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Historical texts  >  Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans

Paul an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, to the brethren which are at Laodicea.
  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 you 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.
  7   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; (for) to me 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.
  19   Cause this Epistle to be read to the Colossians, and the Epistle of the Colossians to be read among you.
Paulus apostolus non ab hominibus neque per hominem sed per Iesum Christum, fratribus qui sunt Laodiciae.
  2  gratia vobis et pax a Deo Patre et Domino Iesu Christo.
  3  gratias ago Christo per omnem orationem meam, quod permanentes estis in eo et perseverantes in operibus eius, promissum expectantes in diem iudicii.
  4  neque destituant vos quorundam vaniloquia insinuantium, ut vos evertant a veritate evangelii quod a me praedicatur.
  5  veritatis evangelii deservientes et facientes benignitatem operum quae salutis vitae aeternae
  6  et nunc palam sunt vincula mea quae patior in Christo; quibus laetor et gaudeo.
  7  et hoc mihi est ad salutem perpetuam; quod ipsum factum orationibus vestris et administrantem Spiritum Sanctum, sive per vitam sive per mortem.
  8  est enim mihi vere vita in Christo et mori gaudium.
  9  et in ipsum in vobis faciet misericordiam suam, ut eandem dilectionem habeatis et sitis unianimes.
  10  ergo, dilectissimi, ut audistis praesentia mei, ita retinete et facite in timore Dei, et erit vobis vita in aeternum;
  11  est enim Deus qui operatur in vos.
  12  et facite sine retractu quaecumque facitis.
  13  et quod est, dilectissimi, gaudete in Christo. et praecavete sordidos in lucro.
  14  omnes sint petitiones vestrae palam apud Deum. et estote firmi in sensu Christi.
  15  et quae integra et vera et pudica et iusta et amabilia facite.
  16  et quae audistis et accepistis, in corde retinete, et erit vobis pax.
  17  salutate omnes fratres in osculo sancto.
  18  salutant vos sancti.
  19  gratia Domini Iesu cum spiritu vestro.
  20  et facite legi Colosensium vobis.

Notes and Links

This Epistle has been highly esteemed by several learned men of the church of Rome and others. The Quakers have published a translation and plead for it, as the reader may see, by consulting Poole's Annotations, on Col. vi. 16. Sixtus Senensis mentions two manuscripts, the one in the Sorbonne Library at Paris, which is a very ancient copy, and the other in the Libary 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 Manuscripts, Codus 1212.  [R.H.P., Jr. (editor?) in The Lost Books of the Bible, (New York: Alpha House, 1926]

Footnotes

The above is not generally accepted as scripture.
See Russ Pickett, "What does 'Canon' mean?"
However, here is an annoted version:
At "Church History On-Line" site.
Also:
According to M.R. James, "It exists only in Latin [i.e., not in Greek]: the oldest copy is in the Fulda MS. written for Victor of Capua in 546. It is mentioned by various writers from the fourth century onwards, notably by Gregory the Great, to whose influence may ultimately be due the frequent occurrence of it in Bibles written in England; for it is commoner in English MSS. than in others. As will be seen, it is wholly uninteresting, and was merely written to justify or explain St. Paul's mention of the letter from Laodicea in Col. iv. 16." (Translation and Notes, in "The Apocryphal New Testament." Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) (Source.)
Editor's note:
The term "filthy lucre" was used, half-jokingly, in my Quaker family (1950s-70s), and this piece of pseudepigrapha was apparently one source for that expression. (See also the King James Version of 1 Timothy 3:3, 8, Titus 1:7, 11, and 1 Peter 5:2). The "Search" function of Earlham's Digital Quaker Collection of early Quaker writings gets 64 hits for that exact phrase.