Col 4 | EE | STEP | Masters, give your servants what is right and fair. Remember that you have a Master also, in heaven.

Colossians 4

1 Masters, give your servants what is right and fair. Remember that you have a Master also, in heaven.

Paul tells the believers that they should pray

2 Continue to pray. Do not let anything cause you to stop praying. Be like people who watch carefully. They watch carefully to see what is happening. And thank God when you pray. 3 Pray for us, too. Ask God to make it possible for us to tell people his message. We want to tell people the secret things about Christ that God has caused us to know. I am in a prison because I told people those things. 4 I want to tell people this message clearly, as I ought to do. Pray that I will be able to do that.

5 Sometimes you are with people who do not believe Christ. Be careful when you are with those people. Be careful about what you say. Be careful about what you do. Use your time with them as well as you can. Do everything that you can to help them to believe Christ. 6 Always speak words that are kind and proper. Speak words that will be good for those who hear you. When someone asks you a question, you should know what to say. You should know how you ought to answer each person.

Paul finishes his letter

7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a Christian brother that we love. He continues to work well for the Lord. Like me, he is the Lord’s servant. 8 I am sending him to you for this purpose. He will tell you all the news about us. And he will help you to be braver and stronger for Christ. 9 Onesimus, who belongs to your group, is travelling with him. Onesimus is another Christian brother that we love. He continues to believe and to obey Christ. These men will tell you everything that is happening here.

10 Aristarchus, who is with me in the prison, says ‘hello’ to you. Mark also says ‘hello’ to you. He is Barnabas’s cousin. Mark may come to visit you. You should say ‘welcome’ to him if he comes. I have told you this already. I have told you that you should be kind to him. 11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also says ‘hello’ to you. These three men are the only Jews who are working with me. We work so that more people will believe Christ. So then they will belong to God’s people, the people that he rules over. These men have helped me very much. And they have caused me to feel better.

12 Epaphras says ‘hello’ to you. He also belongs to your group, and he is Christ Jesus’ servant. He is always praying strongly for you. He prays like someone who fights on behalf of you. He prays that you will continue to obey God. So you will always do everything that God wants. He asks God to make you completely as God wants you to be. 13 I tell you this about Epaphras, which is true. He is working very much for you, and for the people at Laodicea and at Hierapolis.

14 Our good friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas say ‘hello’ to you. 15 Say ‘hello’ for me to all the believers at Laodicea. Also say ‘hello’ for me to Nympha and to the Christians who meet in her house.

16 After someone has read this letter to all of you, send it to the church at Laodicea. Tell them that they must read it aloud too. And you must also read the letter that the Christians at Laodicea will send to you. 17 Say to Archippus, ‘Remember the work that the Lord gave you to do. You must be careful to finish it completely.’

18 I, Paul, am writing these words here with my own hand. Remember that I am in a prison. I pray that God will continue to be very kind to you.