Children, be obedient to your parents; it is right to do so. Honor your father and mother, for this is the first commandment, with the promise: That so it may be well with you, and you will live long upon the earth. And you, fathers, do not try your children's patience, but raise them in the training and precepts of the Lord.
And you, slaves, obey your human masters as you obey the Christ, with fear and trembling and in simplicity of heart, not with service to catch the eye and please people, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God, doing slave work with good will from the heart, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that everyone who does what is good will receive good from the Lord, whether he be slave or free. And you, masters, do likewise toward them, sparing your threats, knowing that their master and yours also is in heaven, and that there is no discr^aination with him.
Lastly, strengthen yourselves in the Lord and in the supremacy of his might. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the treacherous attacks of the devil; because ours is no struggle against flesh and blood, but against the realms, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spirits of evil in heaven. Therefore assume the full armor of God so that you can oppose them on this evil day and, overcoming all, stand firm. Take your stand then, belted around the waist with truth, wearing the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the boots of the gospel of peace, over all holding up the shield of faith with which you will be able to put out all the burning arrows of the Evil One. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Do this with all prayer and entreaty, praying in the spirit on every occasion. To this end be wakeful with full endurance, and with prayers for all the saints. And pray for me, that the words may come when I open my mouth, to make known boldly the mystery of the gospel whose ambassador, in chains, I am; that I may be able to speak boldly, as I ought to do.
And so that you also will know about me, and how I am faring, Tychicus will tell you everything; my beloved brother and trusted helper in the Lord, whom I send you for this very purpose, so that you may learn about us, and so that he may comfort your hearts.
Peace to the brothers, and love, with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in his immortality.
The Letter to the Philippians
1PAUL AND TIMOTHY, SLAVES OF Christ Jesus, to aU the saints of Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, together with their bishops and deacons: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God for you every time I mention you in my prayers, in every one of my prayers for all of you. I make my prayer with joy, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident that he who began the good work among you will go on perfecting it until the Day of Jesus Christ. So it is right for me to feel thus about all of you, because you hold me in your hearts, and during my imprisonment and my defense of myself and confirmation of the gospel you have shared in grace with me, all of you. As God is my witness, I long for you with the love of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may grow more and more in understanding and all perception, so that you can determine what is right and wrong; so that you may be pure and blameless for the Day of Christ, fulfilling the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
I wish you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has gone toward the advancement of the gospel; so my imprisonment for Christ has become well known in the whole praetorian camp and to everyone else; and most of our brothers, trusting in the Lord, begin to preach the word of God the more fearlessly because of my imprisonment. Some preach the Christ in a spirit of envy and contentiousness, others in good will; these with love, knowing that I lie in prison because of my defense of the gospel; but the others proclaim the Christ out of spite, not sincerely, thinking to cause trouble through my bondage. But what of that? In one way or another, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. And I shall continue to rejoice, for I know that this will turn out to be salvation for me, through your prayers and the support of the spirit of Jesus Christ; all this as I hope and eagerly expect that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with full freedom of speech, as now and always, Christ will be exalted in this body of mine, whether in life or death.
For me, Christ is life, and to die is a gain. But what if living in the flesh brings some good from the effort? I do not know which to choose. I am caught between the two. My desire is to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is much better; but my staying in the flesh is more useful, because of you. And this I confidently know, that I will stay and stand by all of you for the advancement of your faith and your joy in it, so that your pride in me may abound in Christ Jesus when I am with you once again.
Only live lives worthy of the gospel of the Christ, so that whether I come and see you or hear about you in my absence, I shall know that you are enduring in a single spirit, in a single feeling striving to help the belief in the gospel, in no way frightened by your adversaries. This is the proof of destruction for them and salvation for you, and it comes from God: that with respect to Christ you were given the privilege not only of believing in him but of suffering for him. Your contest is the same one that you have seen as mine, and now hear of as mine.
If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation in love, any community of spirit, any compassion and feelings of pity, make my joy complete by being unanimous, sharing the same love, harmonious, one in purpose; without emulation or vanity but in your modesty always thinking that others among you are better than yourselves; not looking each for his own interest but every one for the rest. Keep this purpose in yourselves, one which is also in Christ Jesus. He was in the form of God, but did not think to seize on the right to be equal to God, but he stripped himself by taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of a human being; and being found in the guise of a human being, he humiliated himself and was obedient to the death, death on the cross. Therefore God exalted him and graced him with the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess, to the glory of God the Father, that the Lord is Jesus Christ.
So, my beloved people, as you have always been obedient, continue to work out your own salvation in fear and trembling, not only when I am with you but now all the more by far in my absence. For it is God who causes you to wish and to act for the sake of his good will. Do everything without mutterings and disputations, so that you may be blameless and pure, flawless children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, ^ong whom you shine in the world like stars by holding to the word of life, to make me proud on the Day of Christ because I did not my course in vain or labor in vain. But even if I am being offered up to the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. Do you likewise rejoice, and share your joy with me.
I hope, if the Lord Jesus is willing, to send Timothy to you soon, so that I myself may le^ how things are with you, and take heart. I have here not one with a spirit like his, who would be honestly concerned about you; they are all after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. You know how Timothy has proved himself, you know how like a son with his father he has toiled with me for the gospel. So I hope to send as soon as I can find out what my own future is; and I trust in the Lord that I myself shall come to you soon.