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

¹³ Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Paul’s Interest in the Colossians

²⁴ I 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.

⁶ If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering.

Paul’s Present Circumstances

¹² I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the progress of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard^[a] and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ, ¹⁴ and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word^[b] with greater boldness and without fear.

Paul’s Ministry to the Gentiles

3 This is the reason that I, Paul, am a prisoner for^[a] Christ Jesus^[b] for the sake of you gentiles,

³ Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,^[a] so that you may not grow weary in your souls or lose heart.^{(A) 4} In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—

⁹ So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.^(A)

²² There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.”^(A)