for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light --

for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth --

For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention.

For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: "Awake, O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!"

For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord's will is.

always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

For no one has ever hated his own body but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church,

for we are members of his body.

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak -- that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel,

for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.

I always pray with joy in my every prayer for all of you

For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

For it is right for me to think this about all of you, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel all of you became partners in God's grace together with me.

For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ,

The whole imperial guard and everyone else knows that I am in prison for the sake of Christ,

The latter do so from love because they know that I am placed here for the defense of the gospel.

The former proclaim Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, because they think they can cause trouble for me in my imprisonment.

for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

Now if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean productive work for me, yet I don't know which I prefer:

but it is more vital for your sake that I remain in the body.

And since I am sure of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for the sake of your progress and joy in the faith,

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that -- whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent -- I should hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,

For it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him,

who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped,

but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature.

for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort -- for the sake of his good pleasure -- is God.

For there is no one here like him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you.

But for now I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to me in my need.

since it was because of the work of Christ that he almost died. He risked his life so that he could make up for your inability to serve me.

Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials

In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless.

More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things -- indeed, I regard them as dung! -- that I may gain Christ,

Not that I have already attained this -- that is, I have not already been perfected -- but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead,

For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.

I have great joy in the Lord because now at last you have again expressed your concern for me. (Now I know you were concerned before but had no opportunity to do anything.)

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content in any circumstance.

For even in Thessalonica on more than one occasion you sent something for my need.

For I have received everything, and I have plenty. I have all I need because I received from Epaphroditus what you sent -- a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, very pleasing to God.

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

since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel

For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him -- all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers -- all things were created through him and for him.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body -- for the sake of his body, the church -- what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship from God -- given to me for you -- in order to complete the word of God,

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face.

For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form,

for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.

Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people,

For the one who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there are no exceptions.

At the same time pray for us too, that God may open a door for the message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

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

And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

For I can testify that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

We thank God always for all of you as we mention you constantly in our prayers,

For from you the message of the Lord has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, so that we do not need to say anything.

For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, about our coming to you -- it has not proven to be purposeless.

For the appeal we make does not come from error or impurity or with deceit,

For we never appeared with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed -- God is our witness --

although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead we became little children among you. Like a nursing mother caring for her own children,

with such affection for you we were happy to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

For you recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery: By working night and day so as not to impose a burden on any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God's churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews,

But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, for a short time (in presence, not in affection) we became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person.

For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again) but Satan thwarted us.

For who is our hope or joy or crown to boast of before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not of course you?

For you are our glory and joy!

We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith,

so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know.

So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

For now we are alive again, if you stand firm in the Lord.

For how can we thank God enough for you, for all the joy we feel because of you before our God?

And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you,

For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

For this is God's will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality,

For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness.

Now on the topic of brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians.

For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.