6
Kids
1 Now I’m talking to you kids. You belong to our leader, Jesus, so you have to do what your father and mother tell you to do. That is the right way to live. 2-3 You see, God made this law, “Always respect your father and your mother. If you do that, you will be happy, and you will live for a long time on the earth.” That was the first time God made a law and promised something with it.*
Fathers
4 Now I’m talking to you fathers. Don’t make your kids angry. But instead, as they are growing up, you have to teach them the way God wants them to live, and show them how to live the right way.
Workers
5 Now I’m talking to you workers, you people that have to work for other people all the time. Your bosses are only people, but that doesn’t matter, you have to respect them properly, and do whatever they tell you. Work hard for them, like you are working for Jesus Christ. 6 Do what they say, and try to make them happy. Don’t only do it when they can see you, but also when they can’t see you. Work happily in your job, like you are working for Jesus Christ, and then you will be doing what God wants. 7 Your bosses are only people, but try to work properly for them, like you are working for Jesus, not working for people. 8 Remember this, if you do good things, Jesus, our leader, will pay you with something good later. He will do that, no matter if you work for nothing, like a prisoner, or if you are free.
Bosses
9 Now I’m talking to bosses. You have to do the same, you have to be good to your workers. Don’t say anything to frighten them, like saying you are going to punish them. Remember that God in heaven is your boss, and he is the boss over your workers too. And he treats everyone the same, no matter if you are a boss or a worker.*
Be like strong soldiers for God
10 The last thing that I want to say to you is this. You are joined to our leader, Jesus, and he is very strong, so you have to use his strong power to fight against the devil, the boss over the bad spirits. 11 You know that a soldier puts on special gear to stop the enemy from hurting him. Well, you have to do that with the special gear that God gives us. Then you will keep strong against the devil, and you will not let him trick you. He tries all sorts of clever ways to fight against us. 12 You see, we are not fighting against people, but we are fighting against a big mob of bad spirits. We are fighting against the bad spirit bosses that we can’t see in this bad world. And we are fighting against the powerful bad spirits that live above the earth too. 13 So you have to use all the special gear that God gives you, so that you can stand up to those bad spirits whenever they come at you, and they will not win. And at the end of the fight, you will still be standing strong.
14 So put on that special gear from God, so you can stand up against the devil. This is what that gear is.
– You know that a soldier wears a belt, to hold his clothes on tight, so he can move quickly in a fight. Well, just like that, you take notice of what is true, so you can fight better against the devil.
– And a soldier wears an iron plate, to stop the enemy from hitting his chest. Well, you have to always do what is right, and that will be like an iron plate for you, to stop the devil from hitting you.*
– 15 And a soldier wears special shoes, so that he can always be ready to fight. Well, you have to remember the good news about Jesus, that he makes us God’s friends. Then you will be ready to fight the devil.*
– 16 You know that a soldier always has a shield, to stop the spears that the enemy throws at him. In the same way, you have to always trust God. Whenever you do that, it is like you are holding up a shield that stops the things that the devil throws at you. They are like burning spears, but if you trust God, he will stop them and put them out.
– 17 And a soldier wears an iron hat, that stops the enemy from hurting his head. Well, you remember that God has saved you. That will be like an iron hat for you, to keep you safe.
– And you know the long knife a soldier has, called a sword? He uses it to fight back against his enemy. Well, in the same way, you can use God’s word to fight back against the devil, and the Holy Spirit will help you.*
18 And always pray in the way that God’s spirit leads you. Pray about every problem, and pray in all sorts of ways, and ask God for whatever you need. So always keep on praying for all God’s people. 19 And pray for me too. Ask God to give me the right words to say every time I start to tell people the good news about Jesus. Pray that I will not be too frightened to tell them that message properly. God kept it secret for a long time, 20 but now he has sent me to tell this good story to everybody. The bosses here didn’t like me telling that story, so they put me in jail. I want you to ask God to make me brave, so that I keep on telling his good story.
The end of Paul’s letter
21-22 Now I’m sending Tikicus to you to tell you about me and about what I’m doing these days. He is my Christian friend that I love, and he is a good worker for God. He will tell you all the news about me, and the news about the other people that are here with me. And I also want him to help you feel strong and brave.*
23 You mob are my Christian friends. You believe in God, our father, and you believe in our leader Jesus Christ. So I’m asking them to be really good to you, and to help you to be happy and quiet inside yourselves. And I’m asking God to help you to love him, and to love other people, and to help you to keep on trusting Jesus.
24 I want God to be very good to everyone that never stops loving our leader, Jesus Christ.
From Paul
* 6:2-3 Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16 * 6:9 Deuteronomy 10:17 * 6:14 Isaiah 11:5; 59:17 * 6:15 Isaiah 52:7 * 6:17 Isaiah 59:17 * 6:21-22 Acts 20:4; 2 Timothy 4:12; Colossians 4:7-8