Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins

²in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

³We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,

⁵made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

⁶He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift —

⁹not from works, so that no one can boast.

¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh — called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

¹²At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh,

¹⁵he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.

¹⁶He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.

¹⁷He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.

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

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

²¹In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

²²In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

¹For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles —

²you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that he gave to me for you?

³The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.

⁴By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

⁵This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

⁶The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

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

⁸This grace was given to me — the least of all the saints — to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ,

⁹and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

¹⁰This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

¹¹This is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹²In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.

¹³So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

¹⁶I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,

¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,

¹⁸may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,

¹⁹and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us —

²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received,

²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

³making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

⁴There is one body and one Spirit  — just as you were called to one hope at your calling —

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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

⁷Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

⁸For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people.

⁹But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things.

¹¹And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

¹²equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,

¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.

¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head  — Christ.

¹⁶From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

¹⁷Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their thoughts.

¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.

¹⁹They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.

²⁰But that is not how you came to know Christ,

²¹assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus,

²²to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires,

²³to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

²⁴and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

²⁵Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

²⁶Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger,

²⁷and don’t give the devil an opportunity.

²⁸Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

²⁹No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

³⁰And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption.

³¹Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice.

³²And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

¹Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,

²and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

³But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints.

⁴Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.

⁵For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.

⁷Therefore, do not become their partners.

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

⁹for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth  —

¹⁰testing what is pleasing to the Lord.

¹¹Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.

¹²For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret.

¹³Everything exposed by the light is made visible,

¹⁴for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

¹⁵Pay careful attention, then, to how you live — not as unwise people but as wise —

¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

¹⁷So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

¹⁸And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:

¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord,

²⁰giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

²¹submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,

²³because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.

²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.

²⁷He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

²⁸In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

²⁹For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church,

³⁰since we are members of his body.

³¹For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

³²This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

³³To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right.

²Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise,

³so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

⁴Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

⁵Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ.

⁶Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart.

⁷Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people,

⁸knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.

⁹And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

¹⁰Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

¹³For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

¹⁴Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,

¹⁵and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

¹⁶In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit  — which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

¹⁹Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

²⁰For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

²¹Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed.

²²I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

²³Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus: To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,

⁴always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer,

⁵because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

⁶I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

⁸For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment,

¹⁰so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ,

¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

¹²Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel,

¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ.

¹⁴Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly.

¹⁵To be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will.

¹⁶These preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel;

¹⁷the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment.

¹⁸What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice

¹⁹because I know this will lead to my salvation through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

²⁰My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

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

²²Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose.

²³I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ  — which is far better  —

²⁴but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

²⁵Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

²⁶so that, because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound.

²⁷Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel,

²⁸not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation  — and this is from God.

²⁹For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,

³⁰since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.

¹If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

²make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

⁴Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

⁵Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

⁶who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.

⁷Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,

⁸he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross.

⁹For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow  — in heaven and on earth and under the earth  —

¹¹and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹²Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

¹³For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.

¹⁴Do everything without grumbling and arguing,

¹⁵so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world,

¹⁶by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing.

¹⁷But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

¹⁸In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.

¹⁹Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be encouraged by news about you.

²⁰For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests;

²¹all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

²²But you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father.

²³Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.

²⁴I am confident in the Lord that I myself will also come soon.

²⁵But I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus  — my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and minister to my need  —

²⁶since he has been longing for all of you and was distressed because you heard that he was sick.

²⁷Indeed, he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.

²⁸For this reason, I am very eager to send him so that you may rejoice again when you see him and I may be less anxious.

²⁹Therefore, welcome him in the Lord with great joy and hold people like him in honor,

³⁰because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me.

¹In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you.

²Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh.

³For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh —

⁴although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more:

⁵circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee;

⁶regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

⁷But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

⁸More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ

⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ  — the righteousness from God based on faith.

¹⁰My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,

¹¹assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

¹²Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,

¹⁴I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.

¹⁶In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.

¹⁷Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.

¹⁸For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things,

²⁰but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.

¹So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.

²I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

³Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

⁵Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

⁶Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things.

⁹Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it.

¹¹I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.

¹²I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content — whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.

¹³I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

¹⁴Still, you did well by partnering with me in my hardship.

¹⁵And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.

¹⁶For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times.

¹⁷Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account.

¹⁸But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided — a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

¹⁹And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²¹Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you greetings.

²²All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.

²³The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother:

²To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters. Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

⁴for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints

⁵because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel

⁶that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.

⁷You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,

⁸and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

¹⁰so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God,

¹¹being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully

¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

¹³He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

¹⁴In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

¹⁶For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him.

¹⁷He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

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

¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

²⁰and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

²¹Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions.

²²But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him  —

²³if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

²⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church.

²⁵I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

²⁶the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

²⁷God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

²⁹I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.

¹For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person.

²I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery  — Christ.

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

⁴I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable.

⁵For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.

⁶So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,

⁷being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.

⁸Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.

⁹For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ,

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

¹¹You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

¹²when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.

¹⁴He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.

¹⁶Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.

¹⁷These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ.

¹⁸Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind.

¹⁹He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.

²⁰If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations:

²¹“Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”?

²²All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines.

²³Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.

¹So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

³For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.

⁶Because of these, God’s wrath is coming upon the disobedient,

⁷and you once walked in these things when you were living in them.

⁸But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.

⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices

¹⁰and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

¹¹In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.

¹²Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

¹³bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.

¹⁴Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

¹⁵And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

¹⁸Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and don’t be bitter toward them.

²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

²¹Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they won’t become discouraged.

²²Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.

²³Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,

²⁴knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.

²⁵For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.

¹Masters, deal with your slaves justly and fairly, since you know that you too have a Master in heaven.

²Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.

³At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains,

⁴so that I may make it known as I should.

⁵Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.

⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

⁷Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.

⁸I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and so that he may encourage your hearts.

⁹He is coming with Onesimus, a faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.

¹⁰Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin (concerning whom you have received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),

¹¹and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These alone of the circumcised are my coworkers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

¹²Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills.

¹³For I testify about him that he works hard for you, for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.

¹⁴Luke, the dearly loved physician, and Demas send you greetings.

¹⁵Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her home.

¹⁶After this letter has been read at your gathering, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

¹⁷And tell Archippus, “Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.”

¹⁸I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.