⁵ Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert^[a] in Asia for Christ.^(A)

¹⁵ Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in her^[a] house.^(A)

² to our^[a] sister Apphia, to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church in your^[b] house:^(A)

¹⁹ The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord.^(A)

¹⁵ Now, brothers and sisters, you know that members of the household of Stephanas were the first fruits in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints;^(A)

²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb,^(A)

Salutation

¹ The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

Gaius Commended for His Hospitality

² Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. ³ For I was overjoyed when some brothers and sisters arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the truth, how you walk in the truth.^{(A) 4} I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.^(B)

⁵ Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you;^{(C) 6} they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on in a manner worthy of God,^{(D) 7} for they began their journey for the sake of Christ,^[a] accepting no support from nonbelievers.^{[b](E) 8} Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may become coworkers with the truth.

Diotrephes and Demetrius

⁹ I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not welcome us. ¹⁰ So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with those charges, he refuses to welcome the brothers and sisters and even prevents those who want to do so and expels them from the church.^(F)

¹¹ Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.^{(G) 12} Everyone has testified favorably about Demetrius, and so has the truth^[c] itself. We also testify for him,^[d] and you know that our testimony is true.^(H)

Final Greetings

¹³ I have much to write to you, but I would rather not write to you with pen and ink;^{(I) 14} instead, I hope to see you soon, and we will talk together face to face.

¹⁵ Peace to you. The friends send you their greetings. Greet the friends there, each by name.^(J)

¹⁸ In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave birth to us by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.^(A)