having been confident of this very thing, that He who did begin in you a good work, will perform it till a day of Jesus Christ,

having been filled [with the] fruit of righteousness which [comes] through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

Now it is my purpose to make clear to you, brothers, that the cause of the good news has been helped by my experiences;

So that my bonds in Christ have been made manifest in the whole palace, and to all others:

and many of the brothers having been made confident by my bonds in the Lord have more abundant courage to speak the word without fear.

The latter are motivated by love, because they know that I have been appointed to defend the gospel.

But those are preaching Christ in a spirit of competition, not from their hearts, but with the purpose of giving me pain in my prison.

And having been convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and will continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.

because to you it hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in his behalf:

but did empty himself, the form of a servant having taken, in the likeness of men having been made,

and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always been obedient in the past, so now work out your own Salvation with anxious care, not only when I am with you, but all the more now that I am absent.

offering men the message of life. Then I will have reason to boast of you on the Day of Christ, because my exertion and labor have not been wasted.

However, I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, [who has been] my brother and companion and fellow soldier, who was also sent as your messenger to take care of my needs.

For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.

For it is true that he has been ill, and was apparently at the point of death; but God had pity on him, and not only on him, but also on me, to save me from having sorrow upon sorrow.

Therefore I have been the more eager to send him, in order that you may rejoice in seeing him again, and that I may have one sorrow less.

Having been circumcised on the eighth day, I am of the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As far as the Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee.

But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life].

But surely, I also think all things to be loss for the superiority of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have been made to lose all things, and I think to be offscourings, that I shall gain Christ,

Not that I have already obtained the prize, or am already perfected; but I pursue, if also I may get possession of it, seeing that also I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.

Brethren, I reckon not myself to have been overtaken: but one, truly forgetting things behind, and stretching still farther to things before,

Let us therefore, who have been instructed, have this in view: and if you are sollicitous about any thing else, God will reveal even that unto you.

For, many, are walking - of whom I have often been telling you, and, now, even weeping, am telling, - the enemies of the cross of the Christ;

Yes, and I am asking you also, [my] faithful partner [Note: This person is unknown, but may have been one of Paul's preacher companions], help those women, for they have worked hard with me in [spreading] the Gospel, along with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life. [See Rev. 3:5; Heb. 12:23].

But I rejoice with a deep and holy joy that now at length you have revived your thoughtfulness for my welfare. Indeed you have always been thoughtful for me, although opportunity failed you.

I have known both to be abased, and I have known to abound; in everything and in all things I have been initiated, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want.

I have been paid in full and have more than enough. I am fully supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus what you sent a fragrant aroma, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.