May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is my prayer that your love may be more and more accompanied by clear knowledge and keen perception, for testing things that differ,

so that you may be men of transparent character, and may be blameless, in preparation for the day of Christ,

while the others proclaim Him from motives of rivalry, and insincerely, supposing that by this they are embittering my imprisonment.

in fulfilment of my eager expectation and hope that I shall never have reason to feel ashamed, but that by my perfect freedom of speech Christ will be glorified in me, now as always, either by my life or by my death.

I am in a dilemma, my earnest desire being to depart and be with Christ, for that is far, far better.

I am convinced of this, and I know that I shall remain, and shall go on working side by side with you all, to promote your progress and joy in the faith;

Only let the lives you live be worthy of the Good News of the Christ, in order that, whether I come and see you or, being absent, only hear of you, I may know that you are standing fast in one spirit and with one mind, fighting shoulder to shoulder for the faith of the Good News.

Never for a moment quail before your antagonists. Your fearlessness will be to them a sure token of impending destruction, but to you it will be a sure token of your salvation--a token coming from God.

If then I can appeal to you as the followers of Christ, if there is any persuasive power in love and any common sharing of the Spirit, or if you have any tender-heartedness and compassion, make my joy complete by being of one mind,

united by mutual love, with harmony of feeling giving your minds to one and the same object.

Let the same disposition be in you which was in Christ Jesus.

Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped.

Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory, and took on Him the nature of a bondservant by becoming a man like other men.

in order that in the Name of JESUS every knee should bow, of beings in Heaven, of those on the earth, and of those in the underworld,

Be ever on your guard against a grudging and contentious spirit,

so that you may always prove yourselves to be blameless and spotless--irreproachable children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as heavenly lights in the world,

holding out to them a Message of Life. It will then be my glory on the day of Christ that I did not run my race in vain nor toil in vain.

Nay, even if my life is to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I rejoice, and I congratulate you all.

But, if the Lord permits it, I hope before long to send Timothy to you, that I, in turn, may be cheered by getting news of you.

I am therefore all the more eager to send him, in the hope that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have the less sorrow.

because it was for the sake of Christ's work that he came so near death, hazarding, as he did, his very life in endeavouring to make good any deficiency that there might be in your gifts to me.

In conclusion, my brethren, be joyful in the Lord. For me to give you the same warnings as before is not irksome to me, while so far as you are concerned it is a safe precaution.

Nay, I even reckon all things as pure loss because of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. And for His sake I have suffered the loss of everything, and reckon it all as mere refuse, in order that I may win Christ and be found in union with Him,

But whatever be the point that we have already reached, let us persevere in the same course.

I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche, to be of one mind, as sisters in Christ.

Always be glad in the Lord: I will repeat it, be glad.

Let your forbearing spirit be known to every one--the Lord is near.

Do not be over-anxious about anything, but by prayer and earnest pleading, together with thanksgiving, let your request be unreservedly made known in the presence of God.

And then the peace of God, which transcends all our powers of thought, will be a garrison to guard your hearts and minds in union with Christ Jesus.

The doctrines and the line of conduct which I taught you--both what you heard and what you saw in me-- hold fast to them; and God who gives peace will be with you.

And to our God and Father be the glory throughout the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits.