Study Desk

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

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

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—

I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts,

and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,

because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.

For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive,

For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

For you know how, like a father with his children,