that you endured the same ill-treatment at the hands of your countrymen, as they did at the hands of the Jews.

⁴ It so increases that we ourselves make honourable mention of you among the Churches of God because of your patience and faith amid all your persecutions and amid the afflictions which you are enduring. ⁵ For these are a plain token of God's righteous judgement, which has in view your being deemed worthy of admission to God's Kingdom, for the sake of which, indeed, you are sufferers. ⁶ A plain token of God's righteous judgement, I say, since it is a righteous thing for Him to requite with affliction those who are now afflicting you;

³ So the Tempter came and said, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into loaves."

³⁶ After a while Paul said to Barnabas, "Suppose we now revisit the brethren in the various towns in which we have made known the Lord's Message--to see whether they are prospering!"

⁵ Do not refuse one another, unless perhaps it is just for a time and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and may then associate again; lest the Adversary begin to tempt you because of your deficiency in self-control.

¹¹ for fear Satan should gain an advantage over us. For we are not ignorant of his devices.

⁵ For even after our arrival in Macedonia we could get no relief such as human nature craves. We were greatly harassed; there were conflicts without and fears within. ⁶ But He who comforts the depressed--even God-- comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only, ⁷ but also by the fact that he had felt comforted on your account, and by the report which he brought of your eager affection, of your grief, and of your jealousy on my behalf, so that I rejoiced more than ever.

² I am jealous over you with God's own jealousy. For I have betrothed you to Christ to present you to Him like a faithful bride to her one husband. ³ But I am afraid that, as the serpent in his craftiness deceived Eve, so your minds may be led astray from their single-heartedness and their fidelity to Christ.

¹³ For men of this stamp are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, assuming the garb of Apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder. Satan, their master, can disguise himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is therefore no great thing for his servants also to disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be in accordance with their actions.

⁶ I marvel that you are so readily leaving Him who called you by the grace of Christ, and are adhering to a different Good News. ⁷ For other "Good News" there is none; but there are some persons who are troubling you, and are seeking to distort the Good News concerning Christ. ⁸ But if even we or an angel from Heaven should bring you a Good News different from that which we have already brought you, let him be accursed. ⁹ What I have just said I repeat--if any one is preaching to you a Good News other than that which you originally received, let him be accursed.

² I went up in obedience to a revelation of God's will; and I explained to them the Good News which I proclaim among the Gentiles. To the leaders of the Church this explanation was made in private, lest by any means I should be running, or should already have run, in vain.

¹¹ I am alarmed about you, and am afraid that I have perhaps bestowed labour upon you to no purpose.

¹⁴ So we shall no longer be babes nor shall we resemble mariners tossed on the waves and carried about with every changing wind of doctrine according to men's cleverness and unscrupulous cunning, making use of every shifting device to mislead.

¹⁶ holding out to them a Message of Life. It will then be my glory on the day of Christ that I did not run my race in vain nor toil in vain.

¹ For you yourselves, brethren, know that our visit to you did not fail of its purpose.

¹ So when we could endure it no longer, we decided to remain behind in Athens alone; ² and sent Timothy our brother and God's minister in the service of Christ's Good News, that he might help you spiritually and encourage you in your faith;

⁶ But now that Timothy has recently come back to us from you, and has brought us the happy tidings of your faith and love, and has told us how you still cherish a constant and affectionate recollection of us, and are longing to see us as we also long to see you--

¹³ Let no one say when passing through trial, "My temptation is from God;" for God is incapable of being tempted to do evil, and He Himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But when a man is tempted, it is his own passions that carry him away and serve as a bait.

¹ After this he left Athens and came to Corinth.

² Now I commend you for remembering me in everything, and because you hold fast truths and practices precisely as I have taught them to you.

¹³ And so there remain Faith, Hope, Love--these three; and of these the greatest is Love.

⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any importance; but only faith working through love.

⁸ For God is my witness how I yearn over all of you with tender Christian affection.

⁴ because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you cherish towards all God's people,

¹⁸ I Paul add with my own hand this final greeting. Be mindful of me in my imprisonment. Grace be with you.

³ For we never fail to remember your works of faith and labours of love and your persistent and unwavering hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father;

⁹ For you remember, brethren, our labour and toil: how, working night and day so as not to become a burden to any one of you, we came and proclaimed among you God's Good News.

⁹ For what thanksgiving on your behalf can we possibly offer to God in return for all the joy which fills our souls before our God for you, ¹⁰ while night and day, with intense earnestness, we pray that we may see your faces, and may bring to perfection whatever may be still lacking in your faith?

³ Unceasing thanks are due from us to God on your behalf, brethren. They are appropriate because your faith is growing greatly, and the love of every one of you for all the others goes on increasing.

⁵ But the end sought to be secured by exhortation is the love which springs from a pure heart, a clear conscience and a sincere faith.

³ I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience--as my forefathers did--that night and day I unceasingly remember you in my prayers,

⁵ because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have towards the Lord Jesus and which you manifest towards all God's people;

³ Remember prisoners, as if you were in prison with them; and remember those suffering ill-treatment, for you yourselves also are still in the body.

⁷ Remember your former leaders--it was they who brought you God's Message. Bear in mind how they ended their lives, and imitate their faith.

²³ And this is His command--that we are to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us to do.

⁴ Some of the people were won over, and attached themselves to Paul and Silas, including many God-fearing Greeks and not a few gentlewomen of high rank. ⁵ But the jealousy of the Jews was aroused, and, calling to their aid some ill-conditioned and idle fellows, they got together a riotous mob and filled the city with uproar. They then attacked the house of Jason and searched for Paul and Silas, to bring them out before the assembly of people. ⁶ But, failing to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other brethren before the magistrates of the city, loudly accusing them. "These men," they said, "who have raised a tumult throughout the Empire, have come here also. ⁷ Jason has received them into his house; and they all set Caesar's authority at defiance, declaring that there is another Emperor-- one called Jesus." ⁸ Great was the excitement among the crowd, and among the magistrates of the city, when they heard these charges. ⁹ They required Jason and the rest to find substantial bail, and after that they let them go. ¹⁰ The brethren at once sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea, and they, on their arrival, went to the synagogue of the Jews.

⁹ God, it seems to me, has exhibited us Apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; for we have come to be a spectacle to all creation--alike to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We, for Christ's sake, are labeled as "foolish"; you, as Christians, are men of shrewd intelligence. We are mere weaklings: you are strong. You are in high repute: we are outcasts. ¹¹ To this very moment we endure both hunger and thirst, with scanty clothing and many a blow. ¹² Homes we have none. Wearily we toil, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we bear it patiently; ¹³ when slandered, we try to conciliate. We have come to be regarded as the mere dirt and filth of the world--the refuse of the universe, even to this hour.

⁴ He comforts us in our every affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction by means of the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

¹³ For this reason we feel comforted; and--in addition to this our comfort--we have been filled with all the deeper joy at Titus's joy, because his spirit has been set at rest by you all.

²³ Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if I were out of my mind.) Much more am I His servant; serving Him more thoroughly than they by my labours, and more thoroughly also by my imprisonments, by excessively cruel floggings, and with risk of life many a time. ²⁴ From the Jews I five times have received forty lashes all but one. ²⁵ Three times I have been beaten with Roman rods, once I have been stoned, three times I have been shipwrecked, once for full four and twenty hours I was floating on the open sea. ²⁶ I have served Him by frequent travelling, amid dangers in crossing rivers, dangers from robbers; dangers from my own countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles; dangers in the city, dangers in the Desert, dangers by sea, dangers from spies in our midst; ²⁷ with labour and toil, with many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, in frequent fastings, in cold, and with insufficient clothing. ²⁸ And besides other things, which I pass over, there is that which presses on me daily--my anxiety for all the Churches.

⁸ For now life is for us life indeed, since you are standing fast in the Lord. ⁹ For what thanksgiving on your behalf can we possibly offer to God in return for all the joy which fills our souls before our God for you, ¹⁰ But you have intimately known my teaching, life, aims, faith, patience, love, resignation,

⁴ It is an intense joy to me to have found some of your children living true Christian lives, in obedience to the command which we have received from the Father.

³¹ Jesus therefore said to those of the Jews who had now believed in Him, "As for you, if you hold fast to my teaching, then you are truly my disciples;

⁴ Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me.

⁷ "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you.

²³ On getting there he was delighted to see the grace which God had bestowed; and he encouraged them all to remain, with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.

¹³ Be on the alert; stand firm in the faith; acquit yourselves like men; be strong.

¹ Christ having made us gloriously free--stand fast and do not again be hampered with the yoke of slavery.

¹⁷ I pray that Christ may make His home in your hearts through your faith; so that having your roots deep and your foundations strong, in love, you may become mighty to grasp the idea,

¹⁵ But we shall lovingly hold to the truth, and shall in all respects grow up into union with Him who is our Head, even Christ. ¹⁶ Dependent on Him, the whole body--its various parts closely fitting and firmly adhering to one another-- grows by the aid of every contributory link, with power proportioned to the need of each individual part, so as to build itself up in a spirit of love.

¹³ Therefore put on the complete armour of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground on the day of battle, and, having fought to the end, to remain victors on the field. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, first fastening round you the girdle of truth and putting on the breastplate of uprightness

²¹ For, with me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

²⁷ Only let the lives you live be worthy of the Good News of the Christ, in order that, whether I come and see you or, being absent, only hear of you, I may know that you are standing fast in one spirit and with one mind, fighting shoulder to shoulder for the faith of the Good News.

¹ Therefore, my brethren, dearly loved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my dearly-loved ones.

¹⁴ For we have, all alike, become sharers with Christ, if we really hold our first confidence firm to the End;

¹⁴ Inasmuch, then, as we have in Jesus, the Son of God, a great High Priest who has passed into Heaven itself, let us hold firmly to our profession of faith.

²³ Let us hold firmly to an unflinching avowal of our hope, for He is faithful who gave us the promises.

¹⁰ And God, the giver of all grace, who has called you to share His eternal glory, through Christ, after you have suffered for a short time, will Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong.

¹⁷ You, therefore, dear friends, having been warned beforehand, must continually be on your guard so as not to be led astray by the false teaching of immoral men nor fall from your own stedfastness.

³ Be mindful, therefore, of the lessons you have received and heard. Continually lay them to heart, and repent. If, however, you fail to rouse yourself and keep awake, I shall come upon you suddenly like a thief, and you will certainly not know the hour at which I shall come to judge you.

¹¹ I am coming quickly: cling to that which you already possess, so that your wreath of victory be not taken away from you.

¹⁴ But to God be the thanks who in Christ ever heads our triumphal procession, and by our hands waves in every place that sweet incense, the knowledge of Him.

¹⁵ Thanks be to God for His unspeakably precious gift!

² We continually give thanks to God because of you all, while we make mention of you in our prayers. ³ For we never fail to remember your works of faith and labours of love and your persistent and unwavering hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father;

¹⁹ For what is our hope or joy, or the crown of which we boast? Is it not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His Coming?

⁷ for this reason in our distress and trouble we have been comforted about you, brethren, by your faith. ⁸ For now life is for us life indeed, since you are standing fast in the Lord.

³⁷ and then being a widow of eighty-four years. She was never absent from the Temple, but worshipped, by day and by night, with fasting and prayer.

⁷ the promise which our twelve tribes, worshipping day and night with intense devotedness, hope to have made good to them. It is on the subject of this hope, Sir, that I am accused by the Jews.

¹⁰ always in my prayers entreating that now, at length, if such be His will, the way may by some means be made clear for me to come to you. ¹¹ For I am longing to see you, in order to convey to you some spiritual help, so that you may be strengthened; ¹² in other words that while I am among you we may be mutually encouraged by one another's faith, yours and mine.

³⁰ But I entreat you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love which His Spirit inspires, to help me by wrestling in prayer to God on my behalf, ³¹ asking that I may escape unhurt from those in Judaea who are disobedient, and that the service which I am going to Jerusalem to render may be well received by the Church there, ³² in order that if God be willing I may come to you with a glad heart, and may enjoy a time of rest with you.

¹⁵ It was because I entertained this confidence that I intended to visit you before going elsewhere--so that you might receive a twofold proof of God's favour--

²⁴ Not that we want to lord it over you in respect of your faith--we do, however, desire to help your joy--for in the matter of your faith you are standing firm.

⁹ and it is a joy to us when we are powerless, but you are strong. This we also pray for--the perfecting of your characters.

¹¹ Finally, brethren, be joyful, secure perfection of character, take courage, be of one mind, live in peace. And then God who gives love and peace will be with you.

²⁸ Him we preach, admonishing every one and instructing every one, with all possible wisdom, so that we may bring every one into God's presence, made perfect through Christ.

¹⁷ But we, brethren, having been for a short time separated from you in bodily presence, though not in heart, endeavoured all the more earnestly, with intense longing, to see you face to face. ¹⁸ On this account we wanted to come to you--at least I Paul wanted again and again to do so--but Satan hindered us.

¹¹ But may our God and Father Himself--and our Lord Jesus--guide us on our way to you;

¹¹ It is with this view also that we continually pray to our God for you, asking that He will count you worthy of His call, and by His mighty power fully gratify your every desire for what is truly good and make your work of faith complete;

²² And at the same time provide accommodation for me; for I hope that through your prayers I shall be permitted to come to you.

⁸ And each of the four living creatures had six wings, and in every direction, and within, are full of eyes; and day after day, and night after night, they never cease saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Ruler of all, who wast and art and evermore shalt be."

¹⁵ For this reason they stand before the very throne of God, and render Him service, day after day and night after night, in His sanctuary, and He who is sitting upon the throne will shelter them in His tent.

⁴ that your charities may be in secret; and then your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you.

⁶ But you, whenever you pray, go into your own room and shut the door: then pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you.

⁸ Do not, however, imitate them; for your Father knows what things you need before ever you ask Him. ⁹ "In this manner therefore pray: 'Our Father who art in Heaven, may Thy name be kept holy;

¹⁴ "For if you forgive others their offences, your Heavenly Father will forgive you also;

¹⁸ that it may not be apparent to men that you are fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you.

²⁶ Look at the birds which fly in the air: they do not sow or reap or store up in barns, but your Heavenly Father feeds them: are not you of much greater value than they?

³² For all these are questions that Gentiles are always asking; but your Heavenly Father knows that you need these things--all of them.

³ "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING ALOUD: 'IN THE DESERT PREPARE A ROAD FOR THE LORD: MAKE HIS HIGHWAYS STRAIGHT.'"

³⁰ For though the nations of the world pursue these things, as for you, your Father knows that you need them.

³² "Dismiss your fears, little flock: your Father finds a pleasure in giving you the Kingdom.

¹⁷ "Do not cling to me," said Jesus, "for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But take this message to my brethren: 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

³ who, as regards His human descent, belonged to the posterity of David,

¹⁸ AND YOU SHALL BE MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS,' SAYS THE LORD THE RULER OF ALL."

⁴ who gave Himself to suffer for our sins in order to rescue us from the present wicked age in accordance with the will of our God and Father.

² To the people of God and the believing brethren at Colossae who are in Christ. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father.

¹⁶ And may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself--and God our Father who has loved us and has given us in His grace eternal consolation and a bright hope--

⁵ And may the Lord guide your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

¹ See what marvellous love the Father has bestowed upon us--that we should be called God's children: and that is what we are. For this reason the world does not recognize us--because it has not known Him.

¹² Everything, therefore, be it what it may, that you would have men do to you, do you also the same to them; for in this the Law and the Prophets are summed up.

³⁹ And the second is similar to it: 'THOU SHALT LOVE THY FELLOW MAN AS MUCH AS THYSELF.'

⁵ And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Give us faith."

⁸ Owe nothing to any one except mutual love; for he who loves his fellow man has satisfied the demands of Law.

¹ If I can speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but am destitute of Love, I have but become a loud-sounding trumpet or a clanging cymbal. ² If I possess the gift of prophecy and am versed in all mysteries and all knowledge, and have such absolute faith that I can remove mountains, but am destitute of Love, I am nothing. ³ And if I distribute all my possessions to the poor, and give up my body to be burned, but am destitute of Love, it profits me nothing. ⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love knows neither envy nor jealousy. Love is not forward and self-assertive, nor boastful and conceited. ⁵ She does not behave unbecomingly, nor seek to aggrandize herself, nor blaze out in passionate anger, nor brood over wrongs. ⁶ She finds no pleasure in injustice done to others, but joyfully sides with the truth. ⁷ She knows how to be silent. She is full of trust, full of hope, full of patient endurance. ⁸ Love never fails. But if there are prophecies, they will be done away with; if there are languages, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be brought to an end. ⁹ For our knowledge is imperfect, and so is our prophesying; ¹⁰ but when the perfect state of things is come, all that is imperfect will be brought to an end. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, felt like a child, reasoned like a child: when I became a man, I put from me childish ways. ¹² For the present we see things as if in a mirror, and are puzzled; but then we shall see them face to face. For the present the knowledge I gain is imperfect; but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. ¹³ And so there remain Faith, Hope, Love--these three; and of these the greatest is Love.

¹⁰ And God who continually supplies seed for the sower and bread for eating, will supply you with seed and multiply it, and will cause your almsgiving to yield a plentiful harvest.

¹³ You however, brethren, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an excuse for giving way to your lower natures; but become bondservants to one another in a spirit of love. ¹⁴ For the entire Law has been obeyed when you have kept the single precept, which says, "YOU ARE TO LOVE YOUR FELLOW MAN EQUALLY WITH YOURSELF."

²² The Spirit, on the other hand, brings a harvest of love, joy, peace; patience towards others, kindness, benevolence;

⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may be more and more accompanied by clear knowledge and keen perception, for testing things that differ,

⁸ Seeing that we were thus drawn affectionately towards you, it would have been a joy to us to have imparted to you not only God's Good News, but to have given our very lives also, because you had become very dear to us.

¹ Moreover, brethren, as you learnt from our lips the lives which you ought to live, and do live, so as to please God, we beg and exhort you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live them more and more truly.

⁹ But on the subject of love for the brotherhood it is unnecessary for me to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰ and indeed you do love all the brethren throughout Macedonia. And we exhort you to do so more and more,

¹⁵ See to it that no one ever repays another with evil for evil; but always seek opportunities of doing good both to one another and to all the world.

¹⁷ Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest suggestion of change.

⁷ along with power of endurance, godliness; along with godliness, brotherly affection; and along with brotherly affection, love.

¹⁸ But be always growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be all glory, both now and to the day of Eternity!

¹¹ For this is the Message you have heard from the beginning--that we are to love one another. ¹² We are not to resemble Cain, who was a child of the Evil one and killed his own brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's actions righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ As for us, we know that we have already passed out of death into Life--because we love our brother men. He who is destitute of love continues dead. ¹⁵ Every one who hates his brother man is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has the Life of the Ages continuing in him. ¹⁶ We know what love is--through Christ's having laid down His life on our behalf; and in the same way we ought to lay down our lives for our brother men. ¹⁷ But if any one has this world's wealth and sees that his brother man is in need, and yet hardens his heart against him--how can such a one continue to love God? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love in words only nor with the lips, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹ And in this way we shall come to know that we are loyal to the truth, and shall satisfy our consciences in His presence

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another; for love has its origin in God, and every one who loves has become a child of God and is beginning to know God. ⁸ He who is destitute of love has never had any knowledge of God; because God is love. ⁹ God's love for us has been manifested in that He has sent His only Son into the world so that we may have Life through Him. ¹⁰ This is love indeed--we did not love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever yet seen God. If we love one another, God continues in union with us, and His love in all its perfection is in our hearts. ¹³ We can know that we are continuing in union with Him and that He is continuing in union with us, by the fact that He has given us a portion of His Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God--God continues in union with him, and he continues in union with God. ¹⁶ And, as for us, we know the love which God has for us, and we confide in it. God is love, and he who continues to love continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him.

⁴ Who are you that you should find fault with the servant of another? Whether he stands or falls is a matter which concerns his own master. But stand he will; for the Master can give him power to stand.

²⁵ To Him who has it in His power to make you strong, as declared in the Good News which I am spreading, and the proclamation concerning Jesus Christ, in harmony with the unveiling of the Truth which in the periods of past Ages remained unuttered,

⁷ so that there is no gift of God in which you consciously come short while patiently waiting for the reappearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸ who will also keep you stedfast to the very End, so that you will be free from reproach on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²³ But this will happen to each in the right order--Christ having been the first to rise, and afterwards Christ's people rising at His return.

²⁷ that He might present the Church to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle or any other defect, but to be holy and unblemished.

¹⁰ so that you may be men of transparent character, and may be blameless, in preparation for the day of Christ,

²² He has now, in His human body, reconciled to God by His death, to bring you, holy and faultless and irreproachable, into His presence;

¹⁵ For this we declare to you on the Lord's own authority--that we who are alive and continue on earth until the Coming of the Lord, shall certainly not forestall those who shall have previously passed away.

²³ And may God Himself who gives peace, make you entirely holy; and may your spirits, souls and bodies be preserved complete and be found blameless at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁰ when He comes on that day to be glorified in His people and to be wondered at among all who have believed, including you--because you believed the testimony which we brought for your acceptance.

¹ But with respect to the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to meet Him, we entreat you, brethren,

¹⁶ And may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself--and God our Father who has loved us and has given us in His grace eternal consolation and a bright hope-- ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and make you stedfast in every good work and word.

²⁰ in whatever matters our hearts condemn us--because God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have perfect confidence towards God;

¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, who belonged to the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "The Lord has come, attended by myriads of His people, to execute judgement upon all,

²⁴ But to Him who is able to keep you safe from stumbling, and cause you to stand in the presence of His glory free from blemish and full of exultant joy--