Chapter 16

  Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the Church at Cenchreae, 

  that you may receive her as a fellow Christian in a manner worthy of God's people, and may assist her in any matter in which she may need help. For she has indeed been a kind friend to many, including myself. 

  Greetings to Prisca and Aquila my fellow labourers in the work of Christ Jesus-- 

  friends who have endangered their own lives for mine. I am grateful to them, and not I alone, but all the Gentile Churches also. 

  Greetings, too, to the Church that meets at their house. Greetings to my dear Epaenetus, who was the earliest convert to Christ in the province of Asia; 

  to Mary who has laboured strenuously among you; 

  and to Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen, who once shared my imprisonment. They are of note among the Apostles, and are Christians of longer standing than myself. 

  Greetings to Ampliatus, dear to me in the Lord; 

  to Urban, our fellow labourer in Christ, and to my dear Stachys. 

  Greetings to Apella, that veteran believer; and to the members of the household of Aristobulus. 

  Greetings to my countryman, Herodion; and to the believing members of the household of Narcissus. 

  Greetings to those Christian workers, Tryphaena and Tryphosa; also to dear Persis, who has laboured strenuously in the Lord's work. 

  Greetings to Rufus, who is one of the Lord's chosen people; and to his mother, who has also been a mother to me. 

  Greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and to the brethren associated with them; 

  to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister and Olympas, and to all God's people associated with them. 

  Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the Churches of Christ send greetings to you. 

  But I beseech you, brethren, to keep a watch on those who are causing the divisions among you, and are leading others into sin, in defiance of the instruction which you have received; and habitually to shun them. 

  For men of that stamp are not bondservants of Christ our Lord, but are slaves to their own appetites; and by their plausible words and their flattery they utterly deceive the minds of the simple. 

  Your fidelity to the truth is everywhere known. I rejoice over you, therefore, but I wish you to be wise as to what is good, and simple-minded as to what is evil. 

  And before long, God the giver of peace will crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you! 

  Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you greetings, and so do my countrymen Lucius, Jason and Sosipater. 

  I, Tertius, who write this letter, send you Christian greetings. 

  Gaius, my host, who is also the host of the whole Church, greets you. So do Erastus, the treasurer of the city, and Quartus our brother. 

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  To Him who has it in His power to make you strong, as declared in the Good News which I am spreading, and the proclamation concerning Jesus Christ, in harmony with the unveiling of the Truth which in the periods of past Ages remained unuttered, 

  but has now been brought fully to light, and by the command of the God of the Ages has been made known by the writings of the Prophets among all the Gentiles to win them to obedience to the faith-- 

  to God, the only wise, through Jesus Christ, even to Him be the glory through all the Ages! Amen.