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

4 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters,^[a] 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.

⁹ God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart^[a] by spreading the Good News about his Son.

⁴ I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.

⁸ We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.

¹² I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.

God’s Selection of Israel

9 With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it.

2 I 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.

¹⁹ Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.

²⁰ I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.