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-\v 9 Since the time we heard about how you love, we have always been praying for you. We ask God to show you everything he wants you to do, and to make you wise so that you will understand what God's Spirit is teaching you.
+\v 9 Since the time we heard about how you love, we have always been praying for you. We ask God to show you everything he wants you to do and to make you wise so that you will understand what God's Spirit is teaching you.
 \v 10 We pray that you will live in a way that will help others honor the Lord also, so that he will approve of you. We pray that you will grow to understand God more and do every good thing that he tells you to do.
 
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-\v 11 We pray that God will strengthen you with all his mighty power, so that you will patiently endure every difficulty.
+\v 11 We pray that God will strengthen you with all his mighty power so that you will patiently endure every difficulty.
-\v 12 We pray that you will be rejoicing and thanking God our Father, because he has declared you worthy to be with the others whom he has set apart for himself; this is so he can give you all the things that he is keeping for you when you are with him in the light of his presence.
+\v 12 We pray that you will be rejoicing and thanking God our Father because he has declared you worthy to be with the others whom he has set apart for himself; this is so he can give you all the things that he is keeping for you when you are with him in the light of his presence.
 
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-\v 13 God our Father has rescued us from the evil that controlled us; he has made his Son, whom he loves, to rule over us now.
+\v 13 God our Father has rescued us from the evil power of Satan and has brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 
-\v 14 By means of his Son he has set us free from that evil; that is, he has forgiven our sins.
+\v 14 The Son has set us free from that evil, and when he set us free he also forgave our sins.
 
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 \v 15 When we know the Son, we know what God is like, even though we cannot see him. The Son has first place over everything that he has created.
-\v 16 For the Son created all things, as the Father desired him to do: Everything in the sky and everything on earth, everything that we can see and everything that we cannot see, such as angelic beings of all kinds and powers and authorities, all things exist because the Son created them because the Father wanted him to. And they exist for him.
+\v 16 For the Son created all things, all that is in the heaven and all that is on earth, everything that we can see and everything that we cannot see, including angelic beings of all kinds and powers and authorities—all things exist because the Son created them, and they were made for him to use.
 \v 17 The Son himself existed before anything else, and he holds everything together.
 
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-\v 18 He rules all believers—the church—like a person's head rules his body. He rules over the church because he started it. He was the first person to come back to life with a perfect body. So he is greater than every thing.
+\v 18 He is the Head of his body, which is the church—like a person's head rules over every part of the body. He was the first person to come back to life with a perfect body, and so he has the highest honor of all.  
-\v 19 God the Father was pleased to make everything he is to live in Christ.
+\v 19 God the Father was pleased to make his full nature live in Christ.
 \v 20 It also pleased God to bring everything back to himself in peace through Jesus. God offered peace to all people and all things everywhere on earth and in heaven. He did this by causing the Son to die on the cross as a sacrifice, shedding his blood as he died.
 
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 \v 21 Before you believed in Christ, God considered you his enemies, and you were unfriendly to God because you thought evil thoughts and because you did evil deeds.
 \v 22 But now God has offered peace between yourselves and himself and has made you his friends. He did this when Jesus gave up his body and life for us by dying. This made it possible for us to belong to God; he finds nothing wrong in us now, nothing to blame us for.
-\v 23 But you must continue to trust Christ completely; then you will be like a house that they built on solid rock. Do not for any reason stop believing in what God has promised to do for you in the good news that people all over the world have heard. This is the same good news that I, Paul, am serving God by proclaiming to people.
+\v 23 But you must continue to trust Christ completely. If you do, you will be like a house that they built on solid rock. You must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you had when you first heard the good news. I, Paul, have become a servant of this good news which is being proclaimed to everyone on the earth. 
 
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 \v 24 Now I rejoice that I am suffering for your benefit. Yes, in order to help the church, which is like Christ's body, I suffer things that must still happen.
 \v 25 God made me his servant and gave to me special work to do, which is to proclaim the full message of God to non-Jewish people like you.
 \v 26 From ancient times, for generations, God did not tell this good news, but now he has revealed this mystery to those whom he has set apart for himself.
-\v 27 It is to these people—Jews and non-Jews like yourselves just as much—that God planned to tell this wonderful secret. It is this: Christ will live in you and make you confidently expect to share in God's glory!
+\v 27 It is to these non-Jews, people like yourselves, that God planned to tell this wonderful secret. And the secret is that Christ will live in you, and that you can confidently expect to share in God's glory!
 
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 \v 28 We are wisely warning and teaching every person about Christ so that we might bring into God's presence each one as knowing God completely, joined to Christ.
-\v 29 It is to do this that I work my hardest, because Christ is giving me strength.
+\v 29 To do this I work my hardest because Christ is giving me strength.
 
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 \v 1 I want you to realize that I am doing my best to help you and those in Laodicea, and also the believers who have never seen me personally.
-\v 2 I do this so that I might encourage them and you yourselves to love each other and unite yourselves together. I desire that you all confidently and completely understand this secret truth about God and that this truth is Christ!
+\v 2 I do this so that I might encourage them so that they will be able to join together in love. I desire that they would have the wonderful riches and complete understanding of the truth about God's secret; and that secret is Christ!
 \v 3 It is only by means of Christ that we can know what God is thinking and how wise he is.
 
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 \v 10 Now God has given you everything you need because he has joined you to Christ, and he rules over every other person, spirit, and angel.
-\v 11 It is as if God has also circumcised you. But this was not as though a piece of human being cut flesh from your body. Instead, Jesus took away the power of sin that was within you, and this "circumcision" is the one that Christ does when he conquered your sinful nature and took it away from you.
+\v 11 It is as if God had circumcised you also. But this was not as though a human being cut a piece of flesh from your body. Instead, by this "circumcision" Jesus took away the power of your sinful self that was within you.
-\v 12 Because they have baptized you, God considers that when men buried Christ, they buried you along with him. He considers that when he made Christ come alive again, he made you come alive also, because you trusted that he could make you live again.
+\v 12 Because you were joined with Christ when they baptized you, God considered that when men buried Christ, they also buried you. When God made Christ alive again, it was a promise that he also would raise you up to live a new life. You had faith in the working of God who had made Christ alive again.
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-\v 13 God viewed you as being dead, because you were sinning against him, and because you were not Jews, so you did not worship him. But he made you come alive together with Christ; he forgave us of all our sins.
+\v 13 You were dead because you had sinned against God and because you were not following the Jewish law of circumcision. But God also made you become alive. God did that work for you at the same time that God made Christ alive again. And he forgave all our sins.
 \v 14 We have all sinned so much, but God has forgiven our sins. It is like a man might forgive people who owe him money, so he tears up the papers they signed when he loaned them the money. But as for God, it is as if he had nailed those papers on which he had written all our sins and all the laws that we had broken to the cross on which Christ died.
 \v 15 Moreover, God defeated the evil spirit beings who rule people in this world, and he let everybody know that he had defeated them. It was just as if he had paraded them around in the streets as prisoners.
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 \v 16 So disregard anyone who says that God will punish you because you eat certain foods and drink certain drinks or because you do not celebrate special yearly festivals or when the new moon appears or weekly Sabbaths.
 \v 17 These kinds of rules and events only picture what is truly coming. What is truly coming is Christ himself.
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 \v 18 Those same people pretend to be humble, and they love to worship angels. Do not let them convince you to do the same. If you do, you will lose what Christ has promised you. These people are always talking about visions they say God has made them see. They boast about these things because they think like people everywhere think who do not honor God.
 \v 19 Such persons are not joined to Christ. Christ is the head of the body, and that body is all those who believe in him. The whole body depends upon the head. The head takes care of each part and puts together all the bones and ligaments so they work together, and it is God who makes it grow.
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 \v 15 Christ is the one who makes you to live in peace with God and one another, so always behave so as to remain at peace. This is why he has called you to be together. And always thank God for everything.
 \v 16 As you live and serve God, always obey together what Christ has taught you. Teach and instruct each other with wisdom; praise and thank God sincerely as you sing psalms, hymns, and songs that honor him.
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-\v 17 Whatever you say, and whatever you do, do it all to honor the Lord Jesus, and do it while you give thanks to God for what Christ has done for you.
+\v 17 Whatever you say and whatever you do, do it all to honor the Lord Jesus, and do it while you give thanks to God for what Christ has done for you.
 
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 \v 18 Wives, obey your husbands; this is right and according to what the Lord Jesus has commanded.
 \v 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
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-\v 20 Children, obey your parents in every way, because the Lord God is pleased when you do that.
+\v 20 Children, obey your parents in every way because the Lord God is pleased when you do that.
 \v 21 Fathers, do not cause anger in your children, so they do not become discouraged.
 
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-\v 22 Slaves, obey your masters in this world in every way. Do not obey your masters only when they are watching you, like those who merely want their masters to think they always obey. Instead, obey your masters sincerely from the heart because you honor the Lord Jesus.
+\v 22 Slaves, obey your masters in this world in every way. Do not obey your masters only when they are watching you like those who merely want their masters to think they always obey. Instead, obey your masters sincerely from the heart because you honor the Lord Jesus.
 \v 23 Whatever work you do, work wholeheartedly for the Lord Jesus rather than for people. Do not work like those who are working merely for their human masters,
 \v 24 because you know the Lord will repay you; you will receive your share of what the Lord has promised you. Jesus Christ is the real master whom you are serving.
 \v 25 But God will judge each person in the same way; he will punish those who do wrong as they deserve.
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 \v 7 Tychicus will tell you everything that has been happening to me. He is a fellow believer whom I love, who helps me faithfully, and who serves the Lord Jesus together with me.
 \v 8 The reason that I am sending Tychicus to you with this letter is that you might know about us and that he might encourage you.
-\v 9 I am sending him to you with Onesimus, who is a faithful fellow believer, whom I love and who is your fellow townsman. They will tell you all about what has been happening here.
+\v 9 I am sending him to you with Onesimus, who is a faithful fellow believer, whom I love, and who is your fellow townsman. They will tell you all about what has been happening here.
 
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