May God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you, and give you peace.

Every recollection that I have of you is a cause of thankfulness to God,

Because of the share that you have had in spreading the Good News, from the first day that you received it until now.

For of this I am confident, that he who began a good work in you will complete it in readiness for the Day of Jesus Christ.

And, indeed, I am justified in feeling thus about you all; because you have a warm place in my heart--you who all, both in my imprisonment and in the work of defending and establishing the Good News, shared my privilege with me.

God will bear me witness how I yearn over you all with the tenderness of Christ Jesus.

Bearing a rich harvest of that righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Brothers, I want you to realize that what has happened to me has actually served to forward the Good News.

And besides this, most of our Brothers have gained confidence in the Lord through my chains, and now venture with far greater freedom to speak of God's Message fearlessly.

It is true that some do proclaim the Christ out of Jealousy and opposition; but there are others who proclaim him from good- will.

The latter do it from love for me, knowing that I have been appointed to plead the cause of the Good News.

Under all circumstances let your lives be worthy of the Good News of the Christ: so that, whether I come and see you, or whether I hear of your affairs at a distance, I may know that you are standing firm, animated by one spirit, and joining with one heart in a common struggle for the Faith taught by the Good News,

Without ever shrinking from your opponents. To them this will be a sign of their Destruction and of your Salvation--a sign from God.

Though the divine nature was his from the beginning, yet he did not look upon equality with God as above all things to be clung to,

And that is why God raised him to the very highest place, and gave him the Name which stands above all other names,

And that every tongue should acknowledge JESUS CHRIST as LORD- -to the glory of God the Father.

Remember it is God who, in his kindness, is at work within you, enabling you both to will and to work.

So as to prove yourselves blameless and innocent-- 'faultless children of God, in the midst of an evil-disposed and perverse generation,' in which you are seen shining like stars in a dark world,

And yet, even if, when your faith is offered as a sacrifice to God, my life-blood must be poured out in addition, still I shall rejoice and share the joy of you all;

But you know what Timothy has proved himself to be, and how, like a child working for his father, he worked hard with me in spreading the Good News.

And I can assure you that his illness very nearly proved fatal. But God had pity on him, and not on him only but also on me, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow.

For it is we who are the circumcised--we whose worship is prompted by the Spirit of God, who exult in Christ Jesus, and who do not rely upon external privileges;

Any righteousness that I have being, not the righteousness that results from Law, but the righteousness which comes through faith in Christ--the righteousness which is derived from God and is founded on faith.

I press on to the goal, to gain the prize of that heavenward Call which God gave me through Christ Jesus.

Let all of us, then, whose faith is mature, think thus. Then, if on any matter you think otherwise, God will make that also plain to you.

The end of such men is Ruin; for their appetites are their God, and they glory in their shame; their minds are given up to earthly things.

Yes, and I ask you, my true comrade, to help them, remembering that they toiled by my side in spreading the Good News; and so, too, did Clement and my other fellow-workers, whose names are 'in the Book of Life.'

Do not be anxious about anything; but under all circumstances, by prayer and entreaty joined with thanksgiving, make your needs known to God.

Then the Peace of God, which is beyond all human understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and thoughts, through your union with Christ Jesus.

All that you learned and received and heard and saw in me put into practice continually; and then God, the giver of peace, will be with you.

And you at Philippi know, as well as I, that in the early days of the Good News--at the time when I had just left Macedonia--no Church, with the one exception of yourselves, had anything to do with me as far as giving and receiving are concerned.

My wants are fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts which you sent me--the sweet fragrance of a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

And my God, out of the greatness of his wealth, will, in glory, fully satisfy your every need, through your union with Christ Jesus.

To him, our God and Father, be ascribed all glory for every and ever. Amen.