Bible in 90 Days

²⁶ You are now children of God because you have put your trust in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ All of you who have been baptized to show you belong to Christ have become like Christ. ²⁸ God does not see you as a Jew or as a Greek. He does not see you as a servant or as a person free to work. He does not see you as a man or as a woman. You are all one in Christ. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you have become the true children of Abraham. What God promised to him is now yours.

Sons of God

4 Let me say this another way. A young child who will get all the riches of his family is not different from a servant who is owned by the family. And yet the young child owns everything. ² While he is young, he is cared for by men his father trusts. These men tell the child what he can and cannot do. The child cannot do what he wants to do until he has become a certain age. ³ We were as children also held by the Law. We obeyed the Law in our religious worship. ⁴ But at the right time, God sent His Son. A woman gave birth to Him under the Law. ⁵ This all happened so He could buy with His blood and make free all those who were held by the Law. Then we might become the sons of God. ⁶ Because you are the sons of God, He has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The Spirit cries, “Father!” ⁷ So now you are no longer a servant who is owned by someone. You are a son. If you are a son, then you will receive what God has promised through Christ.

⁸ During the time when you did not know God, you worshiped false gods. ⁹ But now that you know God, or should I say that you are known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak old Law? Why do you want to do those religious acts of worship that will keep you from being free? Why do you want to be held under the power of the Law again? ¹⁰ You do special things on certain days and months and years and times of the year. ¹¹ I am afraid my work with you was wasted.

Living by the Law or Being Free

¹² I ask you, Christian brothers, stay free from the Law as I am. Even if I am a Jew, I became free from the Law, just as you who are not Jews. You did no wrong to me. ¹³ You know I preached the Good News to you the first time because of my sickness. ¹⁴ Even though I was hard to look at because of my sickness, you did not turn away from me. You took me in as an angel from God. You took me in as you would have taken in Christ Jesus Himself. ¹⁵ What has become of the happiness you once had? You would have taken out your own eyes if you could have and given them to me. ¹⁶ Do you hate me because I have told you the truth? ¹⁷ Those false teachers are trying to turn your eyes toward them. They do not want you to follow my teaching. What they are doing is not good. ¹⁸ It is good when people help you if they do not hope to get something from it. They should help you all the time, not only when I am with you. ¹⁹ My children, I am suffering birth pain for you again. I will suffer until Christ’s life is in your life. ²⁰ I wish I could be with you now. I wish I could speak to you in a more gentle voice, but I am troubled about you.

²¹ Listen! If you want to be under the Law, why do you not listen to what it says? ²² The Holy Writings say that Abraham had two sons. One was born from a woman servant (Hagar) who was owned by someone. She had to do what she was told. The other son was born from a woman (Sarah) who was free to work and live as she desired. ^{(A) 23} The son born from the woman servant who was owned by someone was like any other birth. The son born from the free woman was different. That son had been promised by God. ²⁴ Think of it like this: These two women show God’s two ways of working with His people. The children born from Hagar are under the Law given on Mount Sinai. They will be servants who are owned by someone and will always be told what to do! ²⁵ Hagar is known as Mount Sinai in the country of Arabia. She is as Jerusalem is today, because she and her children are not free to do what they want to do. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem of heaven is the free woman, and she is our mother. ²⁷ The Holy Writings say, “Woman, be happy, you who have had no children. Cry for joy, you who have never had the pains of having a child, for you will have many children. Yes, you will have more children than the one who has a husband.” ^{(B) 28} Christian brothers, we are like Isaac. We are the children God promised. ²⁹ At that time the son born as other children are born made it hard for the son born by the Holy Spirit. It is the same way now. ³⁰ But what do the Holy Writings say? They say, “Put the woman servant who is owned by someone and her son out of your home. The son of that woman servant will never get any of the riches of the family. It will all be given to the son of the free woman.” ^{(C) 31} Christian brothers, we are not children of the woman servant who was owned by someone (Hagar). We are children of the free woman (Sarah).

Christ Made Us Free

5 Christ made us free. Stay that way. Do not get chained all over again in the Law and its kind of religious worship.

² Listen to me! I, Paul, tell you that if you have the religious act of becoming a Jew done on you, Christ will be of no use to you at all. ³ I say it again. Every man who has the religious act of becoming a Jew done on him must obey every Law. ⁴ If you expect to be made right with God by obeying the Law, then you have turned away from Christ and His loving-favor. ⁵ We are waiting for the hope of being made right with God. This will come through the Holy Spirit and by faith. ⁶ If we belong to Jesus Christ, it means nothing to have or not to have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew. But faith working through love is important.

⁷ You were doing well. Who stopped you from obeying the truth? ⁸ Whatever he used did not come from the One Who chose you to have life. ⁹ It only takes a little yeast to make the whole loaf of bread rise. ¹⁰ I feel I can trust you because of what the Lord has done in your life. I believe you will not follow another way. Whoever is trying to lead you in the wrong way will suffer for it. ¹¹ Christian brothers, if I would still preach that people must go through the religious act of becoming a Jew to be a Christian, I would not be suffering from those who are making it hard for me. If I preached like that, the Jews would have no reason to be against the cross of Christ. ¹² I wish those who are so willing to cut your bodies would complete the job by cutting themselves off from you.

¹³ Christian brother, you were chosen to be free. Be careful that you do not please your old selves by sinning because you are free. Live this free life by loving and helping others. ¹⁴ You obey the whole Law when you do this one thing, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ^{(D) 15} But if you hurt and make it hard for each other, watch out or you may be destroyed by each other.

¹⁶ I say this to you: Let the Holy Spirit lead you in each step. Then you will not please your sinful old selves. ¹⁷ The things our old selves want to do are against what the Holy Spirit wants. The Holy Spirit does not agree with what our sinful old selves want. These two are against each other. So you cannot do what you want to do. ¹⁸ If you let the Holy Spirit lead you, the Law no longer has power over you. ¹⁹ The things your sinful old self wants to do are: sex sins, sinful desires, wild living, ²⁰ worshiping false gods, witchcraft, hating, fighting, being jealous, being angry, arguing, dividing into little groups and thinking the other groups are wrong, false teaching, ²¹ wanting something someone else has, killing other people, using strong drink, wild parties, and all things like these. I told you before and I am telling you again that those who do these things will have no place in the holy nation of God. ²² But the fruit that comes from having the Holy Spirit in our lives is: love, joy, peace, not giving up, being kind, being good, having faith, ²³ being gentle, and being the boss over our own desires. The Law is not against these things. ²⁴ Those of us who belong to Christ have nailed our sinful old selves on His cross. Our sinful desires are now dead.

²⁵ If the Holy Spirit is living in us, let us be led by Him in all things. ²⁶ Let us not become proud in ways in which we should not. We must not make hard feelings among ourselves as Christians or make anyone jealous.

Help Other Christians

6 Christian brothers, if a person is found doing some sin, you who are stronger Christians should lead that one back into the right way. Do not be proud as you do it. Watch yourself, because you may be tempted also. ² Help each other in troubles and problems. This is the kind of law Christ asks us to obey. ³ If anyone thinks he is important when he is nothing, he is fooling himself. ⁴ Everyone should look at himself and see how he does his own work. Then he can be happy in what he has done. He should not compare himself with his neighbor. ⁵ Everyone must do his own work.

⁶ He who is taught God’s Word should share the good things he has with his teacher. ⁷ Do not be fooled. You cannot fool God. A man will get back whatever he plants! ⁸ If a man does things to please his sinful old self, his soul will be lost. If a man does things to please the Holy Spirit, he will have life that lasts forever. ⁹ Do not let yourselves get tired of doing good. If we do not give up, we will get what is coming to us at the right time. ¹⁰ Because of this, we should do good to everyone. For sure, we should do good to those who belong to Christ.

The Christian’s Pride Should Be in the Cross

¹¹ See what big letters I make when I write to you with my own hand. ¹² Those men who say you must go through the religious act of becoming a Jew are doing it because they want to make a good show in front of the world. They do this so they will not have to suffer because of following the way of the cross of Christ. ¹³ Those who have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew do not even keep the Law themselves. But they want you to go through that religious act so they can be proud that you are their followers. ¹⁴ I do not want to be proud of anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the cross, the ways of this world are dead to me, and I am dead to them. ¹⁵ If a person does or does not go through the religious act of becoming a Jew, it is worth nothing. The important thing is to become a new person. ¹⁶ Those who follow this way will have God’s peace and loving-kindness. They are the people of God.

¹⁷ Let no one make trouble for me from now on. For I have on my body the whip marks of one who has been a servant owned by Jesus. ¹⁸ Christian brothers, may the loving-favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Let it be so.

1 This letter is from Paul. I am a missionary for Jesus Christ. God wanted me to work for Him. This letter is to those who belong to Christ in the city of Ephesus and to you who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. ² May you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

³ Let us honor and thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has already given us a taste of what heaven is like. ⁴ Even before the world was made, God chose us for Himself because of His love. He planned that we should be holy and without blame as He sees us. ⁵ God already planned to have us as His own children. This was done by Jesus Christ. In His plan God wanted this done.

⁶ We thank God for His loving-favor to us. He gave this loving-favor to us through His much-loved Son. ⁷ Because of the blood of Christ, we are bought and made free from the punishment of sin. And because of His blood, our sins are forgiven. His loving-favor to us is so rich. ⁸ He was so willing to give all of this to us. He did this with wisdom and understanding. ⁹ God told us the secret of what He wanted to do. It is this: In loving thought He planned long ago to send Christ into the world. ¹⁰ The plan was for Christ to gather us all together at the right time. If we are in heaven or still on earth, He will bring us together and will be head over all.

¹¹ We were already chosen to be God’s own children by Christ. This was done just like the plan He had. ¹² We who were the first to put our trust in Christ should thank Him for His greatness. ¹³ The truth is the Good News. When you heard the truth, you put your trust in Christ. Then God marked you by giving you His Holy Spirit as a promise. ¹⁴ The Holy Spirit was given to us as a promise that we will receive everything God has for us. God’s Spirit will be with us until God finishes His work of making us complete. God does this to show His shining-greatness.

Paul’s Prayer for the Christians in Ephesus

¹⁵ I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all Christians. ¹⁶ Since then, I always give thanks for you and pray for you. ¹⁷ I pray that the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the wisdom of His Spirit. Then you will be able to understand the secrets about Him as you know Him better. ¹⁸ I pray that your hearts will be able to understand. I pray that you will know about the hope given by God’s call. I pray that you will see how great the things are that He has promised to those who belong to Him. ¹⁹ I pray that you will know how great His power is for those who have put their trust in Him. ²⁰ It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This same power put Christ at God’s right side in heaven. ²¹ This place was given to Christ. It is much greater than any king or leader can have. No one else can have this place of honor and power. No one in this world or in the world to come can have such honor and power. ²² God has put all things under Christ’s power and has made Him to be the head leader over all things of the church. ²³ The church is the body of Christ. It is filled by Him Who fills all things everywhere with Himself.

God Saved Us from Sin

2 At one time you were dead because of your sins. ² You followed the sinful ways of the world and obeyed the leader of the power of darkness. He is the devil who is now working in the people who do not obey God. ³ At one time all of us lived to please our old selves. We gave in to what our bodies and minds wanted. We were sinful from birth like all other people and would suffer from the anger of God.

⁴ But God had so much loving-kindness. He loved us with such a great love. ⁵ Even when we were dead because of our sins, He made us alive by what Christ did for us. You have been saved from the punishment of sin by His loving-favor. ⁶ God raised us up from death when He raised up Christ Jesus. He has given us a place with Christ in the heavens. ⁷ He did this to show us through all the time to come the great riches of His loving-favor. He has shown us His kindness through Christ Jesus.

⁸ For by His loving-favor you have been saved from the punishment of sin through faith. It is not by anything you have done. It is a gift of God. ⁹ It is not given to you because you worked for it. If you could work for it, you would be proud. ¹⁰ We are His work. He has made us to belong to Christ Jesus so we can work for Him. He planned that we should do this.

Followers Now Become the Body of Christ

¹¹ Do not forget that at one time you did not know God. The Jews, who had gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew by man’s hands, said you were people who do not know God. ¹² You were living without Christ then. The Jewish people who belonged to God had nothing to do with you. The promises He gave to them were not for you. You had nothing in this world to hope for. You were without God.

¹³ But now you belong to Christ Jesus. At one time you were far away from God. Now you have been brought close to Him. Christ did this for you when He gave His blood on the cross. ¹⁴ We have peace because of Christ. He has made the Jews and those who are not Jews one people. He broke down the wall that divided them. ¹⁵ He stopped the fighting between them by His death on the cross. He put an end to the Law. Then He made of the two people one new kind of people like Himself. In this way, He made peace. ¹⁶ He brought both groups together to God. Christ finished the fighting between them by His death on the cross. ¹⁷ Then Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to you who were far away from God. And He preached it to us who were near God. ¹⁸ Now all of us can go to the Father through Christ by way of the one Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ From now on you are not strangers and people who are not citizens. You are citizens together with those who belong to God. You belong in God’s family. ²⁰ This family is built on the teachings of the missionaries and the early preachers. Jesus Christ Himself is the cornerstone, which is the most important part of the building. ²¹ Christ keeps this building together and it is growing into a holy building for the Lord. ²² You are also being put together as a part of this building because God lives in you by His Spirit.

3 I, Paul, am in prison because I am a missionary for Jesus Christ to you who are not Jews. ² I am sure you have heard that God trusted me with His loving-favor. ³ I wrote a little about this to you before. In a special way, God showed me His secret plan. ⁴ When you read this, you will understand how I know about the things that are not easy to understand about Christ. ⁵ Long ago men did not know these things. But now they have been shown to His missionaries and to the early preachers by the Holy Spirit. ⁶ Let me tell you that the Good News is for the people who are not Jews also. They are able to have life that lasts forever. They are to be a part of His church and family, together with the Jews. And together they are to receive all that God has promised through Christ.

⁷ God asked me to preach this Good News. He gave me the gift of His loving-favor. He gave me His power to preach it. ⁸ Of all those who belong to Christ, I am the least important. But this loving-favor was given to me to preach to the people who are not Jews. I was to tell them of the great riches in Christ which do not come to an end. ⁹ I was to make all men understand the meaning of this secret. God kept this secret to Himself from the beginning of the world. And He is the One Who made all things. ¹⁰ This was done so the great wisdom of God might be shown now to the leaders and powers in the heavenly places. It is being done through the church. ¹¹ This was the plan God had for all time. He did this through Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹² We can come to God without fear because we have put our trust in Christ. ¹³ So I ask you not to lose heart because of my suffering for you. It is to help you.

Paul’s Prayer for the Church

¹⁴ For this reason, I bow my knees and pray to the Father. ¹⁵ It is from Him that every family in heaven and on earth has its name. ¹⁶ I pray that because of the riches of His shining-greatness, He will make you strong with power in your hearts through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ I pray that Christ may live in your hearts by faith. I pray that you will be filled with love. ¹⁸ I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. ¹⁹ I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself.

²⁰ God is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us. ²¹ May we see His shining-greatness in the church. May all people in all time honor Christ Jesus. Let it be so.

Full-Grown Christians

4 I am being held in prison because of working for the Lord. I ask you from my heart to live and work the way the Lord expected you to live and work. ² Live and work without pride. Be gentle and kind. Do not be hard on others. Let love keep you from doing that. ³ Work hard to live together as one by the help of the Holy Spirit. Then there will be peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit. There is one hope in which you were called. ⁵ There is one Lord and one faith and one baptism. ⁶ There is one God. He is the Father of us all. He is over us all. He is the One working through us all. He is the One living in us all.

⁷ Loving-favor has been given to each one of us. We can see how great it is by the gift of Christ. ⁸ The Holy Writings say, “When Christ went up to heaven, He took those who were held with Him. He gave gifts to men.” ^{(E) 9} When they say, “He went up,” what does it mean but that He had first gone down to the deep parts of the earth? ¹⁰ Christ Who went down into the deep also went up far above the heavens. He did this to fill all the world with Himself.

¹¹ Christ gave gifts to men. He gave to some the gift to be missionaries, some to be preachers, others to be preachers who go from town to town. He gave others the gift to be church leaders and teachers. ¹² These gifts help His people work well for Him. And then the church which is the body of Christ will be made strong. ¹³ All of us are to be as one in the faith and in knowing the Son of God. We are to be full-grown Christians standing as high and complete as Christ is Himself. ¹⁴ Then we will not be as children any longer. Children are like boats thrown up and down on big waves. They are blown with the wind. False teaching is like the wind. False teachers try everything possible to make people believe a lie, ¹⁵ but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts. We are to grow up and be more like Christ. He is the leader of the church. ¹⁶ Christ has put each part of the church in its right place. Each part helps other parts. This is what is needed to keep the whole body together. In this way, the whole body grows strong in love.

The Old and the New Life

¹⁷ I tell you this in the name of the Lord: You must not live any longer like the people of the world who do not know God. Their thoughts are foolish. ¹⁸ Their minds are in darkness. They are strangers to the life of God. This is because they have closed their minds to Him and have turned their hearts away from Him. ¹⁹ They do not care anymore about what is right or wrong. They have turned themselves over to the sinful ways of the world and are always wanting to do every kind of sinful act they can think of.

²⁰ But you did not learn anything like this from Christ. ²¹ If you have heard of Him and have learned from Him, ²² put away the old person you used to be. Have nothing to do with your old sinful life. It was sinful because of being fooled into following bad desires. ²³ Let your minds and hearts be made new. ²⁴ You must become a new person and be God-like. Then you will be made right with God and have a true holy life.

²⁵ So stop lying to each other. Tell the truth to your neighbor. We all belong to the same body. ²⁶ If you are angry, do not let it become sin. Get over your anger before the day is finished. ²⁷ Do not let the devil start working in your life. ²⁸ Anyone who steals must stop it! He must work with his hands so he will have what he needs and can give to those who need help. ²⁹ Watch your talk! No bad words should be coming from your mouth. Say what is good. Your words should help others grow as Christians. ³⁰ Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free. ³¹ Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people. ³² You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.

5 Do as God would do. Much-loved children want to do as their fathers do. ² Live with love as Christ loved you. He gave Himself for us, a gift on the altar to God which was as a sweet smell to God.

³ Do not let sex sins or anything sinful be even talked about among those who belong to Christ. Do not always want everything. ⁴ Do not be guilty of telling bad stories and of foolish talk. These things are not for you to do. Instead, you are to give thanks for what God has done for you. ⁵ Be sure of this! No person who does sex sins or who is not pure will have any part in the holy nation of Christ and of God. The same is true for the person who always wants what other people have. This becomes a god to him. ⁶ Do not let anyone lead you in the wrong way with foolish talk. The anger of God comes on such people because they choose to not obey Him. ⁷ Have nothing to do with them. ⁸ At one time you lived in darkness. Now you are living in the light that comes from the Lord. Live as children who have the light of the Lord in them. ⁹ This light gives us truth. It makes us right with God and makes us good. ¹⁰ Learn how to please the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the bad things done in darkness. Instead, show that these things are wrong. ¹² It is a shame even to talk about these things done in secret. ¹³ All things can be seen when they are in the light. Everything that can be seen is in the light. ¹⁴ The Holy Writings say, “Wake up, you who are sleeping. Rise from the dead and Christ will give you light.” ^(F)

Be Filled With the Spirit of God

¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Live as men who are wise and not foolish. ¹⁶ Make the best use of your time. These are sinful days. ¹⁷ Do not be foolish. Understand what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk with wine. That leads to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Tell of your joy to each other by singing the Songs of David and church songs. Sing in your heart to the Lord. ²⁰ Always give thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How Wives Must Live

²¹ Be willing to help and care for each other because of Christ. By doing this, you honor Christ. ²² Wives, obey your own husbands. In doing this, you obey the Lord. ²³ For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is His body (the church) that He saves. ²⁴ As the church is to obey Christ, wives are to obey their own husbands in everything.

How Husbands Must Live

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives. You must love them as Christ loved the church. He gave His life for it. ²⁶ Christ did this so He could set the church apart for Himself. He made it clean by the washing of water with the Word. ²⁷ Christ did this so the church might stand before Him in shining-greatness. There is to be no sin of any kind in it. It is to be holy and without blame. ²⁸ So men should love their wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ No man hates himself. He takes care of his own body. That is the way Christ does. He cares for His body which is the church. ³⁰ We are all a part of His body, the church. ³¹ For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother when he gets married and be joined to his wife. The two become one. ³² This is hard to understand, but it shows that the church is the body of Christ. ³³ So every man must love his wife as he loves himself. Every wife must respect her husband.

How Children Must Live

6 Children, as Christians, obey your parents. This is the right thing to do. ² Respect your father and mother. This is the first Law given that had a promise. ³ The promise is this: If you respect your father and mother, you will live a long time and your life will be full of many good things.

⁴ Fathers, do not be too hard on your children so they will become angry. Teach them in their growing years with Christian teaching.

⁵ You servants who are owned by someone must obey your owners. Work for them as hard as you can. Work for them the same as if you were working for Christ. ⁶ Do not work hard only when your owner sees you. You would be doing this just to please men. Work as you would work for Christ. Do what God wants you to do with all your heart. ⁷ Be happy as you work. Do your work as for the Lord, not for men. ⁸ Remember this, whatever good thing you do, the Lord will pay you for it. It is the same to the Lord if you are a servant owned by someone or if you work for pay.

⁹ Owners, do the right thing for those who work for you. Stop saying that you are going to be hard on them. Remember that your Owner and their Owner is in heaven. God does not respect one person more than another.

Things God Gives the Christian to Fight With

¹⁰ This is the last thing I want to say: Be strong with the Lord’s strength. ¹¹ Put on the things God gives you to fight with. Then you will not fall into the traps of the devil. ¹² Our fight is not with people. It is against the leaders and the powers and the spirits of darkness in this world. It is against the demon world that works in the heavens. ¹³ Because of this, put on all the things God gives you to fight with. Then you will be able to stand in that sinful day. When it is all over, you will still be standing. ¹⁴ So stand up and do not be moved. Wear a belt of truth around your body. Wear a piece of iron over your chest which is being right with God. ¹⁵ Wear shoes on your feet which are the Good News of peace. ¹⁶ Most important of all, you need a covering of faith in front of you. This is to put out the fire-arrows of the devil. ¹⁷ The covering for your head is that you have been saved from the punishment of sin. Take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

How and What to Pray For

¹⁸ You must pray at all times as the Holy Spirit leads you to pray. Pray for the things that are needed. You must watch and keep on praying. Remember to pray for all Christians. ¹⁹ Pray for me also. Pray that I might open my mouth without fear. Pray that I will use the right words to preach that which is hard to understand in the Good News. ²⁰ This is the reason I was sent out. But now I am in chains for preaching the Good News. I want to keep on speaking for Christ without fear the way I should.

²¹ Tychicus will tell you how I am getting along. He is a much-loved brother and a faithful preacher. ²² I have sent him to you because I want him to tell you about us. He will comfort you. ²³ May all the Christian brothers have peace and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ May God give loving-favor to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love that never gets weak.

1 This letter is from Paul and Timothy. We are servants owned by Jesus Christ. This letter is to all who belong to Christ Jesus who are living in the city of Philippi and to the church leaders and their helpers also. ² May you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul Gives Thanks For the True Christians

³ I thank God for you whenever I think of you. ⁴ I always have joy as I pray for all of you. ⁵ It is because you have told others the Good News from the first day you heard it until now. ⁶ I am sure that God Who began the good work in you will keep on working in you until the day Jesus Christ comes again. ⁷ It is right for me to feel like this about all of you. It is because you are very dear to me. While I was in prison and when I was proving that the Good News is true, you all shared God’s loving-favor with me. ⁸ God knows what I am saying. He knows how much I love you all with a love that comes from Jesus Christ. ⁹ And this is my prayer: I pray that your love will grow more and more. I pray that you will have better understanding and be wise in all things. ¹⁰ I pray that you will know what is the very best. I pray that you will be true and without blame until the day Christ comes again. ¹¹ And I pray that you will be filled with the fruits of right living. These come from Jesus Christ, with honor and thanks to God.

Paul’s Being in Prison Has Turned Out to Be a Good Thing

¹² Christian brothers, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped spread the Good News. ¹³ Everyone around here knows why I am in prison. It is because I preached about Jesus Christ. All the soldiers who work for the leader of the country know why I am here. ¹⁴ Because of this, most of my Christian brothers have had their faith in the Lord made stronger. They have more power to preach the Word of God without fear.

¹⁵ Some are preaching because they are jealous and want to make trouble. Others are doing it for the right reason. ¹⁶ These do it because of love. They know that I am put here to prove the Good News is true. ¹⁷ The others preach about Christ for what they get out of it. Their hearts are not right. They want to make me suffer while I am in prison. ¹⁸ What difference does it make if they pretend or if they are true? I am happy, yes, and I will keep on being happy that Christ is preached.

¹⁹ Because of your prayers and the help the Holy Spirit gives me, all of this will turn out for good. ²⁰ I hope very much that I will have no reason to be ashamed. I hope to honor Christ with my body if it be by my life or by my death. I want to honor Him without fear, now and always. ²¹ To me, living means having Christ. To die means that I would have more of Him. ²² If I keep on living here in this body, it means that I can lead more people to Christ. I do not know which is better. ²³ There is a strong pull from both sides. I have a desire to leave this world to be with Christ, which is much better. ²⁴ But it is more important for you that I stay. ²⁵ I am sure I will live to help you grow and be happy in your faith. ²⁶ This will give you reason to give more thanks to Christ Jesus when I come to visit you again.

Fight for the Faith

²⁷ Live your lives as the Good News of Christ says you should. If I come to you or not, I want to hear that you are standing true as one. I want to hear that you are working together as one, preaching the Good News. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who hate you. Their hate for you proves they will be destroyed. It proves you have life from God that lasts forever. ²⁹ You are not only to put your trust in Him, but you are to suffer for Him also. ³⁰ You know what the fight is like. Now it is time for you to have a part in it as I have.

A Christian Should Not Be Proud

2 Are you strong because you belong to Christ? Does His love comfort you? Do you have joy by being as one in sharing the Holy Spirit? Do you have loving-kindness and pity for each other? ² Then give me true joy by thinking the same thoughts. Keep having the same love. Be as one in thoughts and actions. ³ Nothing should be done because of pride or thinking about yourself. Think of other people as more important than yourself. ⁴ Do not always be thinking about your own plans only. Be happy to know what other people are doing.

Christ Was Not Proud

⁵ Think as Christ Jesus thought. ⁶ Jesus has always been as God is. But He did not hold to His rights as God. ⁷ He put aside everything that belonged to Him and made Himself the same as a servant who is owned by someone. He became human by being born as a man. ⁸ After He became a man, He gave up His important place and obeyed by dying on a cross. ⁹ Because of this, God lifted Jesus high above everything else. He gave Him a name that is greater than any other name. ¹⁰ So when the name of Jesus is spoken, everyone in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow down before Him. ¹¹ And every tongue will say Jesus Christ is Lord. Everyone will give honor to God the Father.

¹² My Christian friends, you have obeyed me when I was with you. You have obeyed even more when I have been away. You must keep on working to show you have been saved from the punishment of sin. Be afraid that you may not please God. ¹³ He is working in you. God is helping you obey Him. God is doing what He wants done in you. ¹⁴ Be glad you can do the things you should be doing. Do all things without arguing and talking about how you wish you did not have to do them. ¹⁵ In that way, you can prove yourselves to be without blame. You are God’s children and no one can talk against you, even in a sin-loving and sin-sick world. You are to shine as lights among the sinful people of this world. ¹⁶ Take a strong hold on the Word of Life. Then when Christ comes again, I will be happy that I did not work with you for nothing. ¹⁷ Even if I give my life as a gift on the altar to God for you, I am glad and share this joy with you. ¹⁸ You must be happy and share your joy with me also.

Timothy Is Being Sent to You

¹⁹ I hope by the help of the Lord Jesus that I can send Timothy to you soon. It will comfort me when he brings news about you. ²⁰ I have no one else who is as interested in you as Timothy. ²¹ Everyone else thinks of himself instead of Jesus Christ. ²² You know how Timothy proved to be such a true friend to me when we preached the Good News. He was like a son helping his father. ²³ I hope to send Timothy as soon as I know what they are going to do to me. ²⁴ I hope by the help of the Lord that I can come soon also.

²⁵ I thought it was right that I send Epaphroditus back to you. You helped me by sending him to me. We have worked together like brothers. He was like a soldier fighting beside me. ²⁶ He has been wanting to see all of you and was troubled because you heard he was sick. ²⁷ It is true, he was sick. Yes, he almost died, but God showed loving-kindness to him and to me. If he had died, I would have had even more sorrow. ²⁸ This is all the more reason I have sent him to you. When you see him, you will be glad and I will have less sorrow. ²⁹ Take him into your church with joy. Show respect for men like him. ³⁰ He came close to death while working for Christ. He almost died doing things for me that you could not do.

It Is Christ Only—Not the Things You Do

3 So now, my Christian brothers, be happy because you belong to Christ. It is not hard for me to write the same things to you. It is good for you. ² Watch out for false teachers. Watch out for sinful men. They want you to depend on the religious act of becoming a Jew for your hope. ³ The act of becoming a Jew has nothing to do with us becoming Christians. We worship God through His Spirit and are proud of Jesus Christ. We have no faith in what we ourselves can do. ⁴ I could have reason to trust in the flesh. If anyone could feel that the flesh could do something for him, I could. ⁵ I went through the religious act of becoming a Jew when I was eight days old. I was born a Jew and came from the family group of Benjamin. I was a Jewish son of Jewish parents. I belonged to the group of the proud religious law-keepers. ⁶ I followed my religion with all my heart and did everything I could to make it hard for the church. No one could say anything against the way I obeyed the Law.

Christ Must Be Lord of Our Lives

⁷ But I gave up those things that were so important to me for Christ. ⁸ Even more than that, I think of everything as worth nothing. It is so much better to know Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for Him. And I think of these things as worth nothing so that I can have Christ. ⁹ I want to be as one with Him. I could not be right with God by what the Law said I must do. I was made right with God by faith in Christ. ¹⁰ I want to know Him. I want to have the same power in my life that raised Jesus from the dead. I want to understand and have a share in His sufferings and be like Christ in His death. ¹¹ Then I may be raised up from among the dead.

¹² I do not say that I have received this or have already become perfect. But I keep going on to make that life my own as Christ Jesus made me His own. ¹³ No, Christian brothers, I do not have that life yet. But I do one thing. I forget everything that is behind me and look forward to that which is ahead of me. ¹⁴ My eyes are on the crown. I want to win the race and get the crown of God’s call from heaven through Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ All of us who are full-grown Christians should think this way. If you do not think this way, God will show it to you. ¹⁶ So let us keep on obeying the same truth we have already been following.

¹⁷ Christian brothers, live your lives as I have lived mine. Watch those who live as I have taught you to live. ¹⁸ There are many whose lives show they hate the cross of Christ. I have told you this before. Now I tell you again with tears in my eyes. ¹⁹ Their god is their stomach. They take pride in things they should be ashamed of. All they think about are the things of this world. In the end they will be destroyed. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven. Christ, the One Who saves from the punishment of sin, will be coming down from heaven again. We are waiting for Him to return. ²¹ He will change these bodies of ours of the earth and make them new. He will make them like His body of shining-greatness. He has the power to do this because He can make all things obey Him.

4 So, my dear Christian brothers, you are my joy and crown. I want to see you. Keep on staying true to the Lord, my dear friends.

² I ask Euodias and Syntyche to agree as Christians should. ³ My true helper, I ask you to help these women who have worked with me so much in preaching the Good News to others. Clement helped also. There are others who worked with me. Their names are in the book of life.

⁴ Be full of joy always because you belong to the Lord. Again I say, be full of joy! ⁵ Let all people see how gentle you are. The Lord is coming again soon. ⁶ Do not worry. Learn to pray about everything. Give thanks to God as you ask Him for what you need. ⁷ The peace of God is much greater than the human mind can understand. This peace will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

⁸ Christian brothers, keep your minds thinking about whatever is true, whatever is respected, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever can be loved, and whatever is well thought of. If there is anything good and worth giving thanks for, think about these things. ⁹ Keep on doing all the things you learned and received and heard from me. Do the things you saw me do. Then the God Who gives peace will be with you.

¹⁰ The Lord gives me a reason to be full of joy. It is because you are able to care for me again. I know you wanted to before but you did not have a way to help me. ¹¹ I am not saying I need anything. I have learned to be happy with whatever I have. ¹² I know how to get along with little and how to live when I have much. I have learned the secret of being happy at all times. If I am full of food and have all I need, I am happy. If I am hungry and need more, I am happy. ¹³ I can do all things because Christ gives me the strength.

¹⁴ It was kind of you to help me when I was in trouble. ¹⁵ You Philippians also know that when I first preached the Good News, you were the only church that helped me. It was when I left for the country of Macedonia. ¹⁶ Even while I was in the city of Thessalonica you helped me more than once. ¹⁷ It is not that I want to receive the gift. I want you to get the pay that is coming to you later. ¹⁸ I have everything I need and more than enough. I am taken care of because Epaphroditus brought your gift. It is a sweet gift. It is a gift that cost you something. It is the kind of gift God is so pleased with. ¹⁹ And my God will give you everything you need because of His great riches in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ Now may our God and Father be honored forever. Let it be so.

²¹ Greet all those who belong to Christ Jesus. The Christian brothers here with me greet you. ²² All those who belong to Christ say hello, and most of all, those who live in Caesar’s house. ²³ May your spirit have the loving-favor of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul Gives Thanks for the Christians in Colossae

1 This letter is from Paul, a missionary for Jesus Christ. God wanted me to work for Him. This letter is from brother Timothy also. ² I am writing to you who belong to Christ in the city of Colossae. May all the Christian brothers there have loving-favor and peace from God our Father.

³ We always pray and give thanks to God for you. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ We give thanks to God for you because we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. We thank God for your love for all those who belong to Christ. ⁵ We thank God for the hope that is being kept for you in heaven. You first heard about this hope through the Good News which is the Word of Truth. ⁶ The Good News came to you the same as it is now going out to all the world. Lives are being changed, just as your life was changed the day you heard the Good News. You understood the truth about God’s loving-kindness. ⁷ You heard the Good News through our much-loved brother Epaphras who is taking my place. He is a faithful servant of Christ. ⁸ He told us that the Holy Spirit had given you much love.

⁹ This is why I have never stopped praying for you since I heard about you. I ask God that you may know what He wants you to do. I ask God to fill you with the wisdom and understanding the Holy Spirit gives. ¹⁰ Then your lives will please the Lord. You will do every kind of good work, and you will know more about God. ¹¹ I pray that God’s great power will make you strong, and that you will have joy as you wait and do not give up. ¹² I pray that you will be giving thanks to the Father. He has made it so you could share the good things given to those who belong to Christ who are in the light. ¹³ God took us out of a life of darkness. He has put us in the holy nation of His much-loved Son. ¹⁴ We have been bought by His blood and made free. Our sins are forgiven through Him.

¹⁵ Christ is as God is. God cannot be seen. Christ lived before anything was made. ¹⁶ Christ made everything in the heavens and on the earth. He made everything that is seen and things that are not seen. He made all the powers of heaven. Everything was made by Him and for Him. ¹⁷ Christ was before all things. All things are held together by Him. ¹⁸ Christ is the head of the church which is His body. He is the beginning of all things. He is the first to be raised from the dead. He is to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ God the Father was pleased to have everything made perfect by Christ, His Son. ²⁰ Everything in heaven and on earth can come to God because of Christ’s death on the cross. Christ’s blood has made peace. ²¹ At one time you were strangers to God and your minds were at war with Him. Your thoughts and actions were wrong. ²² But Christ has brought you back to God by His death on the cross. In this way, Christ can bring you to God, holy and pure and without blame. ²³ This is for you if you keep the faith. You must not change from what you believe now. You must not leave the hope of the Good News you received. The Good News was preached to you and to all the world. And I, Paul, am one of Christ’s missionaries.

Paul Is Sent by God to Preach

²⁴ Now I am full of joy to be suffering for you. In my own body I am doing my share of what has to be done to make Christ’s sufferings complete. This is for His body which is the Church. ²⁵ I became a preacher in His church for your good. In the plan of God I am to preach the Good News. ²⁶ This great secret was hidden to the people of times past, but it is now made known to those who belong to Christ. ²⁷ God wants these great riches of the hidden truth to be made known to the people who are not Jews. The secret is this: Christ in you brings hope of all the great things to come. ²⁸ We preach Christ. We tell every man how he must live. We use wisdom in teaching every man. We do this so every man will be complete in Christ. ²⁹ This is the reason I am working. God’s great power is working in me.

The Christian Is Complete in Christ

2 I want you to know how hard I have worked for you and for the Christians in the city of Laodicea and for those who have never seen me. ² May their hearts be given comfort. May they be brought close together in Christian love. May they be rich in understanding and know God’s secret. It is Christ Himself. ³ In Christ are hidden all the riches of wisdom and understanding. ⁴ I tell you this so no one will try to change your mind with big sounding talk. ⁵ Even if I am far away from you in body, I am with you in spirit. I am happy to learn how well you are getting along. It is good to hear that your faith is so strong in Christ. ⁶ As you have put your trust in Christ Jesus the Lord to save you from the punishment of sin, now let Him lead you in every step. ⁷ Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks to Him.

Wisdom of the World Is Empty

⁸ Be careful that no one changes your mind and faith by much learning and big sounding ideas. Those things are what men dream up. They are always trying to make new religions. These leave out Christ. ⁹ For Christ is not only God-like, He is God in human flesh. ¹⁰ When you have Christ, you are complete. He is the head over all leaders and powers. ¹¹ When you became a Christian, you were set free from the sinful things of the world. This was not done by human hands. You were set free from the sins of your old self by what was done in Christ’s body. ¹² When you were baptized, you were buried as Christ was buried. When you were raised up in baptism, you were raised as Christ was raised. You were raised to a new life by putting your trust in God. It was God Who raised Jesus from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your sins, you were not set free from the sinful things of the world. But God forgave your sins and gave you new life through Christ. ¹⁴ We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ God took away the power of the leaders of this world and the powers of darkness. He showed them to the world. The battle was won over them through Christ.

Watch for Those Who Want to Keep the Law

¹⁶ Do not let anyone tell you what you should or should not eat or drink. They have no right to say if it is right or wrong to eat certain foods or if you are to go to religious suppers. They have no right to say what you are to do at the time of the new moon or on the Day of Rest. ¹⁷ These things are a picture of what is coming. The important thing is Christ Himself. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone rob you of your crown. They will try to get you to bow down in worship of angels. They think this shows you are not proud. They say they were told to do this in a dream. These people are proud because of their sinful minds. ¹⁹ Such people are not a part of Christ. Christ is the Head. We Christians make up His body. We are joined together as a body is held together. Our strength to grow comes from Christ.

²⁰ You have died with Christ and become dead to those old ways. Then why do you follow the old ways of worship? Why do you obey man-made rules? ²¹ These rules say, “You must not put your hand on this.” “Do not put this into your mouth.” “You must not put your finger on that.” ²² All these things come to an end when they are used. You are following only man-made rules. ²³ It looks as if it is wise to follow these rules in an act of worship, because they are hard on the body. It looks as if they are done without pride, but they are worth nothing. They do not take away a man’s desire to sin.

The New Life Lived by the Power of Christ

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, keep looking for the good things of heaven. This is where Christ is seated on the right side of God. ² Keep your minds thinking about things in heaven. Do not think about things on the earth. ³ You are dead to the things of this world. Your new life is now hidden in God through Christ. ⁴ Christ is our life. When He comes again, you will also be with Him to share His shining-greatness.

The Old Person Put Aside

⁵ Destroy the desires to sin that are in you. These desires are: sex sins, anything that is not clean, a desire for sex sins, and wanting something someone else has. This is worshiping a god. ⁶ It is because of these sins that the anger of God comes down on those who do not obey Him. ⁷ You used to do these sins when you lived that kind of life. ⁸ Put out of your life these things also: anger, bad temper, bad feelings toward others, talk that hurts people, speaking against God, and dirty talk. ⁹ Do not lie to each other. You have put out of your life your old ways. ¹⁰ You have now become a new person and are always learning more about Christ. You are being made more like Christ. He is the One Who made you. ¹¹ There is no difference in men in this new life. Greeks and Jews are the same. The man who has gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew and the one who has not are the same. There is no difference between nations. Men who are servants and those who are free are the same. Christ is everything. He is in all of us.

¹² God has chosen you. You are holy and loved by Him. Because of this, your new life should be full of loving-pity. You should be kind to others and have no pride. Be gentle and be willing to wait for others. ¹³ Try to understand other people. Forgive each other. If you have something against someone, forgive him. That is the way the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And to all these things, you must add love. Love holds everything and everybody together and makes all these good things perfect. ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ have power over your hearts. You were chosen as a part of His body. Always be thankful.

¹⁶ Let the teaching of Christ and His words keep on living in you. These make your lives rich and full of wisdom. Keep on teaching and helping each other. Sing the Songs of David and the church songs and the songs of heaven with hearts full of thanks to God. ¹⁷ Whatever you say or do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through the Lord Jesus.

How Families Should Live

¹⁸ Wives, obey your husbands. This is what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives. Do not hold hard feelings against them. ²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything. The Lord is pleased when you do. ²¹ Fathers, do not be so hard on your children that they will give up trying to do what is right.

²² You who are servants who are owned by someone, obey your owners. Work hard for them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Work for them as you would for the Lord because you honor God. ²³ Whatever work you do, do it with all your heart. Do it for the Lord and not for men. ²⁴ Remember that you will get your reward from the Lord. He will give you what you should receive. You are working for the Lord Christ. ²⁵ If anyone does wrong, he will suffer for it. God does not respect one person more than another.

4 Owners, give your servants what is right. Do the same for all. Remember that your Owner is in heaven.

Some Things to Do

² You must keep praying. Keep watching! Be thankful always. ³ As you pray, be sure to pray for us also. Pray that God will open the door for us to preach the Word. We want to tell the secret of Christ. And this is the reason I am in prison. ⁴ Pray that I will be able to preach so everyone can understand. This is the way I should speak. ⁵ Be wise in the way you live around those who are not Christians. Make good use of your time. ⁶ Speak with them in such a way they will want to listen to you. Do not let your talk sound foolish. Know how to give the right answer to anyone.

Paul’s Helpers Say Hello

⁷ Tychicus will tell you how I am getting along. He is a much-loved brother and faithful helper. Both of us are owned by the Lord. ⁸ This is the reason I have sent him to you. It is so you can know about us. He can also bring joy to your hearts. ⁹ Onesimus is going with Tychicus. He is one of your own people. He is faithful and we love him very much. They will tell you about everything here.

¹⁰ One of the men here in prison with me is Aristarchus. He says hello you. Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, says hello. (You have heard before that if he comes to you, you are to receive him and make him happy.) ¹¹ Jesus Justus says hello also. These are the only Jewish workers helping me teach about the holy nation of God. What a help they have been to me!

¹² Epaphras says hello. He is one of your people and a servant of Jesus Christ. As he prays for you, he asks God to help you to be strong and to make you perfect. He prays that you will know what God wants you to do in all things. ¹³ I can tell you for sure that he works hard for you and for the Christians in the cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis. ¹⁴ Luke, the dear doctor, and Demas say hello. ¹⁵ Greet all the Christians in Laodicea. Greet Nympha and the Christians who gather for church in her house.

¹⁶ When this letter has been read to you, have it read in the church in Laodicea also. Be sure you read the letter that is coming from Laodicea. ¹⁷ Tell Archippus to be sure to finish the work the Lord called him to do.

¹⁸ I, Paul, am writing this last part with my own hand. Do not forget that I am in prison. May you have God’s loving-favor.