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

I thank my God for all your remembrance of me;

of this I am confident, that he who has begun the good work in you will go on completing it until the day of Jesus Christ.

(God is my witness that I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus himself!)

your life covered with that harvest of righteousness which Jesus Christ produces to the glory and the praise of God.

and my imprisonment has given the majority of the brotherhood greater confidence in the Lord to venture on speaking the word of God without being afraid.

Never be scared for a second by your opponents; your fearlessness is a clear omen of ruin for them and of your own salvation ??at the hands of God.

Though he was divine by nature, he did not set store upon equality with God

Therefore God raised him high and conferred on him a Name above all names,

and every tongue confess that 'Jesus Christ is Lord,' to the glory of God the Father.

for it is God who in his goodwill enables you to will this and to achieve it.

so as to be blameless and innocent, faultless children of God in a crooked and perverse generation where you shine like stars in a dark world;

Even if my life-blood has to be poured as a libation on the sacred sacrifice of faith you are offering to God, I rejoice, I congratulate you all ??18 and you in turn must rejoice and congratulate me.

And he was ill, nearly dead with illness. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me, to save me from having one sorrow upon another.

We are the true Circumcision, we who worship God in spirit, we who pride ourselves on Christ Jesus, we who rely upon no outward privilege.

to press on to the goal for the prize of God's high call in Christ Jesus.

For all those of our number who are mature, this must be the point of view; God will reveal that to any of you who look at things differently.

Copy me, brothers, one and all of you, and notice those who live by the example you get from me.

Destruction is their fate, the belly is their god, they glory in their shame, these men of earthly mind!

Never be anxious, but always make your requests known to God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving;

so shall God's peace, that surpasses all our dreams, keep guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Practise also what you have learned and received from me, what you heard me say and what you saw me do; then the God of peace will be with you.

Your debt to me is fully paid and more than paid! I am amply supplied with what you have sent by Epaphroditus, a fragrant perfume, the sort of sacrifice that God approves and welcomes.

My God will supply all your own needs from his wealth in Glory in Christ Jesus.

Glory to God our Father for ever and ever: Amen.