That you are to put away, in relation to your earlier way of life, the old man, which has become evil by love of deceit;

you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds;

Wherefore, stripping off what is false, be speaking truth each one with his neighbour, because we are members one of another;

are you angry? have a care you don't sin. "let not the sun go down upon your wrath,"

The man who stole must not steal any more; he must work with his hands at honest toil instead, so as to have something to share with those who are in need.

From your lips let no evil words come forth, but such as occasion warrants, such as are good for upbuilding and give a blessing to the hearers.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye are sealed for a day of redemption.

But among you there must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, or greed, as these are not fitting for the saints.

And shamelessness and foolish talking, or jesting, - which things are beneath you, - but, rather, giving of thanks;

For ye are men who know this, that no fornicator, or unclean man, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and God.

Whatever anyone may say in the way of worthless arguments to deceive you, these are the things that are bringing God's anger down upon the disobedient.

For ye were, at one time, darkness, but, now, are ye light in the Lord, - as children of light, be walking,

and have nothing to do with the unfruitful actions that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are.

For, of the secret things which are brought to pass by them, it is, shameful, even to speak!

but all these things, when exposed, are by the light made manifest, and what is made manifest is light.

For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.

Be taking heed, therefore, exactly how ye are walking, - not as unwise, but as wise, -

Buying out for yourselves the opportunity, because, the days, are evil;

but even as the assembly is subject to Christ, so also are the wives to their own husbands in everything.

You who are husbands must love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave himself for her,

so that He could dedicate her [to Himself], after cleansing her by means of the washing of water [i.e., immersion], accompanied by the word. [Note: "The word" here refers either to a person's profession of faith (See Rom. 10:9) or to the Gospel message (See Rom. 10:17), both of which are associated with immersion].

Because, members, are we of his body; -

This is a great secret: but my words are about Christ and the church.

Ye servants, be obedient unto them who, after the flesh, are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto the Christ;

Do not serve them only when you are being watched, just to gain their approval, but as slaves of Christ, doing what God wants from your heart.

You who are masters, too, must treat your slaves in the same way, and cease to threaten them, for you know that their Master and yours is in heaven, and that he will show no partiality.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.

in everything taking up the shield of faith, with which you are able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one,

I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are, and that he may comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts.

Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, - unto all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with overseers and ministers: -

Always, in every prayer that I offer for you all--my prayers are full of joy--

It is but just that I should be thus mindful of you all, because I have you in my heart, and because in these fetters of mine and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel you are all my fellow partners in the privilege.

for you to examine the things that are significant. So that ye may be tested by sunlight and not stumbling toward the day of Christ,

Being full of the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Throughout the whole Praetorian guard and among all the others it has become plain that these chains of mine are for the sake of Christ;

And so that , the most of the brethren in the Lord, assured by my bonds, are becoming more abundantly bold to be fearlessly speaking the word of God: -

Some, indeed, by reason of envy and strife - some, however, by reason of good will - are proclaiming, the Christ:

but the former preach Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, because they think they are adding bitterness to my bonds.

But, those, out of faction, are declaring, the Christ, not purely - supposing to rouse up, tribulation, with my bonds.

Only, in a manner worthy of the glad-message of the Christ, be using your citizenship; in order that - whether coming and seeing you, or being absent, I may hear of the things which concern you - that ye are standing fast in one spirit, with one soul, joining for the combat along with the faith of the glad-message;

Having no fear of those who are against you; which is a clear sign of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God;

[and so you are] experiencing the same [kind of] conflict which you saw me endure, and which you hear to be mine now.

complete my joy, so that {you are in agreement}, having the same love, united in spirit, {having one purpose}.

so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
of those who are in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—

so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish in the midst of a [morally] crooked and [spiritually] perverted generation, among whom you are seen as bright lights [beacons shining out clearly] in the world [of darkness],

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.

But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing.

for they are all seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things are going to turn out for me.

So, I am all the more eager to send him to you people, so that when you see him again you will be glad, and that my sorrow will be lessened [i.e., in knowing that you are relieved to see that he is well again].

Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and honourably treat those that are such:

Finally, my fellow believers, continue to rejoice and delight in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Beware of those that are like dogs, beware of evil doers, beware of the concision.

for we [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, set apart for His purpose and] are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory and take pride and exult in Christ Jesus and place no confidence [in what we have or who we are] in the flesh—

-- though mine too are significant. If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more:

Yes truly, and I am ready to give up all things for the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, which is more than all: for whom I have undergone the loss of all things, and to me they are less than nothing, so that I may have Christ as my reward,

Brothers, it is clear to me that I have not come to that knowledge; but one thing I do, letting go those things which are past, and stretching out to the things which are before,

But one thing I do, forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you.

in the mean while, as we are already advanc'd so far, pursue your course, and keep it still in view:

Brothers, take me as your example, and take note of those who are walking after the example we have given.

For there are many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, who live as enemies of the cross of Christ [rejecting and opposing His way of salvation],

whose fate is destruction, whose god is their belly [their worldly appetite, their sensuality, their vanity], and whose glory is in their shame—who focus their mind on earthly and temporal things.

But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

So, my dearly loved brothers, those whom I long to see, [who are] my [reason for] being glad and [who are] my crown of victory; stand firm in [your devotion to] the Lord, my dear ones.

Indeed, I ask you too, my true companion, to help these women [to keep on cooperating], for they have shared my struggle in the [cause of the] gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

Finally brothers, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are commendable, if anything is a virtue, and if

I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at the last ye are revived again to care for me in that wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

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.

But I have received everything in full and more; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent me. They are the fragrant aroma of an offering, an acceptable sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights.

Remember me to every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you.

All the saints send their love to you, specially those who are of Caesar's house.

To the saints and faithful believers in Christ [who are] at Colossae: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father.

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you,

which are come to you, as they are in all the world, and are bearing fruit and growing, even as also among you, from the day ye heard them and knew indeed the grace of God, in truth:

For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy

through whom we receive redemption [i.e., are bought back from Satan], which is the forgiveness of [our] sins.

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]

Through him uniting all things with himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, uniting all things which are on earth or in heaven.

If, at least, ye are abiding still in the faith, founded and firm, and not to be moved away from the hope of the glad-message which ye have heard, which hath been proclaimed in all creation which is under heaven, - of which, I Paul, have become minister.

In it, by divine appointment, I became a worker, that I might preach among you the message of God in its fulness??26 that secret, hidden from the ages and generations, but now disclosed to those who are consecrated to him,

God [in His eternal plan] chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in and among you, the hope and guarantee of [realizing the] glory.

Whom we are preaching; guiding and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that every man may be complete in Christ;

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,

[For my hope is] that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in [unselfish] love, so that they may have all the riches that come from the full assurance of understanding [the joy of salvation], resulting in a true [and more intimate] knowledge of the mystery of God, that is, Christ,

in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [regarding the word and purposes of God].

For although I am physically absent, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how stable you are and how firm your faith in the Messiah is.

since you are rooted in him, and in him continually built up. Be firmly established in the faith as you were taught it, and continually abound in it with thanksgiving.

For it is in Christ that the fulness of God's nature dwells embodied, and in Him you are made complete,

And in Him you have been made complete [achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly power].

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

Let none therefore judge you in meat, or drink, or in respect of a feast-day, or of the new-moon, or of sabbath-days: Which are shadow of things to come;

Such things are only a shadow of what is to come and they have only symbolic value; but the substance [the reality of what is foreshadowed] belongs to Christ.

If you died with Christ to the world's rudimentary notions, why, as if you still lived in the world, do you submit yourselves to dogmatisms found on teachings and doctrines of men??21 such as "Do not handle this," "You must not taste that," "Do not touch this"??22 all things which are intended to perish in the using?

"You must not handle," "You must not taste," "You must not touch"??22 referring to things that are all meant to be used up and destroyed? This is to follow mere human rules and regulations.

(which are all things for consumption by use), according to the commandments and teachings of men?

These practices indeed have the appearance [that popularly passes as that] of wisdom in self-made religion and mock humility and severe treatment of the body (asceticism), but are of no value against sinful indulgence [because they do not honor God].