So do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

Do not get drunk on wine, for that is profligacy, but be filled with the Spirit,

for a husband is the head of his wife, just as Christ is the head of the church, which is his body, and is saved by him.

Just as the church is in subjection to Christ, so married women must be, in everything, to their husbands.

in order to bring the church to himself in all her beauty, without a flaw or a wrinkle or anything of the kind, but to be consecrated and faultless.

for you know that everyone, slave or free, will be rewarded by the Lord for his good conduct.

You must put on God's armor, so as to be able to stand up against the devil's stratagems.

So you must take God's armor, so that when the evil day comes you will be able to make a stand, and when it is all over to hold your ground.

Besides all these, take faith for your shield, for with it you will be able to put out all the flaming missiles of the evil one,

Use every kind of prayer and entreaty, and at every opportunity pray in the Spirit. Be on the alert about it; devote yourselves constantly to prayer for all God's people

and for me, that when I open my lips I may be given a message, so that I may boldly make known the secret of the good news,

God's blessing be with all who have an unfailing love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

so that you may have a sense of what is vital, and may be men of transparent character and blameless life, in preparation for the Day of Christ,

and so most of the Christian brothers have been exceedingly encouraged by my example to declare God's message without any fear of the consequences.

But what difference does it make? All that matters is that, in one way or another, from false motives or honest ones, Christ is being made known; I am glad of that. Yes, and I expect to be glad,

for I eagerly and confidently hope that I shall never disgrace myself but that this time as always hitherto, living or dying, I shall do Christ credit by my unfailing courage.

I am undecided between the two, for I long to depart and be with Christ, for that is far, far better,

I am convinced of this, and so I know that I shall stay on and serve you all, to help you to develop and to be glad in your faith.

Whatever happens, show yourselves citizens worthy of the good news of the Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am kept away and only hear news of you, I may know that you are standing firm with one spirit, one purpose, fighting side by side for faith in the good news.

Never for a moment falter before your opponents, for your fearlessness will be a sure sign for them of their coming destruction, but to you it will be an omen, from God himself, of your deliverance.

So by whatever appeal there is in our relation to Christ, by whatever incentive there is in love, by whatever participation there is in the Spirit, whatever affection and sympathy,

make me perfectly happy by living in harmony, with the same attitude of love, with the same feeling and purpose.

so that you will be blameless and honest, faultless children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverted age, in which you appear like stars in a dark world,

Even if my life is to be poured out as a libation as you offer your faith in a service of sacrifice to God, I am glad to have it so, and I congratulate you upon it,

just as you must be glad and congratulate me.

I hope, with the help of the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you soon, so that I, too, may be cheered by having news about you.

Now, my brothers, goodbye, and the Lord be with you. I do not mind writing the same thing over and over to you; it is necessary for your safety.

We are the true circumcision, who worship God by his Spirit, priding ourselves only on Christ Jesus, and not relying on physical advantages,

as to my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church; and by the Law's standard of uprightness, no fault could be found with me.

and be known to be united to him, with any uprightness I may have not based on law but coming through faith in Christ??he uprightness that comes from God through faith.

Not that I have secured it yet, or already reached perfection, but I am pressing on to see if I can capture it, because I have been captured by Jesus Christ.

He will make our poor bodies over to resemble his glorious body, by exerting the power he has to subject everything to himself.

Goodbye, and the Lord be with you always. Again I say, goodbye.

Do the things that you learned, received, and heard from me, and that you saw me do. Then God who gives peace will be with you.

Not that I have anything to complain of, for I have learned how to be contented with the condition I am in.

Remember me to all my fellow-Christians. The brothers who are with me wish to be remembered to you.

All God's people wish to be remembered to you, especially those who belong to the emperor's household.

The blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits.

Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy,

so that the lives you live may be worthy of your Master and wholly pleasing to him, and you may be fruitful in all kinds of good deeds, and may grow into fuller knowledge of God.

by whom we have been ransomed from captivity through having our sins forgiven.

At present I am glad to be suffering in your interest, and I am making up in my own person what is lacking in Christ's sufferings for the church, which is his body.

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,

that your hearts may be cheered. I want you to be united by love, and to have all the benefit of assured knowledge in coming to know Christ??3 that divine mystery in which all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are to be found.

What I mean is, let nobody mislead you by specious arguments.

You must be rooted and built up in him and made strong in faith, just as you were taught to be, overflowing with it in your gratitude.

Take care that nobody exploits you through the pretensions of philosophy, guided by human tradition, following material ways of looking at things, instead of following Christ.

Through your relation to him you have received not a physical circumcision, but a circumcision effected by Christ, in stripping you of your material nature,

No one can put you in the wrong by persisting in studied humility and the worship of angels, being absorbed in the visions he has seen, and groundlessly conceited over his mere human mind.

Such people lose their connection with the head, from which the whole body through its ligaments and sinews must be governed and united if it is to grow in the divine way.

"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.

But now you too must put them all aside??nger, rage, spite, rough, abusive talk??hese must be banished from your lips.

As persons chosen by God, then, consecrated and dearly loved, you must clothe yourselves with tenderness of heart, kindness, humility, gentleness, forbearance.

You must bear with one another and forgive one another, if anyone has reason to be offended with anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.

Let the ruling principle in your hearts be Christ's peace, for in becoming members of one body you have been called under its sway. And you must be thankful.

You who are husbands must love your wives and not be harsh to them.

for you know that it is from him that you are to receive that inheritance which is to be your reward. Think of Christ as the master you are working for.

For the man who wrongs anyone will be paid back for the wrong he has done; there will be no exceptions.

Be persistent in prayer and wide awake about it when you give thanks.

Always put your message attractively, and yet pointedly, and be prepared to give every inquirer a fitting answer.

Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does Barnabas' cousin Mark. (About him you have had instructions; if he comes to see you, make him welcome.)

Epaphras, one of your own number, a slave of Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you. He is always standing up for you in his prayers that you may stand fast, like men of mature convictions, whatever God's will for you may be.

Our dear Luke, the doctor, and Demas wish to be remembered to you.

And you followed the example set by us and by the Lord, for though our message brought you great trouble, you welcomed it with joy inspired by the holy Spirit,

We had just been through ill-treatment and insults at Philippi, as you remember, but, in the face of great opposition, we took courage by the help of our God, and told you God's good news.

God has thought us fit to be intrusted with the good news, and so we tell it, making no effort to please men, but to please God, who tests our hearts.

You remember, brothers, how we toiled and labored. We worked night and day, when we preached the good news to you, in order not to be a burden to any of you.

try to keep us from speaking to the heathen so that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has overtaken them at last!

For what hope or happiness shall we have or what prize to be proud of in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes, except you?

and encourage you not to be led astray, any of you, in all these troubles. You know yourselves that this is what we must expect,

That was why, when I could not bear it any longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for I was afraid that the tempter might have tempted you and all our labor might be lost.

so that your hearts may be strong and faultlessly pure in the sight of our God and Father, when our Lord Jesus appears with all his saints!

It is God's will that you should be consecrated, that you abstain from immorality,

You do not need to have anyone write to you about brotherly love, for you have yourselves been taught by God to love one another,

so that you may have the respect of the outsiders, and not be dependent upon anybody.

We do not want you to be under any misapprehension, brothers, about those who are falling asleep. You must not grieve for them, as others do who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then by means of Jesus God will bring back with him those who have fallen asleep.

For we can assure you, on the Lord's own authority, that those of us who will still be living when the Lord comes will have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep.

then those of us who are still living will be caught up with them on clouds into the air to meet the Lord, and so we shall be with the Lord forever.

When people say, "What peace and security!" then suddenly destruction will be upon them, like birth-pains upon a woman about to give birth to a child, and there will be no escape.

So we must not sleep like other men, but we must be vigilant and composed.

but we who belong to the day must be composed, wearing faith and love for a coat of mail, and helmeted with the hope of salvation.

We beg you, brothers, warn the idlers, cheer up the despondent, keep hold of the weak, be patient with everybody.

Always be joyful.

May God himself, the giver of peace, consecrate you through and through. Spirit, soul, and body, may you be kept sound, and be found irreproachable when our Lord Jesus Christ comes.

He who calls you can be relied on, and he will do this.

The blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

They will be punished with eternal ruin and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and his glorious might,

when on that Day he comes to be honored in his people, and wondered at in all who believe in him??ecause our testimony has been confirmed in you.

To this end we always pray for you too, asking our God to find you worthy of the call he has given you, and by his power to fulfil every desire you may have for goodness, and every effort of your faith,

so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, by the blessing of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

not to let your minds be too easily unsettled or wrought up, by any message of the Spirit or any utterance or letter purporting to be from me, to the effect that the Day of the Lord has already come.

the adversary of every being that is called a god or an object of worship, and so overbearing toward them as to enter God's sanctuary and take his seat there, proclaiming himself to be God??5 do you not remember that when I was with you, I used to tell you this?

Then the embodiment of disobedience will make his appearance, and the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and annihilate him by his appearance and arrival.

The other's appearance, by the contrivance of Satan, will be full of power and pretended signs and wonders,

and full of wicked deception for men who are going to destruction, because they refused to love the truth and be saved.

so that all who have refused to believe the truth but have preferred disobedience may be condemned.

We always have to thank God for you, brothers whom the Lord so loves, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved through consecration by the Spirit and through faith in the truth,

So stand firm, brothers, and hold fast to the instructions you have received from us, whether by letter or by word of mouth.

and that we may be saved from unjust and wicked men; for not everybody has faith.