Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹You were dead through the trespasses and sins

²in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.

³All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us

⁵even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved —

⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God —

⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands —

¹²remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

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

¹⁴For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.

¹⁵He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,

¹⁶and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

¹⁷So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;

¹⁸for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

¹⁹So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,

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

²¹In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;

²²in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

¹This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles —

²for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you,

³and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words,

⁴a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.

⁵In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

⁶that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

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

⁸Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ,

⁹and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things;

¹⁰so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

¹¹This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹²in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

¹³I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.

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

¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

¹⁸I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

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

²⁰Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,

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

¹I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

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

³making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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

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

⁸Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.”

⁹(When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)

¹¹The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

¹³until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

¹⁴We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.

¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

¹⁷Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds.

¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.

¹⁹They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

²⁰That is not the way you learned Christ!

²¹For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus.

²²You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts,

²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

²⁴and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.

²⁶Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

²⁷and do not make room for the devil.

²⁸Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.

²⁹Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.

³¹Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,

³²and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,

²and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints.

⁴Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving.

⁵Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient.

⁷Therefore do not be associated with them.

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

⁹for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.

¹⁰Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.

¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

¹²For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly;

¹³but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,

¹⁴for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise,

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

¹⁷So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

¹⁸Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit,

¹⁹as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts,

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

²¹Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord.

²³For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior.

²⁴Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

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

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

²⁷so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind — yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish.

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

²⁹For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church,

³⁰because we are members of his body.

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

³²This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.

³³Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.

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

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

³“so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

⁴And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

⁵Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ;

⁶not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

⁷Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women,

⁸knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free.

⁹And, masters, do the same to them. Stop threatening them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

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

¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

¹⁴Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness.

¹⁵As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

¹⁶With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench 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 in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

¹⁹Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,

²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

²¹So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus will tell you everything. He is a dear brother and a faithful minister in the Lord.

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

²³Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace be with all who have an 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, with the bishops and deacons:

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

³I thank my God every time I remember you,

⁴constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,

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

⁶I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

⁷It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

⁸For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

⁹And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight

¹⁰to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,

¹¹having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

¹²I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel,

¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ;

¹⁴and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

¹⁵Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill.

¹⁶These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel;

¹⁷the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment.

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

¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.

²⁰It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death.

²¹For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer.

²³I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better;

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

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

²⁶so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

²⁷Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

²⁸and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing.

²⁹For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well —

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

¹If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy,

²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

⁴Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,

⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,

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

⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,

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

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

¹²Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

¹³for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

¹⁴Do all things without murmuring and arguing,

¹⁵so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.

¹⁶It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

¹⁷But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you —

¹⁸and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

¹⁹I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you.

²⁰I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

²¹All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

²²But Timothy’s worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

²³I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me;

²⁴and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.

²⁵Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus — my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, your messenger and minister to my need;

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

²⁷He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.

²⁸I am the more eager to send him, therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.

²⁹Welcome him then in the Lord with all joy, and honor such people,

³⁰because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.

¹Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. Breaking with the Past To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard.

²Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!

³For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh —

⁴even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:

⁵circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

⁶as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

⁷Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.

⁸More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

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

¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,

¹¹if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

¹³Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you.

¹⁶Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

¹⁷Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.

¹⁸For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.

¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.

²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

¹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

²I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.

³Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

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

⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

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

⁸Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

⁹Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it.

¹¹Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.

¹²I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.

¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

¹⁴In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress.

¹⁵You Philippians indeed 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 when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once.

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

¹⁸I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

¹⁹And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²¹Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The friends who are with me greet you.

²²All the saints greet you, especially those of the emperor’s household.

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

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

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

³In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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

⁵because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel

⁶that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.

⁷This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,

⁸and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

¹⁰so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.

¹¹May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully

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

¹³He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,

¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

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

¹⁶for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers — all things have been created through him and for him.

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

¹⁸He is 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 in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

²⁰and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

²¹And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

²²he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him —

²³provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

²⁴I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.

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

²⁶the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.

²⁷To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

²⁹For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.

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

²I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself,

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments.

⁵For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

⁶As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him,

⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.

⁹For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

¹⁰and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

¹¹In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;

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

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

¹⁴erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.

¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

¹⁶Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.

¹⁷These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

¹⁸Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,

¹⁹and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

²⁰If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations,

²¹“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”?

²²All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings.

²³These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.

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

²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,

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

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

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).

⁶On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.

⁷These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.

⁸But now you must get rid of all such things — anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.

⁹Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices

¹⁰and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.

¹¹In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

¹²As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

¹³Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

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

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

¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

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

¹⁸Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

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

²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord.

²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart.

²²Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.

²³Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters,

²⁴since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.

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

¹Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, for you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

²Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

³At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison,

⁴so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should.

⁵Conduct yourselves 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 ought to answer everyone.

⁷Tychicus will tell you all the news about me; he is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord.

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

⁹he is coming with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.

¹⁰Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions — if he comes to you, welcome him.

¹¹And Jesus who is called Justus greets you. These are the only ones of the circumcision among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

¹²Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you. He is always wrestling in his prayers on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in everything that God wills.

¹³For I testify for him that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.

¹⁴Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.

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

¹⁶And when this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter from Laodicea.

¹⁷And say to Archippus, “See that you complete the task that you have received in the Lord.”

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