^4 (A)I thank ^[a]my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

¹⁵ For this reason I too, ^(A)having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and ^[a]your love for ^(B)all the ^[b]saints, ^16 (C)do not cease giving thanks for you, ^(D)while making mention of you in my prayers: ¹⁷ that the ^(E)God of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(F)the Father of glory, may give to you the ^[c]Spirit of ^(G)wisdom and of ^(H)revelation in the ^[d]full knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ so that you—^(I)the eyes of your heart having been enlightened—will know what is the ^(J)hope of His ^(K)calling, what are ^(L)the riches of the glory of ^(M)His inheritance in ^(N)the ^[e]saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe ^(O)according to the working of the ^(P)might of His strength, ²⁰ which He worked in Christ, by ^(Q)raising Him from the dead and ^(R)seating Him at His right hand in ^(S)the heavenly places, ²¹ far above ^(T)all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every ^(U)name that is named, not only in ^(V)this age but also in the one to come. ²² And ^(W)He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as ^(X)head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His ^(Y)body, the ^(Z)fullness of Him who ^(AA)fills ^(AB)all in all.

^3 (A)I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always offering prayer with joy in ^(B)my every prayer for you all, ⁵ because of your ^[a](C)fellowship in the ^(D)gospel ^(E)from the first day until now. ⁶ For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until ^(F)the day of Christ Jesus. ^7 [b]For ^(G)it is only right for me to think this way about you all, because I ^(H)have you in my heart, since both in my ^(I)chains and in the ^(J)defense and confirmation of the ^(K)gospel, you all are fellow partakers with me in this grace. ⁸ For ^(L)God is my witness, how I long for you all with the ^[c]affection of ^(M)Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this I pray, that ^(N)your love may abound still more and more in ^(O)full knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may ^[d](P)approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and without fault ^[e]until ^(Q)the day of Christ, ¹¹ having been filled with the ^(R)fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

The Progress of the Gospel

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances ^(S)have turned out for the greater progress of the ^(T)gospel, ¹³ so that my ^(U)chains in Christ have become well known throughout the whole ^[f]praetorian guard and to ^(V)everyone else, ¹⁴ and that most of the ^[g]brothers, having become confident in the Lord because of my ^(W)chains, have ^(X)far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. ^15 (Y)Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even ^[h]from envy and strife, but some also ^[i]from good will; ¹⁶ the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the ^(Z)gospel; ¹⁷ the former proclaim Christ ^(AA)out of selfish ambition ^[j]rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me affliction in my ^(AB)chains. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that ^(AC)this will turn out for my salvation ^(AD)through your ^[k]prayers and the provision of ^(AE)the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my ^(AF)earnest expectation and ^(AG)hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with ^(AH)all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be ^(AI)magnified in my body, ^(AJ)whether by life or by death.

To Live Is Christ

²¹ For to me, ^(AK)to live is Christ and to die is gain. ^22 [l]But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean ^(AL)fruitful labor for me; and I do not know what I will choose. ²³ But I am hard-pressed ^[m]between the two, having the ^(AM)desire to depart and ^(AN)be with Christ, for that is very much better, ²⁴ yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. ^25 (AO)And convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy ^[n]in the faith, ²⁶ so that your reason for ^(AP)boasting may abound in Christ Jesus in me, through my coming to you again.

²⁷ Only ^[o]live your lives in a manner ^(AQ)worthy of the ^(AR)gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear about your circumstances, that you are ^(AS)standing firm in ^(AT)one spirit, with one ^[p]mind ^(AU)contending together for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a ^(AV)sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. ²⁹ For to you ^(AW)it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to ^(AX)suffer for His sake, ³⁰ having the same ^(AY)struggle which ^(AZ)you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

^3 (A)We give thanks to God, ^(B)the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ^4 (C)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^(D)love which you have ^[a]for ^(E)all the ^[b]saints, ⁵ because of the ^(F)hope ^(G)laid up for you in ^[c]heaven, of which you previously ^(H)heard in the word of truth, ^[d]the gospel ⁶ which has come to you, just as ^[e](I)in all the world also it is constantly bearing ^(J)fruit and ^[f]multiplying, just as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^(K)heard and ^[g]understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(L)Epaphras, our ^(M)beloved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ who also informed us of your ^(N)love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason also, ^(O)since the day we heard, ^(P)we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ^[h](Q)full knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^(R)wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you may ^(S)walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^[i](T)to please Him in all respects, ^(U)bearing fruit in every good work and ^[j]multiplying in the ^[k]full knowledge of God; ^11 (V)being strengthened with all power, according to ^[l]His glorious might, ^[m]for the attaining of all steadfastness and ^[n]patience; ^(W)joyously ¹² giving thanks to ^(X)the Father, who has qualified us ^[o]to share in ^(Y)the inheritance of the ^[p]saints in ^(Z)light. ¹³ Who rescued us from the ^(AA)authority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^(AB)the Son of His love, ^14 (AC)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Firstborn of All Creation

²¹ And although you were ^(AV)formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds, ²² but now He ^(AW)reconciled you in the ^(AX)body of His flesh through death, in order to ^(AY)present you before Him ^(AZ)holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³ if indeed you continue in ^[w]the faith firmly ^(BA)grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the ^(BB)hope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed ^(BC)in all creation under heaven, ^(BD)and of which I, Paul, ^[x]was made a ^[y](BE)minister.

^24 (BF)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and ^(BG)I fill up what is lacking of Christ’s afflictions in my flesh, on behalf of ^(BH)His body, which is the church, ^25 (BI)of which I ^[z]was made a minister according to the ^(BJ)stewardship from God given to me for you, so that I might ^[aa]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶ that is, ^(BK)the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ^[ab]saints, ²⁷ to whom ^(BL)God willed to make known what is ^(BM)the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ^(BN)Christ in you, the ^(BO)hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we proclaim, ^(BP)admonishing every man and teaching every man ^[ac]with all ^(BQ)wisdom, so that we may ^(BR)present every man ^[ad](BS)complete in Christ. ²⁹ For this purpose I also ^(BT)labor, ^(BU)striving ^(BV)according to His working, which He works in me in power.

^2 (A)We give thanks to God always for all of you, ^(B)making mention of you in our prayers;

¹³ And for this reason we also ^(A)thank God without ceasing that when you received the ^(B)word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it ^(C)not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, ^(D)which also is at work in you who believe.