Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.

²You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil — the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.

³All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

⁴But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,

⁵that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

⁶For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

⁷So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

⁸God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

⁹Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

¹⁰For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

¹¹Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.

¹²In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.

¹³But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.

¹⁵He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.

¹⁶Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near.

¹⁸Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

¹⁹So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

²⁰Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

²¹We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.

²²Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

¹When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles . . .

²assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles.

³As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me.

⁴As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ.

⁵God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.

⁶And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.

⁷By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.

⁸Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.

⁹I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.

¹⁰God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

¹¹This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹²Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

¹³So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.

¹⁴When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,

¹⁵the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

¹⁶I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.

¹⁷Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

¹⁸And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

¹⁹May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

²¹Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

¹Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

²Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

³Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

⁴For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

⁵There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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

⁷However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.

⁸That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”

⁹Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.

¹⁰And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

¹¹Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

¹²Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

¹³This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

¹⁵Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

¹⁶He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

¹⁷With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.

¹⁸Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.

¹⁹They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

²⁰But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.

²¹Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him,

²²throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.

²³Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

²⁴Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy.

²⁵So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

²⁶And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

²⁷for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

²⁸If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

²⁹Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

³⁰And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

³²Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

¹Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

²Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

³Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.

⁴Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

⁵You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

⁶Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

⁷Don’t participate in the things these people do.

⁸For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

⁹For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

¹⁰Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.

¹¹Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

¹²It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.

¹³But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,

¹⁴for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

¹⁵So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.

¹⁶Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

¹⁷Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

¹⁸Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,

¹⁹singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.

²⁰And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

²³For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.

²⁴As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

²⁵For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her

²⁶to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.

²⁷He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.

²⁹No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

³⁰And we are members of his body.

³¹As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

³²This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

³³So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

¹Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.

²“Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise:

³If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

⁵Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.

⁶Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.

⁷Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

⁸Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

⁹Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.

¹⁰A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

¹¹Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

¹²For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

¹³Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

¹⁴Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.

¹⁵For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.

¹⁶In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.

¹⁷Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

¹⁹And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.

²⁰I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.

²¹To bring you up to date, Tychicus will give you a full report about what I am doing and how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper in the Lord’s work.

²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose — to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you.

²³Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with faithfulness.

²⁴May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.

²May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

³Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

⁴Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,

⁵for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.

⁶And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

⁷So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.

⁸God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

⁹I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

¹⁰For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.

¹¹May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation — the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ — for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

¹²And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.

¹³For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

¹⁴And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

¹⁵It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.

¹⁶They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.

¹⁷Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.

¹⁸But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.

¹⁹For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

²⁰For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

²¹For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

²²But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better.

²³I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.

²⁴But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

²⁵Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.

²⁶And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

²⁷Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.

²⁸Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.

²⁹For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

³⁰We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

¹Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?

²Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

³Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

⁴Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

⁵You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

⁶Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

⁷Instead, he gave up his divine privileges ; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,

⁸he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

⁹Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,

¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

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

¹²Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.

¹³For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

¹⁴Do everything without complaining and arguing,

¹⁵so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

¹⁶Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.

¹⁷But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.

¹⁸Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.

¹⁹If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along.

²⁰I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare.

²¹All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ.

²²But you know how Timothy has proved himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the Good News.

²³I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here.

²⁴And I have confidence from the Lord that I myself will come to see you soon.

²⁵Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need.

²⁶I am sending him because he has been longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill.

²⁷And he certainly was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him — and also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.

²⁸So I am all the more anxious to send him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be so worried about you.

²⁹Welcome him in the Lord’s love and with great joy, and give him the honor that people like him deserve.

³⁰For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away.

¹Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

²Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.

³For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,

⁴though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

⁵I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin — a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.

⁶I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

⁷I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.

⁸Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ

⁹and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

¹⁰I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,

¹¹so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

¹²I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

¹³No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

¹⁴I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

¹⁵Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.

¹⁶But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

¹⁷Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.

¹⁸For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.

¹⁹They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.

²⁰But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.

²¹He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

¹Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.

²Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.

³And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

⁴Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again — rejoice!

⁵Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

⁷Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

⁸And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

⁹Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me — everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me.

¹¹Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.

¹²I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

¹³For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

¹⁴Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

¹⁵As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this.

¹⁶Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.

¹⁷I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.

¹⁸At the moment I have all I need — and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.

¹⁹And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

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

²¹Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people — all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings.

²²And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household.

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

¹This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

²We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.

³We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people,

⁵which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.

⁶This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

⁷You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.

⁸He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.

⁹So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.

¹⁰Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

¹¹We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,

¹²always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

¹³For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,

¹⁴who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

¹⁵Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

¹⁶for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.

¹⁷He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

¹⁸Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.

¹⁹For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,

²⁰and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

²¹This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.

²²Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

²³But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

²⁴I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.

²⁵God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.

²⁶This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people.

²⁷For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

²⁸So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.

²⁹That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

¹I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally.

²I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.

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

⁴I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.

⁵For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.

⁶And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.

⁷Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

⁸Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

⁹For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.

¹⁰So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

¹¹When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision — the cutting away of your sinful nature.

¹²For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

¹³You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.

¹⁴He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

¹⁵In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

¹⁶So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.

¹⁷For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.

¹⁸Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,

¹⁹and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

²⁰You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,

²¹“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”?

²²Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.

²³These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

¹Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

²Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

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

⁴And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

⁵So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

⁶Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.

⁷You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.

⁸But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

⁹Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.

¹⁰Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

¹¹In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

¹²Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

¹³Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

¹⁴Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

¹⁵And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

¹⁶Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

¹⁷And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

¹⁸Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.

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

²¹Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

²²Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord.

²³Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

²⁴Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

²⁵But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.

¹Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master — in heaven.

²Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

³Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains.

⁴Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.

⁵Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.

⁶Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

⁷Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work.

⁸I have sent him to you for this very purpose — to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you.

⁹I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.

¹⁰Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way.

¹¹Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!

¹²Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.

¹³I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

¹⁴Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas.

¹⁵Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.

¹⁶After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them.

¹⁷And say to Archippus, “Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.”

¹⁸HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING — PAUL. Remember my chains. May God’s grace be with you.