I then, the prisoner in the Lord, make this request from my heart, that you will see that your behaviour is a credit to the position which God's purpose has given you,

With all gentle and quiet behaviour, taking whatever comes, putting up with one another in love;

There is one body and one Spirit, even as you have been marked out by God in the one hope of his purpose for you;

One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching;

Till we all come to the harmony of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to full growth, to the full measure of Christ:

Whose thoughts are dark, to whom the life of God is strange because they are without knowledge, and their hearts have been made hard;

And put on the new man, to which God has given life, in righteousness and a true and holy way of living.

Let him who was a thief be so no longer, but let him do good work with his hands, so that he may have something to give to him who is in need.

Let no evil talk come out of your mouth, but only what is good for giving necessary teaching, and for grace to those who give ear.

And do not give grief to the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were marked for the day of salvation.

And be kind to one another, full of pity, having forgiveness for one another, even as God in Christ had forgiveness for you.

Let it then be your desire to be like God, as well-loved children;

And be living in love, even as Christ had love for you, and gave himself up for us, an offering to God for a perfume of a sweet smell.

Being certain of this, that no man who gives way to the passions of the flesh, no unclean person, or one who has desire for the property of others, or who gives worship to images, has any heritage in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Do not be turned from the right way by foolish words; for because of these things the punishment of God comes on those who do not put themselves under him.

(Because the fruit of the light is in all righteousness and in everything which is good and true),

Making good use of the time, because the days are evil.

Giving praise at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;

Not only under your master's eye, as pleasers of men; but as servants of Christ, doing the pleasure of God from the heart;

In the knowledge that for every good thing anyone does, he will have his reward from the Lord, If he is a servant or if he is free.

Take up God's instruments of war, so that you may be able to keep your position against all the deceits of the Evil One.

For this reason take up all the arms of God, so that you may be able to be strong in the evil day, and, having done all, to keep your place.

Be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on your feet;

And take salvation for your head-dress and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

And for me, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make clear without fear the secret of the good news,

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

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give praise to my God at every memory of you,

Because of your help in giving the good news from the first day till now;

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:

So it is right for me to take thought for you all in this way, because I have you in my heart; for in my chains, and in my arguments before the judges in support of the good news, making clear that it is true, you all have your part with me in grace.

For God is my witness, how my love goes out to you all in the loving mercies of Christ Jesus.

Being full of the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to 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;

And most of the brothers in the Lord, taking heart because of my chains, are all the stronger to give the word of God without fear.

Though some are preaching Christ out of envy and competition, others do it out of a good heart:

These do it from love, conscious that I am responsible for the cause of the good news:

Only let your behaviour do credit to the good news of Christ, so that if I come and see you or if I am away from you, I may have news of you that you are strong in one spirit, working together with one soul for the faith of the good news;

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;

Not looking everyone to his private good, but keeping in mind the things of others.

To whom, though himself in the form of God, it did not seem that to take for oneself was to be like God;

For this reason God has put him in the highest place and has given to him the name which is greater than every name;

And that every tongue may give witness that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

For it is God who is the cause of your desires and of your acts, for his good pleasure.

So that you may be holy and gentle, children of God without sin in a twisted and foolish generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,

But his quality is clear to you; how, as a child is to its father, so he was a help to me in the work of the good news.

For in fact he was ill almost to death: but God had mercy on him; and not only on him but on me, so that I might not have grief on grief.

For we are the circumcision, who give worship to God and have glory in Jesus Christ, and have no faith in the flesh:

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

Not as if I had even now got the reward or been made complete: but I go on in the hope that I may come to the knowledge of that for which I was made the servant of Christ Jesus.

I go forward to the mark, even the reward of the high purpose of God in Christ Jesus.

Then let us all, who have come to full growth, be of this mind: and if in anything you are of a different mind, even this will God make clear to you:

Only, as far as we have got, let us be guided by the same rule.

Whose end is destruction, whose god is the stomach, and whose glory is in their shame, whose minds are fixed on the things of the earth.

And I make request to you, true helper in my work, to see to the needs of those women who took part with me in the good news, with Clement and the rest of my brother-workers whose names are in the book of life.

Have no cares; but in everything with prayer and praise put your requests before God.

And the peace of God, which is deeper than all knowledge, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The things which came to you by my teaching and preaching, and which you saw in me, these things do, and the God of peace will be with you.

And you have knowledge, Philippians, that when the good news first came to you, when I went away from Macedonia, no church took part with me in the business of giving to the saints, but you only;

I have all things and more than enough: I am made full, having had from Epaphroditus the things which came from you, a perfume of a sweet smell, an offering well pleasing to God.

And my God will give you all you have need of from the wealth of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Now to God our Father be glory for ever and ever. So be it.

Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the purpose of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the saints and true brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

We give praise to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, making prayer for you at all times,

Through the hope which is in store for you in heaven; knowledge of which was given to you before in the true word of the good news,

Which has come to you; and which in all the world is giving fruit and increase, as it has done in you from the day when it came to your ears and you had true knowledge of the grace of God;

Living uprightly in the approval of the Lord, giving fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Who is the image of the unseen God and existed before all living things;

For God in full measure was pleased to be in him;

And you, who in the past were cut off and at war with God in your minds through evil works, he has now made one

If you keep yourselves safely based in the faith, not moved from the hope of the good news which came to you, and which was given to every living being under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

Of which I became a servant by the purpose of God which was given to me for you, to give effect to the word of God,

To whom God was pleased to give knowledge of the wealth of the glory of this secret among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

So that their hearts may be comforted, and that being joined together in love, they may come to the full wealth of the certain knowledge of the secret of God, even Christ,

Rooted and based together in him, strong in the faith which the teaching gave you, giving praise to God at all times.

For in him all the wealth of God's being has a living form,

Having been put to death with him in baptism, by which you came to life again with him, through faith in the working of God, who made him come back from the dead.

And not joined to the Head, from whom all the body, being given strength and kept together through its joins and bands, has its growth with the increase of God.

If then you have a new life with Christ, give your attention to the things of heaven, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

For your life on earth is done, and you have a secret life with Christ in God.

Because of which the wrath of God comes on those who go against his orders;

As saints of God, then, holy and dearly loved, let your behaviour be marked by pity and mercy, kind feeling, a low opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, and a power of undergoing all things;

And let the peace of Christ be ruling in your hearts, as it was the purpose of God for you to be one body; and give praise to God at all times.

Let the word of Christ be in you in all wealth of wisdom; teaching and helping one another with songs of praise and holy words, making melody to God with grace in your hearts.

And whatever you do, in word or in act, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving praise to God the Father through him.

And making prayer for us, that God may give us an open door for the preaching of the word, the secret of Christ, for which I am now in chains;

Be wise in your behaviour to those who are outside, making good use of the time.

And Jesus, whose other name is Justus; these are of the circumcision: they are my only brother-workers for the kingdom of God, who have been a comfort to me.

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his love, ever taking thought for you in his prayers, that you may be complete and fully certain of all the purpose of God.

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

We give praise to God at all times for you, keeping you in memory in our prayers;

Having ever in mind your work of faith and acts of love and the strength of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father;

Being conscious, my brothers, dear to God, that you have been marked out by God's purpose;

Because our good news came to you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, so that you were completely certain of it; even as you saw what our behaviour to you was like from our love to you.

For not only was the word of the Lord sounding out from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God is made clear; so that we have no need to say anything.

For they themselves give the news of how we came among you; and how you were turned from images to God, to the worship of a true and living God,

But after we had first undergone much pain and been cruelly attacked as you saw, at Philippi, by the help of God we gave you the good news without fear, though everything was against us.

But even as the good news was given to us by the approval of God, so we give it out; not as pleasing men, but God by whom our hearts are tested.