The prison letters are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. The pastoral letters are 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.

The prison letters were written while Paul was under arrest, most likely in Rome. The pastoral letters are addressed to two of Paul's co-workers who were leading churches, and they deal with leadership, false teaching, and how a church should be run. The name "pastoral" was given to them in the 1700s.

The fullest explanation of the gospel in the Bible: all people have sinned, God puts people right with himself as a gift received by faith, and the Spirit gives new life.

Paul wrote it to a church he had not yet visited. It moves from the problem (chapters 1-3) to God's answer in Christ (3-8), to God's faithfulness to Israel (9-11), to how believers should live (12-16). Romans 8 is often called the high point, ending with nothing able to separate us from the love of God. Romans shaped Augustine, Luther, and Wesley more than any other book.

Romans 3:23-24

The many problems of a gifted but divided church in a wealthy port city: factions, sexual immorality, lawsuits, disorder in worship, and confusion about the resurrection.

Corinth was a proud, cosmopolitan city, and the church had brought much of its culture in with it. Paul answers their questions one by one. The letter contains the chapter on love read at countless weddings, chapter 13, and the Bible's earliest written account of the resurrection appearances, in chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Paul's defence of his ministry against rivals who mocked his weakness, and his argument that God's power shows up most clearly in human weakness.

It is the most personal of Paul's letters. He lists his beatings, shipwrecks, and sleepless nights, and describes a "thorn in the flesh" he asked God three times to remove. God's answer was that his grace was enough, because his power is made perfect in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9

A fierce defence of the gospel against teachers who told non-Jewish believers they had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to belong to God's people.

Paul skips his usual thanksgiving and goes straight to astonishment that they are turning away. His argument is that people are made right with God through faith in Christ, not by works of the law, and that adding anything to that changes the gospel itself. It also contains the "fruit of the Spirit": love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Galatians 2:16

The church as one new people made from Jews and Gentiles, saved by grace through faith, and how that people should live together.

The first half describes what God has done in Christ, and the second half what it means for daily life, marriage, family, and work. It contains the famous statement that salvation is by grace through faith, not by works, so that no one can boast. It ends with the "armour of God".

Ephesians 2:8-9

Joy and contentment in Christ, written from prison to a church Paul loved, with the example of Christ humbling himself as the pattern for how to live.

The words "joy" and "rejoice" appear again and again, although Paul did not know whether he would live or be executed. Chapter 2 contains an early hymn describing Christ emptying himself and dying on a cross. The often-quoted "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" is about being content whether he has plenty or goes hungry, not about achieving anything one sets out to do.

Philippians 4:11-13

The supremacy of Christ over everything in creation, written against teaching that said believers needed extra rules, rituals, or spiritual experiences.

Chapter 1 describes Christ as the image of the invisible God, through whom and for whom everything was made, and in whom all things hold together. Paul's point is that anyone who has Christ lacks nothing, so there is no need to add special diets, festivals, or visions to him.

Colossians 1:15-17

Encouragement for a young, persecuted church, including comfort about believers who had died before Christ's return.

It is probably one of the earliest documents in the New Testament, written around AD 50. The Thessalonians were worried that their dead would miss out when Jesus came back. Paul assures them that the dead in Christ will rise first, and tells them not to grieve as those who have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Correcting the belief that the day of the Lord had already come, and warning those who had stopped working to earn their own living.

Some in the church seem to have decided that, with the end so near, there was no point working. Paul tells them that certain things must happen first, and gives the rule that anyone unwilling to work should not eat.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

Instructions to Paul's young co-worker Timothy for leading the church in Ephesus: resisting false teaching, choosing leaders, and caring for the church's members.

It lists the qualities required of overseers and deacons, which churches still use. It also contains the verse usually misquoted as "money is the root of all evil"; what it says is that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

1 Timothy 6:10

Paul's last letter, written in prison as he expected to be executed, urging Timothy to hold on to the gospel and to Scripture.

It is the closest thing to Paul's final words. It contains the statement that all Scripture is breathed out by God and useful for teaching. Paul writes, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith", and asks Timothy to come quickly and bring his cloak before winter.

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Instructions to Titus for organising the churches on the island of Crete, appointing leaders, and teaching believers to live good lives.

It is short and practical. Paul quotes a Cretan poet who said Cretans were always liars, to show how hard Titus's task was. The letter keeps linking belief to behaviour: grace does not just forgive, it trains people to live differently.

Titus 2:11-12

A short personal letter asking a Christian slave owner, Philemon, to welcome back his runaway slave Onesimus as a brother in Christ.

Onesimus had met Paul, apparently in prison, and become a Christian. Paul sends him home with this letter, offering to pay anything Onesimus owes, and asks Philemon to receive him "no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a beloved brother". It is one of the shortest books in the Bible, a single page.

Philemon 1:15-16