Context
3praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;
4that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.
5Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
7As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. 8For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; 9and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.
10Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabass cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him); 11and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me. 12Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. 13For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas. 15Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. 16When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea. 17Say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.
18I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you.
NASB ©1995
Parallel Verses
American Standard Versionwithal praying for us also, that God may open unto us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
Douay-Rheims BiblePraying withal for us also, that God may open unto us a door of speech to speak the mystery of Christ (for which also I am bound;)
Darby Bible Translationpraying at the same time for us also, that God may open to us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ, on account of which also I am bound,
English Revised Versionwithal praying for us also, that God may open unto us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
Webster's Bible TranslationAt the same time praying also for us, that God would open to us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
Weymouth New TestamentAnd pray at the same time for us also, that God may open for us a door for preaching, for us to tell the truth concerning Christ for the sake of which I am even a prisoner.
World English Biblepraying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
Young's Literal Translation praying at the same time also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the secret of the Christ, because of which also I have been bound,
Library
Without and Within
'Them that are without.'--COL. iv. 5. That is, of course, an expression for the non-Christian world; the outsiders who are beyond the pale of the Church. There was a very broad line of distinction between it and the surrounding world in the early Christian days, and the handful of Christians in a heathen country felt a great gulf between them and the society in which they lived. That distinction varies in form, and varies somewhat in apparent magnitude according as Christianity has been rooted in …
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Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession
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'... So doth Marcus, my son.'--1 Peter v. 13. The outlines of Mark's life, so far as recorded in Scripture, are familiar. He was the son of Mary, a woman of some wealth and position, as is implied by the fact that her house was large enough to accommodate the 'many' who were gathered together to pray for Peter's release. He was a relative, probably a cousin (Col. iv. 10, Revised Version), of Barnabas, and possibly, like him, a native of Cyprus. The designation of him by Peter as 'my son' naturally …
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'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.'--ACTS ii. 36. It is no part of my purpose at this time to consider the special circumstances under which these words were spoken, nor even to enter upon an exposition of their whole scope. I select them for one reason, the occurrence in them of the three names by which we designate our Saviour--Jesus, Lord, Christ. To us they are very little more than three proper …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts
Conflict and Comfort.
"For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ."--COL. ii. 1, 2. Although he was in prison the Apostle was constantly at work for his Master, and not least of all at the work of prayer. If ever the words …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul
Prayer and Fervency
"St. Teresa rose off her deathbed to finish her work. She inspected, with all her quickness of eye and love of order the whole of the house in which she had been carried to die. She saw everything put into its proper place, and every one answering to their proper order, after which she attended the divine offices of the day. She then went back to her bed, summoned her daughters around her . . . and, with the most penitential of David's penitential prayers upon her tongue, Teresa of Jesus went forth …
Edward M. Bounds—The Necessity of Prayer
The Voyage and Shipwreck
[This chapter is based on Acts 27; 28:1-10.] At last Paul was on his way to Rome. "When it was determined," Luke writes, "that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us." In the first century of the Christian Era traveling by sea was attended with peculiar hardship …
Ellen Gould White—The Acts of the Apostles
In Rome
[This chapter is based on Acts 28:11-31 and the Epistle to Philemon.] With the opening of navigation, the centurion and his prisoners set out on their journey to Rome. An Alexandrian ship, the "Castor and Pollux," had wintered at Melita on her way westward, and in this the travelers embarked. Though somewhat delayed by contrary winds, the voyage was safely accomplished, and the ship cast anchor in the beautiful harbor of Puteoli, on the coast of Italy. In this place there were a few Christians, and …
Ellen Gould White—The Acts of the Apostles
Twenty-Eighth Day that all God's People May Know the Holy Spirit
WHAT TO PRAY.--That all God's People may know the Holy Spirit "The Spirit of truth, whom the world knoweth not; but ye know Him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you."--JOHN xiv. 17. "Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost?"--1 COR. vi. 19. The Holy Spirit is the power of God for the salvation of men. He only works as He dwells in the Church. He is given to enable believers to live wholly as God would have them live, in the full experience and witness of Him who saves …
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Author's Introduction,
In Which the Sources of This History Are Principally Treated A history of the "Origin of Christianity" ought to embrace all the obscure, and, if one might so speak, subterranean periods which extend from the first beginnings of this religion up to the moment when its existence became a public fact, notorious and evident to the eyes of all. Such a history would consist of four books. The first, which I now present to the public, treats of the particular fact which has served as the starting-point …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus
We Shall not be Curious in the Ranking of the Duties in which Christian Love...
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