if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ¹  without shifting ²  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

For though ¹  I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see ²  your morale ³  and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

because we recall ¹  in the presence of our God and Father ²  your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope ³  in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For from you the message of the Lord ¹  has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, ²  so that we do not need to say anything.

We ¹  sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God ²  in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith,

So ¹  when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

But now Timothy has come ¹  to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection ²  and long to see us just as we also long to see you! ³ 

We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, ¹  and rightly so, ²  because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater.

As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring.

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,

But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters ¹  loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning ²  for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

I recall ¹  your sincere faith ²  that was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure ³  is in you.

Therefore we must progress beyond ¹  the elementary ²  instructions about Christ ³  and move on ⁴  to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,

By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith ¹  he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith ²  he still speaks, though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.

These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, ¹  but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners ²  on the earth.

keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ¹ 

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! ¹  Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

Such trials show the proven character of your faith, ¹  which is much more valuable than gold – gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away ²  – and will bring praise ³  and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁴ 

because ¹  everyone ²  who has been fathered by God ³  conquers ⁴  the world. ⁵ This ⁶  is the conquering power ⁷  that has conquered ⁸  the world: our faith.