Paul says ‘hello’

16 I want you to know that our Christian friend Phoebe is a good person. She is a servant of the church at Cenchrea. ² Please be kind to her when she comes to you, because you belong to the Lord. Help her in the way that God's people ought to help one another. Give to her the things that she needs. She has worked to help me as well as many other people.^[a]

³ Say ‘hello’ on my behalf to Priscilla and Aquila. They have worked together with me as servants of Christ Jesus. ⁴ They were even ready to die so that they could help me. So I have a good reason to thank them. All the groups of Gentile believers also have a good reason to thank them. ⁵ Also say ‘hello’ for me to the group of believers who meet in Priscilla and Aquila's house.

Say ‘hello’ to my very good friend Epenetus. He was the first person in the region of Asia who believed in Christ.

⁶ Say ‘hello’ to Mary, who has worked very much on your behalf. ⁷ Say ‘hello’ to my relatives Andronicus and Junia, who were in prison with me. The apostles know them well and respect them. They became believers in Christ before I did.

⁸ Say ‘hello’ to Ampliatus on my behalf. He is my very good friend in the Lord's family. ⁹ Say ‘hello’ to Urbanus, who works with us to serve Christ. Also say ‘hello’ to my good friend Stachys. ¹⁰ Say ‘hello’ to Apelles. He has shown that he trusts Christ very well. Say ‘hello’ to those people who belong to Aristobulus's family. ¹¹ Say ‘hello’ to my relative Herodion. Say ‘hello’ to those people in Narcissus's family who belong to the Lord.

¹² Say ‘hello’ to Tryphena and Tryphosa. They work hard to serve the Lord. Say ‘hello’ to my good friend Persis. She has worked very hard to serve the Lord. ¹³ Say ‘hello’ to Rufus. He is a special servant of the Lord. Say ‘hello’ also to his mother, who has been kind to me, like a mother.

¹⁴ Say ‘hello’ to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas and Hermas. Say ‘hello’ also to all our Christian friends who are there with them. ¹⁵ Say ‘hello’ to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas. Say ‘hello’ also to all God's people who are there with them.

¹⁶ When you meet, kiss each other as Christian brothers and sisters. The people of all the Christian churches here say ‘hello’ to you.

False teachers

¹⁷ My Christian friends, I want to tell you something important. Be very careful about people who teach wrong things. They teach things that are different from God's true message that you learned. Those people cause you to quarrel with each other. They cause people to turn away from God. You must stay away from them. ¹⁸ People who are like that are not servants of our Lord Christ. Instead, they are doing the things which please themselves. They speak words that seem very nice, but they deceive people who easily accept a false message.

¹⁹ Everyone knows that you obey God well. So I am very happy because of you. But I want you to understand clearly what things are good. And I want you to stay away from the things that are bad. ²⁰ God gives us peace in our minds. He will quickly help you to win against the power of Satan. I pray that our Lord Jesus will continue to be kind to you.

Paul finishes his letter

²¹ Timothy, who is working together with me, says ‘hello’ to you. My relatives Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, also say ‘hello’ to you.

²² I, Tertius, have written down this letter for Paul. I also belong to the Lord and I say ‘hello’ to you.^[b]

²³ Gaius also says ‘hello’ to you. I, Paul, am staying in his house. The group of Christians here also meet together in his house. Erastus also says ‘hello’ to you. He is an officer who takes care of the city's money. Our Christian friend Quartus says ‘hello’ to you too.

[²⁴ I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be very kind to all of you.]^[c]

²⁵ We praise God because he is great! He is able to make you strong in your spirits! That is the good news that I teach. That good news is the message about Jesus Christ that God has kept secret since long ago. But now he has shown this message to us. ²⁶ God's prophets already wrote that this good news would come. God, who lives for ever, has commanded us to tell it to people. He wants people from all nations to know this message. Then they can believe in God and obey him.

²⁷ Yes, we praise God! Only he is completely wise. We praise him for ever, because of Jesus Christ! This is true. Amen.