Put On the New Self

3 Therefore, if you have been ^(A)raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, ^(B)seated at the right hand of God. ^2 [a](C)Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. ³ For you have ^(D)died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, ^(E)who is our life, is revealed, ^(F)then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

^5 (G)Therefore, ^[b]treat ^(H)the parts of your earthly body as dead to ^(I)sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which ^[c]amounts to idolatry. ⁶ For it is because of these things that ^(J)the wrath of God is coming ^[d]upon the ^[e]sons of disobedience, ⁷ and ^(K)in them you also once walked, when you were living ^[f]in them. ⁸ But now you also, ^(L)rid yourselves of all of them: ^(M)anger, wrath, malice, slander, and ^(N)obscene speech from your mouth. ^9 [g](O)Do not lie to one another, since you ^(P)stripped off the old ^[h]self with its evil practices, ¹⁰ and have ^(Q)put on the new self, which is being ^[i](R)renewed to a true knowledge ^(S)according to the image of the One who ^(T)created it— ¹¹ a renewal in which ^(U)there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, ^(V)circumcised and uncircumcised, ^[j](W)barbarian, ^[k]Scythian, ^(X)slave, and free, but ^(Y)Christ is all, and in all.

¹² So, as those who have been ^(Z)chosen of God, holy and beloved, ^(AA)put on a ^(AB)heart of compassion, kindness, ^(AC)humility, gentleness, and ^[l](AD)patience; ^13 (AE)bearing with one another, and ^(AF)forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; ^(AG)just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also. ¹⁴ In addition to all these things put on love, which is ^[m](AH)the perfect bond of ^(AI)unity. ¹⁵ Let ^(AJ)the peace of Christ, to which you were ^[n]indeed called in ^(AK)one body, ^[o]rule in your hearts; and ^[p]be thankful. ¹⁶ Let ^(AL)the word of ^[q]Christ richly dwell within you, ^[r]with all wisdom ^(AM)teaching and admonishing ^[s]one another ^(AN)with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, ^(AO)singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ^17 (AP)Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, ^(AQ)giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Family Relations

^18 (AR)Wives, ^(AS)be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ^19 (AT)Husbands, love your wives and do not become bitter against them. ^20 (AU)Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing ^[t]to the Lord. ^21 (AV)Fathers, do not ^[u]antagonize your children, so that they will not become discouraged.

^22 [v](AW)Slaves, obey those who are your ^[w]human masters in everything, ^(AX)not with ^[x]eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, do your work ^[y]heartily, ^(AY)as for the Lord and not for people, ^24 (AZ)knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward ^[z]of ^(BA)the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you ^(BB)serve. ²⁵ For ^(BC)the one who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and ^[aa](BD)that without partiality.

4 Masters, grant your slaves justice and fairness, ^(BE)knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

^2 (BF)Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; ³ praying at the same time ^(BG)for us as well, that God will open up to us a ^(BH)door for ^(BI)the word, so that we may proclaim ^(BJ)the mystery of Christ, for which I have also ^(BK)been imprisoned; ⁴ that I may make it clear ^(BL)in the way that I ought to proclaim it.

^5 [ab](BM)Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward ^(BN)outsiders, ^[ac](BO)making the most of the opportunity. ^6 (BP)Your speech must always be ^[ad]with grace, as though seasoned with ^(BQ)salt, so that you will know how you should ^(BR)respond to each person.

^7 (BS)As to all my affairs, ^(BT)Tychicus, our ^(BU)beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. ^8 (BV)For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may ^(BW)encourage your hearts; ^9 [ae]and with him is ^(BX)Onesimus, our faithful and ^(BY)beloved brother, ^(BZ)who is one of your own. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

^10 (CA)Aristarchus, my ^(CB)fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also ^(CC)Barnabas’ cousin Mark (about whom you received ^[af]instructions; ^(CD)if he comes to you, welcome him); ¹¹ and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only ^(CE)fellow workers for the kingdom of God ^(CF)who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me. ^12 (CG)Epaphras, ^(CH)who is one of your own, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings, always ^(CI)striving earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may ^[ag]stand ^[ah](CJ)mature and ^[ai]fully assured in all the will of God. ¹³ For I testify for him that he has ^[aj]a deep concern for you and for those who are in ^(CK)Laodicea and Hierapolis. ^14 (CL)Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and ^(CM)Demas does also. ¹⁵ Greet the brothers and sisters who are in ^(CN)Laodicea and also ^[ak]Nympha and ^(CO)the church that is in ^[al]her house. ^16 (CP)When ^[am]this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part, ^(CQ)read ^[an]my letter that is coming from ^(CR)Laodicea. ¹⁷ Tell ^(CS)Archippus, “See to the ^(CT)ministry which you have received in the Lord, so that you may ^[ao]fulfill it.”

^18 [ap]I, Paul, ^(CU)write this greeting with my own hand. ^(CV)Remember my ^[aq](CW)imprisonment. ^(CX)Grace be with you.

Giving Thanks for These Believers

1 ^(A)Paul, ^(B)Silvanus, and ^(C)Timothy,

To the ^(D)church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ^(E)Grace to you and peace.

^2 (F)We always give thanks to God for all of you, ^(G)making mention of you in our prayers; ³ constantly keeping in mind your ^(H)work of faith and labor of ^(I)love and ^[a](J)perseverance of hope ^[b]in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of ^(K)our God and Father, ⁴ knowing, ^(L)brothers and sisters, beloved by God, ^(M)His choice of you; ⁵ for our ^(N)gospel did not come to you in word only, but also ^(O)in power and in the Holy Spirit and with ^(P)full conviction; just as you know ^(Q)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes. ⁶ You also became ^(R)imitators of us and of the Lord, ^(S)having received ^(T)the word during great affliction with the ^(U)joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in ^(V)Macedonia and ^(W)Achaia. ⁸ For ^(X)the word of the Lord has ^(Y)sounded forth from you, not only in ^(Z)Macedonia and ^(AA)Achaia, but ^(AB)in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. ⁹ For they themselves report about us ^[c]as to the kind of ^(AC)reception we had with you, and how you ^(AD)turned to God ^(AE)from ^[d]idols to serve ^[e](AF)a living and true God, ¹⁰ and to ^(AG)wait for His Son from ^[f]heaven, whom He ^(AH)raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who ^(AI)rescues us from ^(AJ)the wrath to come.

Paul’s Ministry

2 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our ^[g](AK)reception among you ^(AL)was not in vain, ² but after we had already suffered and been ^(AM)treated abusively in ^(AN)Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God ^(AO)to speak to you the ^(AP)gospel of God ^[h]amid much ^[i](AQ)opposition. ³ For our ^(AR)exhortation does not come from ^(AS)error or ^(AT)impurity or ^[j]by way of ^(AU)deceit; ^4 (AV)but just as we have been approved by God to be ^(AW)entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, ^(AX)not intending to please people, but to please God, who ^[k](AY)examines our hearts. ⁵ For we never came ^[l]with flattering speech, as you know, nor with ^(AZ)a pretext ^[m]for greed—^(BA)God is our witness— ⁶ nor did we ^(BB)seek honor from people, either from you or from others, though ^[n]we could have ^[o]asserted our authority as ^(BC)apostles of Christ. ⁷ But we ^[p]proved to be ^[q](BD)gentle ^[r]among you. ^(BE)As a nursing mother ^[s]tenderly cares for her own children, ⁸ in the same way we had a fond affection for you and were delighted to ^(BF)share with you not only the ^(BG)gospel of God, but also our own ^[t]lives, because you had become ^[u]very dear to us.

⁹ For you recall, brothers and sisters, our ^(BH)labor and hardship: it was by ^(BI)working night and day so as not to be a ^(BJ)burden to any of you, that we proclaimed to you the ^(BK)gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is ^(BL)God, of ^(BM)how devoutly and rightly and blamelessly we ^[v]behaved toward you ^[w]believers; ¹¹ just as you know how we were ^(BN)exhorting and encouraging and ^(BO)imploring each one of you as ^(BP)a father would his own children, ¹² so that you would ^(BQ)walk in a manner worthy of the God who ^(BR)calls you into His own kingdom and ^(BS)glory.

¹³ For this reason we also constantly ^(BT)thank God that when you received the ^(BU)word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it ^(BV)not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, ^(BW)which also is at work in you who believe. ¹⁴ For you, brothers and sisters, became ^(BX)imitators of ^(BY)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are ^(BZ)in Judea, for ^(CA)you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, ^(CB)even as they did from the Jews, ^15 (CC)who both killed the Lord Jesus and ^(CD)the prophets, and ^[x]drove us out. ^[y]They are not pleasing to God, ^[z]but hostile to all people, ^16 (CE)hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles ^(CF)so that they may be saved; with the result that they always ^[aa](CG)reach the limit of their sins. But ^(CH)wrath has come upon them ^[ab]fully.

¹⁷ But we, brothers and sisters, having been orphaned from you by absence for a ^[ac]short while—^(CI)in ^[ad]person, not in ^[ae]spirit—were all the more eager with great desire ^(CJ)to see your face. ^18 [af]For ^(CK)we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, ^[ag](CL)more than once—and ^(CM)Satan ^(CN)hindered us. ¹⁹ For who is our hope, or ^(CO)joy or crown of pride, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His ^[ah](CP)coming? Or is it not indeed you? ²⁰ For you are ^(CQ)our glory and joy.

Encouragement of Timothy’s Visit

3 Therefore, ^(CR)when we could no longer endure it, we thought it best to be left behind, alone at ^(CS)Athens, ² and we sent ^(CT)Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the benefit of your faith, ³ so that no one would be ^[ai]disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that ^(CU)we have been destined for this. ⁴ For even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; ^[aj](CV)and so it happened, ^[ak]as you know. ⁵ For this reason, ^(CW)when I could no longer endure it, I also ^(CX)sent to ^[al]find out about your faith, for fear that ^(CY)the tempter might have tempted you, and ^(CZ)our labor would be for nothing.

⁶ But now that ^(DA)Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of ^(DB)your faith and love, and that you always ^(DC)think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, ⁷ for this reason, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; ⁸ for now we really live, if you ^(DD)stand firm in the Lord. ⁹ For ^(DE)what thanks can we give to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before our God, ¹⁰ as we ^(DF)keep praying most earnestly night and day that we may ^(DG)see your faces, and may ^(DH)complete what is lacking in your faith?

^11 (DI)Now may ^(DJ)our God and Father ^(DK)Himself, and our Lord Jesus, ^(DL)direct our way to you; ¹² and may the Lord cause you to increase and ^(DM)overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; ¹³ so that He may ^(DN)establish your hearts ^(DO)blameless in holiness before ^(DP)our God and Father at the ^[am](DQ)coming of our Lord Jesus ^(DR)with all His ^[an]saints.