PAUL an Apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus
Christ, to the brethren which are
at Laodicea.
1 He salutes the brethren;
exhorts them to persevere in good works,
and not to be moved by vain speaking.
Rejoices in his bonds,
desires them
to live in the fear of the Lord.
2 Grace be to you, and peace
from God the Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ.
3 I thank Christ in every prayer
of mine, that ye may continue and
persevere in good works, looking
for that which is promised in the
day of judgment.
4 Let not the vain speeches of
any trouble you, who pervert the
truth, that they may draw you
aside from the truth of the Gospel
which I have preached.
5 And now may God grant, that
my converts may attain to a
perfect knowledge of the truth
of the Gospel, be beneficent,
and doing good works which
accompany salvation.
6 And now my bonds, which I
suffer in Christ, are manifest,
in which I rejoice and am glad.
For I know that this shall
turn to my salvation for ever,
which shall be through your
prayer, and the supply of the
Holy Spirit.
8 Whether I live or die, to live
shall be a life to Christ, to die
will be joy.
9 And our Lord will grant us
his mercy, that ye may have the
same love, and be like-minded.
10 Wherefore, my beloved, as
ye have heard of the coming of
the Lord, so think and act in fear,
and it shall be to you life eternal;
11 For it is God, who worketh
in you:
12 And do all things without
sin.
13 And what is best, my beloved
rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ
and avoid all filthy lucre.
14 Let all your requests be made
known to God, and be steady in
the doctrine of Christ.
15 And whatsoever things are
sound and true, and of good report,
and chaste, and just, and lovely,
these things do.
16 Those things which ye have
heard, and received, think on these
things, and peace shall be with
you.
17 All the saints salute you.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
19 Cause this Epistle to be read
to the Colossians, and the Epistle
of the Colossians to be read among
you.
REFERENCES TO THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE
TO THE LAODICEANS.
[This Epistle has been highly esteemed by several learned men of the
church of Rome and others. The Quakers have printed a translation, and
plead for it, as the reader may see, by consulting Poole's Annotation on
Col. vi. 16. Sixtus Senensis mentions two MSS., the one in the Sorbonne
Library at Paris, which is a very ancient copy, and the other in the
Library of Joannes a Viridario, at Padua, which he transcribed and
published; and which is the authority for the following translation.
There is a very old translation of this Epistle in the British Museum,
among the Harleian MSS., Cod. 1212.]
