For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ¹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²  to fill ³  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ¹  of Christ, ²  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ³  in all the will of God.

Now we do not want you to be uninformed, ¹  brothers and sisters, ²  about those who are asleep, ³  so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.

For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, ¹  that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.

Now when ¹  they are saying, “There is peace and security,” ²  then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains ³  on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.

And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling ¹  and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith,

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes ¹  and the man of lawlessness ²  is revealed, the son of destruction. ³ 

By pointing out such things to the brothers and sisters, ¹  you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, having nourished yourself on the words of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. ² 

Those who are under the yoke as slaves ¹  must regard their own masters as deserving of full respect. This will prevent ²  the name of God and Christian teaching ³  from being discredited. ⁴ 

Finally the crown of righteousness is reserved for me. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will award it to me in that day – and not to me only, but also to all who have set their affection on ¹  his appearing.

He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, ¹  so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching ²  and correct those who speak against it.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ¹  And yet God’s works ²  were accomplished from the foundation of the world.

but Jesus ¹  did so ²  with a sworn affirmation by the one who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever’” ³  –

But ¹  showing its fault, ²  God ³  says to them, ⁴  “Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our ¹  consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, ¹  to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin ²  but to bring salvation. ³ 

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. ¹  Let them do this ²  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. ¹  So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.

Happy is the one ¹  who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God ²  promised to those who love him.

But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ¹  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ²  will be blessed in what he does. ³