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

For we have to struggle, not with enemies of flesh and blood, but with the hierarchies, the authorities, the master-spirits of this dark world, the spirit-forces of evil on high.

Stand your ground, then, with the belt of truth around your waist, and put on uprightness as your coat of mail,

and on your feet put the readiness the good news of peace brings.

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,

Some of them, it is true, are actually preaching the Christ from jealousy and partisanship, but there are others who are doing it out of good-will.

These latter do it from love for me, for they know that God has put me where I am to defend our right to preach the good news.

But the others are preaching the Christ not sincerely but for their own ends, imagining that they are making my imprisonment harder to bear.

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.

But if living on here means having my labor bear fruit, I cannot tell which to choose.

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.

For you have been granted the privilege not only of trusting in Christ but of suffering for him.

Do not act for selfish ends or from vanity, but modestly treat one another as your superiors.

Do not take account of your own interests, but of the interests of others as well.

but laid it aside to take on the nature of a slave and become like other men.

So, my dear friends, as you have always been obedient, with reverence and awe make every effort to insure your salvation, not simply as though I were with you, but all the more because I am away.

But you know his character, and how like a son helping his father he has worked like a slave with me in preaching the good news.

But I feel that I must send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-laborer, and fellow-soldier, whom you sent to look after my needs.

For he was sick, and nearly died, but God took pity on him, and not only on him, but on me, to save me from having one sorrow after another.

But for the sake of Christ I have come to count my former gains as loss.

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.

But the commonwealth to which we belong is in heaven, and from it we are eagerly awaiting the coming of a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have no anxiety about anything, but make all your wants known to God in prayer and entreaty, and with thanksgiving.

I was very glad, as a Christian, to have your interest in me revive again after so long; for you have always been interested, but you have had no opportunity to show it.

But it was very kind of you to share my difficulties.

And you at Philippi know as well as I do, that in the early days of the good news, after I left Macedonia, no church but yours went into partnership and opened an account with me.

Not that I want your gifts, but I want you to have the profits that will accumulate to your credit.

You have paid me in full, and more too. I am fully supplied with what I have received from you through Epaphroditus. It is like fragrant incense, just such a sacrifice as God welcomes and approves.

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,

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,

canceled the bond which stood against us, with its requirements, and put it out of our way when he nailed it to the cross.

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 practices pass for wisdom, with their self-imposed devotions, their self-humiliation, and their ascetic discipline, but they carry with them no real distinction, they are really only a catering to the flesh.

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

and have put on that new self newly made in the likeness of its Creator, to know him fully.

Here, what matters is not "Greek" and "Jew," the circumcised and the uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeborn, but Christ is everything and in us all.

And over all these put on love, which completes them and fastens them all together.

You who are slaves must always obey your earthly masters, not with mere external service, as though you had only men to please, but with sincerity of heart, because you fear the Lord.

Work at everything you do with all your hearts, as work done not for men only but for the Lord,

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

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

for our preaching of the good news did not come to you as mere words but with power and the holy Spirit and full conviction??ou know the kind of life we lived among you for your good.

For the Lord's message has rung out from you not only over Macedonia and Greece, but the story of your belief in God has gone everywhere, so that we never need to mention it.

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.

That was the kind of affection we had for you, which made us ready to share with you not only God's good news but our own lives too, because you were so dear to us.

We for our part constantly thank God for another reason too??ecause when you received God's message from our lips, you welcomed it not as the message of men but as the message of God, as it really is, which does its work in the hearts of you believers.

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!

But now that Timothy has just come back to me from you, and brought me good news of your faith and love, and told me how kindly you think of me and that you long to see me just as much as I long to see you,

God has not called us to an unclean life, but to a pure one.

So whoever disregards this is not disregarding man, but God, who gives you his holy Spirit.

and you are doing it to all the brothers all over Macedonia. But we do entreat you, brothers, to surpass yourselves

But as to times and dates, brothers, you do not need to have anyone write to you,

But you are not in darkness, brothers, so that that Day should surprise you like thieves.

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.

For God has not destined us for his wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Take care that none of you ever pays back evil for evil, but always try to treat one another and everybody with kindness.

but test them all, retaining what is good

For disobedience is already secretly at work, but only until he who is now holding it in check is gotten out of the way.

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

But the Lord is to be relied on, and he will give you strength and protect you from the evil one.

I did not eat anybody's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor I worked night and day, in order not to be a burden to any of you.

Not that I had not a right to my support, but to give you in my own conduct an example to imitate.

But you, brothers, must not get tired of doing right.

Do not look upon him as an enemy but warn him as a brother.

with the understanding that law is not intended for upright men but for the lawless and disorderly, the godless and irreligious, the irreverent and profane, men who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers,

though I once used to abuse, persecute, and insult him. But he had mercy on me, because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief,

but God had mercy on me in order that in my case as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display his perfect patience, as an example to those who would later believe in him and find eternal life.

For there is but one God, and one intermediary between God and men??he man Christ Jesus,

but, as is appropriate for women who profess to be religious, with good actions.

But they will be saved through motherhood, if they continue to have faith and to be loving and holy, and sensible as well.

not addicted to drink or pugnacious, but a man of moderation and peace, not avaricious,

but holding the divine truth of the faith with a clear conscience.

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing you all this

But let worldly fictions and old wives' tales alone. Train yourself for the religious life.

Physical training is of some service, but religion is of service in every way, for it carries with it the promise of life here and hereafter.

Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set those who believe an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

Never reprove an older man, but appeal to him as to a father. Treat younger men like brothers,

But a woman who is really a widow, and has no children, has fixed her hope on God, and devotes herself to prayers and entreaties night and day.

No one under sixty years of age should be put on the list of widows. A widow must have been married but once,

Do not put young women on the list of widows, for when their youthful vigor comes between them and Christ, they want to marry,

Besides, as they go about from house to house they learn to be idle, and not only idle but gossips and busybodies, and talk of things they ought not to mention.

Stop drinking nothing but water; take a little wine for the good of your digestion and for your frequent attacks of illness.

Some men's sins are perfectly evident, and lead them right on to judgment, but there are others whose sins only dog their steps.

But men who want to get rich fall into temptations and snares and many foolish, harmful cravings, that plunge people into destruction and ruin.

But you, man of God, must fly from these things. Strive for uprightness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

Charge the rich of this world not to be arrogant, nor to set their hopes on such an uncertain thing as riches, but on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

For the Spirit God has given us is a spirit not of timidity but of power, love, and self-discipline.

So you must not be ashamed to testify to our Lord, nor be ashamed of me who am in prison for his sake, but join with me in suffering for the good news, through the power of God.

He saved us and called us to a consecrated life, not for anything we had done, but of his own accord and out of the mercy which he bestowed upon us ages ago through Christ Jesus,

This is why I am suffering as I am, but I am not ashamed of it, for I know whom I have trusted and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have intrusted to him for that Day.

for the sake of which I even suffer imprisonment as a criminal. But God's message is not imprisoned!

Do your best to win God's approval as a workman who has nothing to be ashamed of, but rightly shapes the message of truth.

In any large house there are not only gold and silver dishes but also wooden and earthen ones, some for great occasions and some for ordinary use.

So if a man will cleanse himself from these things, he will be put to great uses, consecrated and used by the master of the house himself, and ready for any good use.

and a slave of the Lord must not quarrel, but treat everyone kindly; he must be persuasive and unresentful,

keeping up the forms of religion, but resisting its influence. Avoid such people.