So, [whatever happens], live your daily lives in such a way as to be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or remain absent from you, I will hear about you, that you are standing firm in one spirit [i.e., united in purpose, and] contending with one mind for the faith of the Gospel [i.e., for the body of Christian teaching].

Because God has granted you [the privilege], on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

so that you will be without just blame and innocent [of wrongdoing], children of God without fault in the middle of a crooked and perverted generation of people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky,

For he longed to see all of you and was very distressed because you had heard that he was sick.

And indeed, he was [so] sick that he almost died, but God had pity on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow on top of another.

So, you should welcome him in [the fellowship of] the Lord with great joy, and regard such people with honor,

However I, myself, have [reasons for such] confidence in the flesh. [But] if any other person has [reasons for placing] confidence in the flesh, I have more [reasons].

However, those things which were [once regarded as] gain to me, I have [now] considered to be loss for [the sake of] Christ.

What is more, I consider everything to be a loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus [as] my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things. [I now] consider [all of] them to be trash, in order to gain Christ

[Now] it is not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for the benefit that [such a gift] will add to your [spiritual] account [with God].