III

IF then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Have your minds on the things above and not on the things on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Treat the members of your earthly bodies as dead — dead to unchastity, impurity, passion, evil desire, and avarice, which is idolatry. On account of these things comes the wrath of God. To them you also were once habituated when you lived in them. But now you also must put away all wrath, anger, malice, abusive language. Vile talk must not be in your mouths. Do not lie to one another. You have stripped off the old self with his practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed into knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave or freeman, but Christ is all and in all.

Put on, then, as the chosen of God, holy and beloved, sympathies, compassions, kindness, humility, gentleness, slowness to anger, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any one has a grievance against any. Just as the Lord forgave you, so must you forgive. Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which is the perfect bond of union. Let the peace of Christ be umpire in your hearts. For this you were called into one body. And be thankful. The message of Christ must dwell in you richly, as you teach in all wisdom and admonish one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and sing with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, do not irritate your children, for they may lose heart. Slaves, obey in everything your mas

ters in the flesh, not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, because you reverence the Lord. Whatever you do, do it heartily as for the Lord and not for men, for you know that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. You are slaves to the Lord Christ. He who does wrong will be repaid for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

IV

MASTERS, give to your slaves what is just and equal, for you know that you have a Master in heaven.

Be earnest and constant in prayer. Be thankfully watchful in it. Pray along with us and for us that God may open for us a door for the message, so that I may tell the mystery of Christ for the sake of which I am in chains so that I may make it clear, as I ought. Behave wisely towards outsiders, buying up the opportunity. Let what you say be always with grace, seasoned with salt. Know how you should answer each one.

Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful worker and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you everything about me. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know my situation and that he may encourage your hearts. And with him I am sending Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you all about affairs here.

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends his greetings, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (you have received letters about him; if he comes, welcome him), and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These alone of those who are circumcised are my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

Epaphras, the servant of Christ Jesus, who is one of you, sends his greetings to you. He always wrestles in prayer on your behalf that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. I bear witness to the burden that he carries for you and for those in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas send you their greetings.

Give our greeting to the brethren in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.

When this letter has been read among you, have it read in the church of the Laodiceans, and you are to read the letter that will come from Laodicea.

Say to Archippus, See to it that you fully perform the service which you have accepted in the Lord.

The greeting of Paul, by my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

PAUL'S FIRST LETTER TO THE

THESSALONIANS

I

PAUL and Silvanus and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

We thank God always for you all when we mention you in our prayers, unceasingly remembering your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before God our Father. We know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you and that our good news came to you not in word only but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in great assurance, just as you know we acted among you for your benefit. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the message in great affliction with joy which the Holy Spirit gave, so that you became a pattern for all believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the message of the Lord sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith toward God has gone abroad, so that there is no need for us to speak a word. For the people themselves are telling about us, what a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven his Son Jesus whom he raised from the dead and who is saving us from the coming wrath.

II

You yourselves know, brethren, what a reception we had from you, that it was not without result, but after we had suffered and been roughly treated, as you know, in Philippi, we made bold in our God to speak to you the good news of God with great wrestling. For our appeal springs not from deception, nor from impure motives, nor from cunning, but as we have

been approved by God to be entrusted with the good news, so we speak, not as if we were pleasing men, but God, who tests our hearts. Nor did we ever fall into flattering talk, as you know, nor use any pretext for self-enrichment God is witness

nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or others, although we could have claimed the dignity of Christ's apostles. But we became gentle in the midst of you like a nursing mother cherishing her own children. Yearning over you so, we would gladly have imparted to you not only God's good news but our own lives as well, because you had become dear to us.

For you remember, brethren, our toil and labor as we worked night and day so as not to burden any one of you while we proclaimed to you the good news of God. You are witnesses - and God is witness how purely and justly and blamelessly we acted toward you who believe. You know that just like a father toward his own children we encouraged each one of you, and warned and conjured you to live lives worthy of the God who is calling you into his own kingdom and glory.

For this reason we unceasingly give thanks to God that when you received from us the report of the message of God you accepted it not as the message of men, but, as it truly is, the message of God, which also is doing its work in you who believe. For you became imitators, brethren, of the churches of God that are in Judæa in Christ Jesus, because you too suffered the same things from your fellow countrymen that they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out and do not please God and are enemies to all men, trying to prevent us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. All this goes always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's fiercest wrath has overtaken them.

But we, brethren, when bereft of you for a little while, out of sight not out of mind, endeavored more earnestly to see your faces, with great longing. For that reason we determined to come to you, yes, I, Paul, more than once: but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown to boast of before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? You are our glory and joy.