Buy up your opportunities, for these are evil times.

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Speak to one another by using psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your hearts to the Lord.

Always and for everything let your thanks to God the Father be presented in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

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.

Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Ye husbands, be loving your wives, even as, the Christ also, loved the assembly, and delivered, himself, up in her behalf,

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So, ought the husbands also to be loving their own wives, as their own bodies, - he that loveth his own wife, loveth himself,

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

Nevertheless, ye also, do ye, individually, each man be so loving, his own wife, as himself, and, the wife, see that she reverence her husband.

Children, be obedient to your parents as a Christian duty, for it is a duty.

"Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,

That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

And ye fathers, be not provoking your children to anger, but be nourishing them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.

Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

Let it not be in acts of eye-service as if you had but to please men, but as Christ's bondservants who are doing God's will from the heart.

With right good will, be faithful to your duty as service rendered to the Lord and not to man.

Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

And ye masters, the same things, be doing towards them, forbearing your threat - knowing that, both their and your Master, is in the heavens, and, respect of persons, there is none, with him.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness,

and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news].

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

let salvation be your helmet, and the divine doctrine your spiritual sword.

Pray with unceasing prayer and entreaty on every fitting occasion in the Spirit, and be always on the alert to seize opportunities for doing so, with unwearied persistence and entreaty on behalf of all God's people,

And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

for which I am an ambassador bound with a chain, that I may be bold in it as I ought to speak.

Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

For I am certain of this very thing, that he by whom the good work was started in you will make it complete till the day of Jesus Christ:

even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers with me of grace.

And it is my prayer that your love may be more and more accompanied by clear knowledge and keen perception, for testing things that differ,

That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Now it is my purpose to make clear to you, brothers, that the cause of the good news has been helped by my experiences;

My imprisonment in [the cause of] Christ has become common knowledge throughout the whole praetorian (imperial) guard and to everyone else.

And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

To be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and strife, but others out of good will.

The latter are motivated by love, because they know that I have been appointed to defend the gospel.

while the others proclaim Him from motives of rivalry, and insincerely, supposing that by this they are embittering my imprisonment.

What then? only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad.

For I am conscious that this will be for my salvation, through your prayer and the giving out of the stored wealth of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

For life to me is Christ, and if I die, it would be gain.

If, however, it is to be life here and I am to go on living, this will mean useful and productive service for me; so I do not know which to choose [if I am given that choice].

For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

But, for your sakes, it may be more needful that I should still remain here in the body.

Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

but emptied himself [by] taking the form of a slave, [by] becoming in the likeness of people. And being found in appearance like a man,

he humbled himself [by] becoming obedient to the point of death, that is, death on a cross.

Now lifted up by God to heaven, a name above all others given, this matchless name possessing.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

So, then, my beloved - even as ye have always obeyed, not asin my presence only, but, now, much more, in my absence, with fear and trembling, your own salvation, be working out;

For God is working in you also to will and to work by benevolence.

Be ever on your guard against a grudging and contentious spirit,

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

holding forth the word of life, so as to be a boast for me in Christ's day, that I have not run in vain nor laboured in vain.

Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

You too, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.

For I have no one else [like him who is] so kindred a spirit who will be genuinely concerned for your [spiritual] welfare.

But, of the proof of him, be taking note, - that, as child, with father, with me, hath he done service for the glad-message;

Him therefore I hope to send to you as soon as I know how it will be with me;

though I am confident in the Lord that I too will be coming to see you soon.

But it seemed to me necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, who has taken part with me in the work and in the fight, and your servant, sent by you for help in my need;

For he longed after you, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard say that he should be sick,

I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.

Be giving him welcome, therefore, in the Lord, with all joy; and, such as he, in honour, be holding, -

because it was for the sake of Christ's work that he came so near death, hazarding, as he did, his very life in endeavouring to make good any deficiency that there might be in your gifts to me.

In conclusion, my brethren, be joyful in the Lord. For me to give you the same warnings as before is not irksome to me, while so far as you are concerned it is a safe precaution.

Be on the watch against dogs, against the workers of evil, against those of the circumcision:

for we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh:

Although (I having confidence also in flesh) if any other man seems to be confident in the flesh, I more:

I was circumcised when eight days old; I am an Israelite by race, and of the tribe of Benjamin; I am a Hebrew, and the child of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;

as to my zeal [for Jewish tradition], a persecutor of the church; and as to righteousness [supposed right living] which [my fellow Jews believe] is in the Law, I proved myself blameless.

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did];

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.

Brothers, I for one do not consider myself to have appropriated this; my one thought is, by forgetting what lies behind me and straining to what lies before me,