I beg you brothers and sisters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I beg that all of you agree with each other, so that there will be no divisions among you. I beg that you be completely joined together by having the same kind of thinking and the same purpose.
We are fools for Christ. But \{you think\} you are very wise in Christ. We are weak, but \{you think\} you are strong. People give you honor, but they don’t honor us.
Now, brothers and sisters, I say good-bye. Try to be perfect. Do the things I have asked you to do. Agree in your minds with each other, and live in peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
It is true that Christ was weak when he was killed on the cross. But he lives now by God’s power. And it is true that we are weak in Christ. But for you we will be alive in Christ by God’s power.
Dear friends, we have these promises \{from God\}. So we should make ourselves pure—free from anything that makes our body or our soul unclean. We should try to become perfect in the way we live, because we respect God.
Epaphras also says hello. He is a servant of Jesus Christ. And he is from your group. He always prays for you. He prays that you will grow to be spiritually mature (perfect) and have everything that God wants for you.
We continue praying very strongly for you night and day. We pray that we can be there and see you again and give you all the things you need to make your faith strong.
You have come to the meeting of God’s firstborn {\cf2\super [167]} children. Their names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people. And you have come to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect.
So we should be finished with the beginning lessons about Christ. We should not go back to the things we started with. We began \{our life in Christ\} by turning away from the evil things we did before and by believing in God.
Yes, you will suffer for a short time. But after that, God will make everything right. He will make you strong. He will support you and keep you from falling. He is the God that gives all grace (kindness). He called you to share in his glory in Christ. That glory will continue forever.