1 Continue to love your fellow believers. 2 Do not forget to be hospitable to needy travelers [LIT]. You need to know that by being hospitable, some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember to help those who are in prison because they are Christians, as though you were in prison with them. Remember those who are being mistreated {whom people are mistreating} because they are believers. As you do that, consider that you are also alive [MTY], and you could suffer as they do.

4 You must ◄respect/keep sacred► the marriage relationship in every way, and you must keep sexual relations [EUP] pure, because God will surely condemn those who act immorally and those who act adulterously. 5 Live without constantly coveting money, and be content with the things you possess, remembering what Moses wrote that God has said about supplying what you need,

6 So we can say confidently as the Psalmist said,

7 Your spiritual leaders used to tell you the message of God before they died. Remember how they conducted their lives. By considering ◄how they died/what resulted from how they lived►, imitate how they believed in Christ/God. 8 Jesus Christ is the same now as he was previously, and he will be the same forever. 9  So, do not let yourselves be diverted {let anything divert you} so that you believe various teachings that are contrary to God's truth. It is good that we let God act kindly toward us so that we may be strengthened spiritually. Obeying rules about various foods, rules that have not benefited those who obeyed them, will not benefit us.

10 We have Jesus [MTY]. All those who continue to observe the Jewish rituals [MTY] of sacrifice have no right to obtain the benefits of his sacrifice [MET]. 11 After the high priest brings into the most holy place the blood of animals that they have sacrificed to atone for sins, the bodies of those animals are burned {they burn the bodies of those animals} outside the city. 12 Similarly, Jesus suffered and died outside the gate of Jerusalem in order that he might make us, his people, holy by offering his own blood as a sacrifice to atone for our sins.

13 So, we must abandon performing Jewish sacrifices and rituals [MET] in order to be saved, and let us go to Jesus to be saved. As we do that, we must be willing to let others reproach us just like people reproached him. 14 Here on earth, we believers do not have a city such as Jerusalem where we must continually offer sacrifices [MET]. Instead, we are waiting for a future heavenly city that will last forever.

15 With the help of Jesus, we must continually praise God. That will be something we can sacrifice to him [MET] instead of our sacrificing animals only at specific times. Specifically, we must say openly [MTY] that we have trusted in Christ [MTY].

16 Be continually [LIT] doing good deeds for others, and be continually sharing with others the things you have, because doing things like that will also be as though you are offering sacrifices that will please God.

17 Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they tell you, since they are the ones who are guarding your spiritual welfare [SYN]. Some day they will have to stand before God so that he can say if he approves of what they have done. Obey them in order that they can do the work of guarding you joyfully and not have to do it sadly, because if you cause them to do it sadly, that will certainly not help you at all (OR, they will not be able to help you at all).

18 Pray for me. I am certain that I have not done anything that displeases God. I have tried to act honorably toward you in every way. 19 I urge you earnestly to pray that God will quickly remove the things that hinder my coming to you.

20 Jesus provides for us, protects us, and guides us as a great shepherd does for his sheep [MET]. And God, who gives us inner peace, raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. By doing that, God ratified his eternal covenant with us by the blood that flowed from Christ when he died on the cross. 21 So I pray that God will equip you with everything good that you need in order that you may do the things that he desires. May he accomplish in us the things that he considers pleasing as a result of Jesus Christ doing this for us. May Jesus Christ be praised forever. ◄Amen!/May it be so!►

22 My fellow believers, since this is a short letter that I have written to you, I appeal to you that you patiently consider what I have just written you to exhort you.

23 I want you to know that our fellow believer Timothy has been released { the authorities have released our fellow believer Timothy} from prison. If he comes here soon, he will accompany me when I go to see you.

24 Tell all your spiritual leaders and all the other fellow believers in your city that ◄I am thinking fondly about them/I am sending them my greetings►. The believers in this area who have come from Italy want you to know they are ◄thinking about you/sending you their greetings►.

25  I pray that you will continue to experience God's acting kindly toward you all.