Colossians (Col) 3

1 So if you were raised along with the Messiah, then seek the things above, where the Messiah is sitting at the right hand of God.

2 Focus your minds on the things above, not on things here on earth.

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.

4 When the Messiah, who is our life, appears, then you too will appear with him in glory!

5 Therefore, put to death the earthly parts of your nature — sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry);

6 for it is because of these things that God’s anger is coming on those who disobey him.

7 True enough, you used to practice these things in the life you once lived;

8 but now, put them all away — anger, exasperation, meanness, slander and obscene talk.

9 Never lie to one another; because you have stripped away the old self, with its ways,

10 and have put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator.

11 The new self allows no room for discriminating between Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, savage, slave, free man; on the contrary, in all, the Messiah is everything.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

13 Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.

14 Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly;

15 and let theshalomwhich comes from the Messiah be your heart’s decision-maker, for this is why you were called to be part of a single Body.

And be thankful —

16 let the Word of the Messiah, in all its richness, live in you, as you teach and counsel each other in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude to God in your hearts.

17 That is, everything you do or say, do in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

18 Wives, subject yourselves to your husbands, as is appropriate in the Lord.

19 Husbands, love your wives and don’t treat them harshly.

20 Children, obey your parents in everything; for this pleases the Lord.

21 Fathers, don’t irritate your children and make them resentful, or they will become discouraged.

22 Slaves, obey your human masters in everything, not serving only when they are watching you, to win their favor, but single-heartedly, fearing the Lord.

23 Whatever work you do, put yourself into it, as those who are serving not merely other people, but the Lord.

24 Remember that as your reward, you will receive the inheritance from the Lord. You are slaving for the Lord, for the Messiah.

25 Don’t worry — whoever is doing wrong will be paid in kind for his wrong, and there is no favoritism shown.

Colossians (Col) 4

1 Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly. Remember that you too have a Master in heaven.

2 Keep persisting in prayer, staying alert in it and being thankful.

3 Include prayer for us, too, that God may open a door for us to proclaim the message about the secret of the Messiah — for that is why I am in prison.

4 And pray that I may speak, as I should, in a way that makes the message clear.

5 Behave wisely toward outsiders, making full use of every opportunity —

6 let your conversation always be gracious and interesting, so that you will know how to respond to any particular individual.

7 Our dear brother Tychicus, who is a faithful worker and fellow-slave in the Lord, will give you all the news about me.

8 I have sent him to you for this very reason — so that you might know how we are, and so that he might encourage you.

9 I have sent him with Onesimus, the dear and faithful brother, who is one of you; they will tell you everything that has happened here.

10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends greetings, as does Mark, Bar-Nabba’s cousin, concerning whom you have received instructions — if he comes to you, welcome him.

11 Yeshua, the one called Justus, also sends greetings. These three are among the Circumcised; and among my fellow workers for the Kingdom of God, only they have turned out to be a comfort to me.

12 Epaphras sends greetings; he is one of you, a slave of the Messiah Yeshua who always agonizes in his prayer on your behalf, praying that you may stand firm, mature and fully confident, as you devote yourselves completely to God’s will.

13 For I can testify to him that he works hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send you greetings.

15 Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, also to Nympha and the congregation that meets in her home.

16 After this letter has been read to you, have it read also in the congregation of the Laodiceans; and you, in turn, are to read the letter that will come from Laodicea.

17 And tell Archippus, “See that you complete the task you were given in the Lord.”

18 This greeting I, Sha’ul, write with my own hand.

Remember my imprisonment!

Grace be with you!

Philippians (Php) 1

1 From: Sha’ul and Timothy, slaves of the Messiah Yeshua

To: All God’s people united with the Messiah Yeshua and living in Philippi, along with the congregation leaders andshammashim:

2 Grace to you andshalomfrom God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

3 I thank my God every time I think of you.

4 Whenever I pray for all of you I always pray with joy,

5 because you have shared in proclaiming the Good News from the very first day until now.

6 And I am sure of this: that the One who began a good work among you will keep it growing until it is completed on the Day of the Messiah Yeshua.

7 It is right for me to think this way about you all, because I have you on my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and establishing the Good News, you are all sharing with me in this privileged work.

8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the deep affection of the Messiah Yeshua.

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may more and more overflow in fullness of knowledge and depth of discernment,

10 so that you will be able to determine what is best and thus be pure and without blame for the Day of the Messiah,

11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Yeshua the Messiah — to the glory and praise of God.

12 Now, brothers, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped in advancing the Good News.

13 It has become clear to the whole palace and to everyone else that it is because of the Messiah that I am in chains.

14 Also, my being in prison has given most of the brothers in the Lord confidence, so that they have become much more bold in speaking the word of God fearlessly.

15 True, some are proclaiming the Messiah out of jealousy and rivalry, but others are doing it in goodwill.

16 The latter act from love, aware that I am put where I am for defending the Good News;

17 while the former announce the Messiah out of selfish ambition, with impure motives, supposing they can stir up trouble for me in prison.

18 But so what? All that matters is that in every way, whether honestly or in pretense, the Messiah is being proclaimed; and in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

19 for I know that this will work out for my deliverance, because of your prayers and the support I get from the Spirit of Yeshua the Messiah.

20 It all accords with my earnest expectation and hope that I will have nothing to be ashamed of; but rather, now, as always, the Messiah will be honored by my body, whether it is alive or dead.

21 For to me, life is the Messiah, and death is gain.

22 But if by living on in the body I can do fruitful work, then I don’t know which to choose.

23 I am caught in a dilemma: my desire is to go off and be with the Messiah — that is better by far —

24 but because of you, the greater need is to stay on in the body.

25 Yes, I am convinced of this; so I know I will stay on with you in order to help you progress in the faith and have joy in it.

26 Then, through my being with you again, you will have even greater reason for boasting about the Messiah Yeshua.

27 Only conduct your lives in a way worthy of the Good News of the Messiah; so that whether I come and see you or I hear about you from a distance, you stand firm, united in spirit, fighting with one accord for the faith of the Good News,

28 not frightened by anything the opposition does. This will be for them an indication that they are headed for destruction and you for deliverance. And this is from God;

29 because for the Messiah’s sake it has been granted to you not only to trust in him but also to suffer on his behalf,

30 to fight the same battles you once saw me fight and now hear that I am still fighting.

Philippians (Php) 2

1 Therefore, if you have any encouragement for me from your being in union with the Messiah, any comfort flowing from love, any fellowship with me in the Spirit, or any compassion and sympathy,

2 then complete my joy by having a common purpose and a common love, by being one in heart and mind.

3 Do nothing out of rivalry or vanity; but, in humility, regard each other as better than yourselves —

4 look out for each other’s interests and not just for your own.

5 Let your attitude toward one another be governed by your being in union with the Messiah Yeshua:

6 Though he was in the form of God,

he did not regard equality with God

something to be possessed by force.

7 On the contrary, he emptied himself,

in that he took the form of a slave

by becoming like human beings are.

And when he appeared as a human being,

8 he humbled himself still more

by becoming obedient even to death —

death on a stake as a criminal!

9 Therefore God raised him to the highest place

and gave him the name above every name;

10 that in honor of the name given Yeshua,

every knee will bow —

in heaven, on earth and under the earth —

11 and every tongue will acknowledge

that Yeshua the Messiah isAdonai—

to the glory of God the Father.

12 So, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey now when I am away from you: keep working out your deliverance with fear and trembling,

13 for God is the one working among you both the willing and the working for what pleases him.

14 Do everything withoutkvetchingor arguing,

15 so that you may be blameless and pure children of God, without defect in the midst of a twisted and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the sky,

16 as you hold on to the Word of Life. If you do this, I will be able to boast, when the Day of the Messiah comes, that I did not run or toil for nothing.

17 Indeed, even if my lifeblood is poured out as a drink offering over the sacrifice and service of your faith, I will still be glad and rejoice with you all.

18 Likewise, you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

19 But I hope in the Lord Yeshua to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I too may be cheered by knowing how you are doing.

20 I have no one who compares with him, who will care so sincerely for your welfare —

21 people all put their own interests ahead of the Messiah Yeshua’s.

22 But you know his character, that like a child with his father he slaved with me to advance the Good News.

23 So I hope to send him just as soon as I see how things will go with me,

24 and I am confident in the Lord that before long I myself will come too.

25 Also I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, the emissary whom you sent to take care of my needs;

26 since he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard he was ill.

27 Indeed he was ill, close to death; but God had mercy on him — and not only on him, but also on me — otherwise I would have had sorrow piled on sorrow.

28 Therefore, I am all the more eager to send him, so that you may rejoice when you see him again; and I, for my part, may be less sad.

29 So give him a joyful welcome in the Lord; honor such people.

30 For he risked his life and nearly died working for the Messiah, in order to give me the help you were not in a position to give.

Philippians (Php) 3

1 In conclusion, my brothers: rejoice in union with the Lord.

It is no trouble for me to repeat what I have written you before, and for you it will be a safeguard:

2 beware of the dogs, those evildoers, the Mutilated!

3 For it is we who are the Circumcised, we who worship by the Spirit of God and make our boast in the Messiah Yeshua! We do not put confidence in human qualifications,

4 even though I certainly have grounds for putting confidence in such things. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for putting confidence in human qualifications, I have better grounds:

6

7 But the things that used to be advantages for me, I have, because of the Messiah, come to consider a disadvantage.

8 Not only that, but I consider everything a disadvantage in comparison with the supreme value of knowing the Messiah Yeshua as my Lord. It was because of him that I gave up everything and regard it all as garbage, in order to gain the Messiah

9 and be found in union with him, not having any righteousness of my own based on legalism, but having that righteousness which comes through the Messiah’s faithfulness, the righteousness from God based on trust.

10 Yes, I gave it all up in order to know him, that is, to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings as I am being conformed to his death,

11 so that somehow I might arrive at being resurrected from the dead.

12 It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal — no, I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that for which the Messiah Yeshua took hold of me.

13 Brothers, I, for my part, do not think of myself as having yet gotten hold of it; but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind me and straining forward toward what lies ahead,

14 I keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize offered by God’s upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua.

15 Therefore, as many of us as are mature, let us keep paying attention to this; and if you are differently minded about anything, God will also reveal this to you.

16 Only let our conduct fit the level we have already reached.

17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and pay attention to those who live according to the pattern we have set for you.

18 For many — I have told you about them often before, and even now I say it with tears — live as enemies of the Messiah’s execution-stake.

19 They are headed for destruction! Their god is the belly; they are proud of what they ought to be ashamed of, since they are concerned about the things of the world.

20 But we are citizens of heaven, and it is from there that we expect a Deliverer, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

21 He will change the bodies we have in this humble state and make them like his glorious body, using the power which enables him to bring everything under his control.

Philippians (Php) 4

1 So, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, my dear friends, keep standing firm in union with the Lord.

2 I beg Evodia and I beg Syntyche to agree with each other in union with the Lord.

3 I also request you, loyal Syzygus, to help these women; for they have worked hard proclaiming the Good News with me, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers whose names are in the Book of Life.

4 Rejoice in union with the Lord always! I will say it again: rejoice!

5 Let everyone see how reasonable and gentle you are. The Lord is near!

6 Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving.

7 Then God’sshalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua.

8 In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy.

9 Keep doing what you have learned and received from me, what you have heard and seen me doing; then the God who givesshalomwill be with you.

10 In union with the Lord I greatly rejoice that now, after this long time, you have let your concern for me express itself again. Of course, you were concerned for me all along, but you had no opportunity to express it.

11 Not that I am saying this to call attention to any need of mine; since, as far as I am concerned, I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances.

12 I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it is to have more than enough — in everything and in every way I have learned the secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need.

13 I can do all things through him who gives me power.

14 Nevertheless, it was good of you to share in my trouble.

15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the early days of my work spreading the Good News, when I left Macedonia, not a single congregation shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving — only you.

16 Indeed, in Thessalonica when I needed it, you sent me aid twice.

17 I am not seeking the gift; rather, I am looking for what will increase the credit balance of your account.

18 I have been more than paid in full: I have been filled, since I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent — they are a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, one that pleases God well.

19 Moreover, my God will fill every need of yours according to his glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua.

20 And to God our Father be the glory forever and ever.Amen.

21 Greet each of God’s people in the Messiah Yeshua. The brothers with me send their greetings to you.

22 All God’s people send greetings, but especially those in the Emperor’s household.

23 The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit.

Ephesians (Eph) 1

1 From: Sha’ul, by God’s will an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua

To: God’s people living in Ephesus, that is, those who are trusting in the Messiah Yeshua:

2 Grace to you andshalomfrom God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

3 Praised beAdonai, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who in the Messiah has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven.

4 In the Messiah he chose us in love before the creation of the universe to be holy and without defect in his presence.

5 He determined in advance that through Yeshua the Messiah we would be his sons — in keeping with his pleasure and purpose —

6 so that we would bring him praise commensurate with the glory of the grace he gave us through the Beloved One.

7 In union with him, through the shedding of his blood, we are set free — our sins are forgiven; this accords with the wealth of the grace

8 he has lavished on us. In all his wisdom and insight

9 he has made known to us his secret plan, which by his own will he designed beforehand in connection with the Messiah

10 and will put into effect when the time is ripe — his plan to place everything in heaven and on earth under the Messiah’s headship.

11 Also in union with him we were given an inheritance, we who were picked in advance according to the purpose of the One who effects everything in keeping with the decision of his will,

12 so that we who earlier had put our hope in the Messiah would bring him praise commensurate with his glory.

13 Furthermore, you who heard the message of the truth, the Good News offering you deliverance, and put your trust in the Messiah were sealed by him with the promisedRuach HaKodesh,

14 who guarantees our inheritance until we come into possession of it and thus bring him praise commensurate with his glory.

15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your trust in the Lord Yeshua and your love for all God’s people,

16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you. In my prayers I keep asking

17 the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you will have full knowledge of him.

18 I pray that he will give light to the eyes of your hearts, so that you will understand the hope to which he has called you, what rich glories there are in the inheritance he has promised his people,

19 and how surpassingly great is his power working in us who trust him. It works with the same mighty strength he used

20 when he worked in the Messiah to raise him from the dead and seat him at his right hand in heaven,

21 far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion or any other name that can be named either in the‘olam hazehor in the‘olam haba.

22 Also, he has put all things under his feet and made him head over everything for the Messianic Community,

23 which is his body, the full expression of him who fills all creation.

Ephesians (Eph) 2

1 You used to be dead because of your sins and acts of disobedience.

2 You walked in the ways of the‘olam hazehand obeyed the Ruler of the Powers of the Air, who is still at work among the disobedient.

3 Indeed, we all once lived this way — we followed the passions of our old nature and obeyed the wishes of our old nature and our own thoughts. In our natural condition we were headed for God’s wrath, just like everyone else.

4 But God is so rich in mercy and loves us with such intense love

5 that, even when we were dead because of our acts of disobedience, he brought us to life along with the Messiah — it is by grace that you have been delivered.

6 That is, God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with him in heaven,

7 in order to exhibit in the ages to come how infinitely rich is his grace, how great is his kindness toward us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua.

8 For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift.

9 You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore no one should boast.

10 For we are of God’s making, created in union with the Messiah Yeshua for a life of good actions already prepared by God for us to do.

11 Therefore, remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth — called the Uncircumcised by those who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised —

12 at that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Isra’el. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying God’s promise. You were in this world without hope and without God.

13 But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah’s blood.

14 For he himself is ourshalom— he has made us both one and has broken down them’chitzahwhich divided us

15 by destroying in his own body the enmity occasioned by theTorah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. He did this in order to create in union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus makeshalom,

16 and in order to reconcile to God both in a single body by being executed on a stake as a criminal and thus in himself killing that enmity.

17 Also, when he came, he announced as Good Newsshalomto you far off andshalomto those nearby,

18 news that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

19 So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family.

20 You have been built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself.

21 In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord.

22 Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God!

Ephesians (Eph) 3

1 It is a consequence of this that I, Sha’ul, am a prisoner of the Messiah Yeshua on behalf of you Gentiles.

2 I assume that you have heard of the work God in his grace has given me to do for your benefit,

3 and that it was by a revelation that this secret plan was made known to me. I have already written about it briefly,

4 and if you read what I have written, you will grasp how I understand this secret plan concerning the Messiah.

5 In past generations it was not made known to mankind, as the Spirit is now revealing it to his emissaries and prophets,

6 that in union with the Messiah and through the Good News the Gentiles were to be joint heirs, a joint body and joint sharers with the Jews in what God has promised.

7 I became a servant of this Good News by God’s gracious gift, which he gave me through the operation of his power.

8 To me, the least important of all God’s holy people, was given this privilege of announcing to the Gentiles the Good News of the Messiah’s unfathomable riches,

9 and of letting everyone see how this secret plan is going to work out. This plan, kept hidden for ages by God, the Creator of everything,

10 is for the rulers and authorities in heaven to learn, through the existence of the Messianic Community, how many-sided God’s wisdom is.

11 This accords with God’s age-old purpose, accomplished in the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.

12 In union with him, through his faithfulness, we have boldness and confidence when we approach God.

13 So I ask you not to be discouraged by the troubles I endure on your behalf — it is all for your glory.

14 For this reason, I fall on my knees before the Father,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its character.

16 I pray that from the treasures of his glory he will empower you with inner strength by his Spirit,

17 so that the Messiah may live in your hearts through your trusting. Also I pray that you will be rooted and founded in love,

18 so that you, with all God’s people, will be given strength to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of the Messiah’s love,

19 yes, to know it, even though it is beyond all knowing, so that you will be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who by his power working in us is able to do far beyond anything we can ask or imagine,

21 to him be glory in the Messianic Community and in the Messiah Yeshua from generation to generation forever.Amen.

Ephesians (Eph) 4

1 Therefore I, the prisoner united with the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

2 Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love,

3 and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power ofshalom.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope.

5 And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion,

6 and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all.

7 Each one of us, however, has been given grace to be measured by the Messiah’s bounty.

8 This is why it says,

“After he went up into the heights,

he led captivity captive

and he gave gifts to mankind.”

9 Now this phrase, “he went up,” what can it mean if not that he first went down into the lower parts, that is, the earth?

10 The one who went down is himself the one who also went up, far above all of heaven, in order to fill all things.

11 Furthermore, he gave some people as emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers.

12 Their task is to equip God’s people for the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah,

13 until we all arrive at the unity implied by trusting and knowing the Son of God, at full manhood, at the standard of maturity set by the Messiah’s perfection.

14 We will then no longer be infants tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive.

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah.

16 Under his control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love.

17 Therefore I say this — indeed, in union with the Lord I insist on it: do not live any longer as the pagans live, with their sterile ways of thinking.

18 Their intelligence has been shrouded in darkness, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance in them, which in turn comes from resisting God’s will.

19 They have lost all feeling, so they have abandoned themselves to sensuality, practicing any kind of impurity and always greedy for more.

20 But this is not the lesson you learned from the Messiah!

21 If you really listened to him and were instructed about him, then you learned that since what is in Yeshua is truth,

22 then, so far as your former way of life is concerned, you must strip off your old nature, because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires;

23 and you must let your spirits and minds keep being renewed,

24 and clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth.

25 Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor, because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body.

26 Be angry, but don’t sin — don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger;

27 otherwise you leave room for the Adversary.

28 The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.

29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them.

30 Don’t cause grief to God’sRuach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption.

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness.

32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you.