16
1 I recommend my sister Phoebe to you highly, who serves the assembly that takes place in the Greek port of Cenchrea; 2 I commend her in the hope that you will receive her as someone who also participates in our divine ruler, and do so in a manner that is worthy of his purified followers. Please help her out in whatever way she might need something from you. She has been a wonderful hostess of many people and most especially of me.
3 I would ask you to pay your respects to Prisca (whom I call “Severe”) and her husband, Aquila (“Eagle”), who are my co-workers as we all participate together within the Messiah Jesus. 4 They have risked their necks for me although I’m not the only one who is grateful for them; all the Jesus followers among the pagans who are part of God’s assembly give thanks for them.
5 Be sure to say hello to the assembly as that takes place in their home.
And say hello to my beloved Epaenetos (“Praise”) who was the first offering to God from the harvest of converts for the Messiah that took place in western Turkey.
6 And say hi to Maria who works so hard among you.
7 Say hello to Victor and June, my fellow-Judeans and my fellow-prisoners-of-war. They are well-known among all the other apostolic envoys, and they were even—so to speak—conceived within the Messiah before I was.
8 Say hi to Ampliatus who participates like us in our divine ruler and whom I have such affection for.
9 And say hello to Urbanity, our co-worker within the Messiah, and to Stachys, whom I am so fond of.
10 Say hello to Apelles who participates in the Messiah, and whose character is so well-known.
Say hi to those who work in the household of Aristoboulos [who is one of Herod the Great’s many children].
11 Say hello to Herodion, my kinsman.
Say hi to those who are connected with our divine ruler even as they serve in the household of Narcissus [one of the emperor Claudius’s favorite slaves].
12 Say hello to Tryphaina and Tryphosa, who participate in our divine ruler and who work so hard.
Say hi to Persian, who is also a part of our divine ruler, whom I am so fond of, and who works away ceaselessly.
13 Say hi to Redhead, who has been chosen by our divine ruler, and to his mother, who is really my mother as well.
14 Say hello to Asynkritos, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the brothers with them.
15 And say hi to to Philologos and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas and all the purified ones who are with them.
16 Greet one another just as we do our own families, with a kiss.
17 And I now beg something of you once more—that you keep a close lookout for certain people who are stirring up bitter divisions and in effect laying a minefield between you and the teaching which you have learned. Avoid them at all costs. 18 Such people are emphatically not devoted workers for the Messiah, our divine ruler, but are working for their own depraved agenda. Yet through smooth talk and flattery they are able to deceive those who are naïve in their thinking. 19 Now your obedience is complete in every way and I am ecstatic because of you. But I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent of any evil. 20 Rest assured that the God who makes peace will shortly crush Satan [and all his schemes] under your feet.
21 Timothy, my co-worker, along with Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Judeans, send their warmest greetings to you.
22 (I, Third, who wrote this letter out by hand, as one who also participates in our divine ruler, send my greetings here too.)
23 Gaius, the host both of me and of the rest of the assembly as that gathers in Corinth, says hello.
And Erastus, who works in the civil service here, says hello, as does another brother, Fourth.
24 May the gift of Jesus the Messiah, our divine ruler, remain with all of you.[i] “Amen.”
[i] Paul writes this final blessing in his own hand.