Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.
Parallel translations
- KJV Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
- BSB So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
- NKJV Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
- NASB Therefore I ask you not to become discouraged about my tribulations in your behalf, since they are your glory.
- NLT So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul asks them not to be discouraged by his sufferings, which are for their glory. It reframes his hardships as serving their benefit.
Overview
Paul urges his readers 'not to lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.' His imprisonment, far from a cause for despair, advances the gospel that brings them honor. He turns attention from his own plight to their good, modeling a Christlike view of suffering in service.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 2 Th 3:13But you, brothers, don’t be weary in doing well.
- Col 1:24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly;
- 2 Cor 1:6But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
- Isa 40:30–31Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
- Eph 3:1For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,
- Phil 1:12–14Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News;
- Gal 6:9Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.
- Deut 20:3and shall tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them;
- Acts 14:22confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom.
- Zeph 3:16In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.”
- Heb 12:3–5For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.
- 1 Th 3:2–4and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the Good News of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 3:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.