I also thought it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you; my brother and helper and fellow soldier sent by you as an emissary to minister to my needs; since he has been longing to see you and was concerned because you heard that he had been sick. And indeed he was sick, almost to the point of death, but God took pity on him; not only on him, but also on me, so that I should not have one grief on top of another. Thus I send him the more urgently, so that you may see him and be happy again, and I too may be the less troubled. Welcome him, then, with all joy, in the Lord's name, and prize people like him, because in doing the Lord's work he came very close to death, risking his life in order to fill the need you felt to have someone helping me.
For the rest, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. But I have no hesitation in writing you the same thing once again, and it is safe, as regards you.
Beware of the dogs, beware of evil practitioners, beware of mutilation. It is we who are the circumcised, we who serve the spirit of God and take pride in Christ Jesus and do not put our confidence in the flesh —although I myself do have reason for confidence in the flesh also. Even if another man may think he has reason for confidence in the flesh, yet I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in law a Pharisee, in zeal, a persecutor of the church, in righteousness according to the law, without fault. But all those things which had been gains for me I now count as loss, because of the Christ. I do then count everything else as loss because of the greater value of knowing of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I was deprived of everything; and I count it all as garbage if so I may gain Christ and be found in him, not keeping my righteousness which came from the law but that which came through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God which rests on faith; from knowing him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings, conforming myself to his death, so as somehow to arrive at the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have already got it or am already made perfect, but I pursue it, trying to overtake it, as I was overtaken by Christ. My brothers, I do not count myself as one who has caught it yet, but I do only one thing: forgetting what is behind me and straining on toward what is ahead of me, I pursue my objective, the prize, which is to be summoned aloft by God with Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature be so minded; and if you think otherwise on any point, God will make that also clear to you; only let us stand fast at the place we have already reached.
Join in following my example, brothers, and since you have us for a model, observe those who conduct themselves as I do. For there are many people about, of whom I have spoken to you often and now, tearfully, speak of them again: the enemies of the cross of the Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly and whose glory is in their shamefulness, whose minds are on earthly things. But we have our city in heaven, from which we also await our savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure the body of our lowliness to conform to the body of his glory, through the activity of his power and because all things are subject to him.
So, my brothers, longed for, my joy and my crown, be thus steadfast in the Lord, my dear ones. I implore Eu- odia and I implore Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true yoke-fellow, come to their aid; in my evangelism they strove along with me, together with Clement and the rest of my helpers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always; I say it again, rejoice. May your goodness be made knownwn to all men. The Lord is near; never be anxious, but in every prayer and entreaty let your requests be communicated with thanksgiving to God; and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, all things that are true, that are honorable, that are just, that are pure, that are lovely, that are admirable; if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy; think upon these things. And all that you have ever le^ed and taken over and heard and seen in me, so do; and the God of peace will be with you.
I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that your concern for me has flowered once again; after the time when you were concerned, but had no opportunity to help. I do not speak about needing help, since I have learned how to be self- sufficient in whatever circumstances I may be. I know how to do without and how to have plenty; anywhere and in anything I have been initiated into how to be full, how to be hungry, to have more than enough and to have not enough. I have strength for everything through him who fortifies me.
Still you did well to share my suffering with me. And, Philippians, you yourselves know that, in the early time of my mission when I had left Macedonia, not one other church shared in my gains and losses: only you; and that even when I was in Thessalonica once and then again you sent me what I needed. Not that I ask for the gift but what I do ask is that the excess profit be credited to you. I am paid in full, and more; I ^ fully rewarded in receiving from Epaphroditus the gift from you, a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God will fill every need that you have through his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Glory be to our God and Father forever and ever. Amen.
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you greetings. All the saints send you greetings, especially those of Caesar's household.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
The Letter to the Colossians
IPAUL, THE APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS by the will of God, with Timothy our brother; to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are in Colos- sae: grace to you and peace, from God our Father.
In all our prayers to God the Father of our Lord Jesus we give thanks for you, since we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, hope of which you heard before in the word of truth in the gospel which is present among you; the gospel which grows and bears fruit in all the world, as it does among you, since the day when you heard it and truly acknowledged the grace of God; as you le^ed it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave, who acts for us as a trusted minister of the Christ, and who told us of the love you have in the Spirit. Therefore we also, since the day when we heard about you, never cease from praying for you. We pray that you may be fulfilled in your understanding of his will, in full wisdom and spiritual comprehension; so as to act in a manner worthy of the Lord and always pleasing to him, productive in every good work and increasing in your understanding of God; empowered with every power, by the supremacy of his glory, to be always steadfast and joyfully enduring, thankful to the father who made you fit for your share in the fortune of the saints, in the light. It was he who rescued us from the power of darkness, and removed us to the Kingdom of the son of his love, where we find our redemption, the remission of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, first-born of all creation, because in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or realms or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. And he is before all things and all things come together in him, and he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, first-born from the dead, to be first himself in all things, because all fulfillment has been well pleased to reside in him and through him to reconcile all things to him, establishing peace by the blood of his cross; whether it be the things on earth or the things in heaven. And as for you, who were once estranged and hostile in your minds with your wicked doings, he has now reconciled you in his physical body by his death, so as to bring you, holy and blameless and unimpeachable, into his presence; provided that you remain firm-founded and steady in your faith, not shaken from your hope in the gospel you have heard, the gospel preached in all creation under heaven, the gospel of which I, Paul, have been made the minister.