Colossians 4

₁You who are owners of slaves must do what is right and fair to them. You must remember that you also have an Owner in heaven.

₂Do not stop praying. You must take care when you pray and always thank God. ₃You must also pray for us. We want God to send us to preach the message of Christ to people again. It is a message that no one knew before which God has now given to us. I am in jail because I preached this message of Christ. ₄You must pray that I will preach this message again and explain it as God wants me to.

₅When you are with people who do not believe in Christ, then you must live in the right way. Yes, you must use your time in the best way you can. ₆Always be friendly when you talk to people. They must enjoy listening to you. Yes, you must always say the right words to everyone.

₇My good friend, Tychicus, will tell you everything that has happened to me. He does his work for the church very well. We work very hard together for the Lord. ₈I am sending Tychicus to you so that you can find out how we are. He will help you so that your faith will stay strong. ₉I am also sending Onesimus with Tychicus. Onesimus is a good friend who does his work very well. He is one of you. Onesimus and Tychicus will tell you about everything that has happened here.

₁₀Aristarchus is in jail with me and he sends greetings to you. Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, also sends greetings to you. I have already sent you a letter in which I told you that you must welcome Mark when he comes to you. ₁₁Our friend Justus, whose other name is also Jesus, also sends greetings to you. He, Aristarchus and Mark are the only Jews who have helped me tell the people about our God who is King. They have helped me a lot.

₁₂Epaphras also sends greetings to you. He lived there with you before, but he is here with me now and he also works for Christ. Epaphras always prays strongly for you. He asks God to help you so that you will be completely as He wants you to be and that you will do everything exactly as He wants you to do. ₁₃I am telling the truth when I say that he has worked very hard for you and for everyone who believes in Christ and who lives in the towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis.

₁₄Luke, the doctor, also sends greetings and we love him very much. Demas also sends greetings. ₁₅I, Paul, send greetings to everyone in Laodicea who believes in Christ and also to Nympha and the congregation that come together to worship in her home. ₁₆When you have finished reading this letter from me, you must send it to the congregation in Laodicea so that they can also read it. I have also sent them a letter and you must also read that letter.

₁₇You must tell Archippus that he must remember that the Lord gave him a special work to do, and that he must do it for Him and that he must continue to do it.

₁₈Here I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand and I send greetings to all of you. Remember that I am in jail and please pray for me. I pray that God will give you his grace.