Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

³ Every time I think of you I thank God for you.

⁴ I have joy in my heart every time I ask God to help you.

⁵ I thank God for the joy we share in telling the good news from the very first day until now.

⁶ God began to do a good work in you. And I am sure that he will keep on doing it until he has finished it. He will keep on until the day Jesus Christ comes again.

⁷ I have a right to feel this way about you all because I love you very much. God is good to me and you all share in this goodness. You share in my troubles in prison. You share in my work of staying true to the good news of Jesus.

⁸ I love you all as Jesus Christ loves you. God knows that what I say is true.

¹⁰ When I talk to God I ask that you may have more and more love. I ask him that you will also know and understand, so that you will be able to see what things are right. I want you to be clean with nothing wrong in you when Jesus Christ comes back.

¹¹ I want you to be doing right by the help of Jesus Christ. That will make people praise God and will show how great he is.

¹² My brothers, I want you to know that what has happened to me has made more people know about the good news.

¹³ All the soldiers here and all the other people know that I am in prison because of Christ.

¹⁴ Because I am in prison, most of my Christian brothers are stronger for the Lord. They are strong in the faith now and they are not afraid to tell God's good news about Jesus Christ.