Philippians 2 - Colossians 2

Complete Jewish Bible

2 Therefore, if you have any encouragement for me from your being in union with the Messiah, any comfort flowing from love, any fellowship with me in the Spirit, or any compassion and sympathy, ² then complete my joy by having a common purpose and a common love, by being one in heart and mind. ³ Do nothing out of rivalry or vanity; but, in humility, regard each other as better than yourselves — ⁴ look out for each other’s interests and not just for your own.

⁵ Let your attitude toward one another be governed by your being in union with the Messiah Yeshua:

¹² So, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey now when I am away from you: keep working out your deliverance with fear and trembling,^{[b] 13} for God is the one working among you both the willing and the working for what pleases him. ¹⁴ Do everything without kvetching or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and pure children of God, without defect in the midst of a twisted and perverted generation,^[c] among whom you shine like stars in the sky, ¹⁶ as you hold on to the Word of Life. If you do this, I will be able to boast, when the Day of the Messiah comes, that I did not run or toil for nothing. ¹⁷ Indeed, even if my lifeblood is poured out as a drink offering over the sacrifice and service of your faith, I will still be glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸ Likewise, you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

¹⁹ But I hope in the Lord Yeshua to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I too may be cheered by knowing how you are doing. ²⁰ I have no one who compares with him, who will care so sincerely for your welfare — ²¹ people all put their own interests ahead of the Messiah Yeshua’s. ²² But you know his character, that like a child with his father he slaved with me to advance the Good News. ²³ So I hope to send him just as soon as I see how things will go with me, ²⁴ and I am confident in the Lord that before long I myself will come too.

²⁵ Also I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, the emissary whom you sent to take care of my needs; ²⁶ since he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, close to death; but God had mercy on him — and not only on him, but also on me — otherwise I would have had sorrow piled on sorrow. ²⁸ Therefore, I am all the more eager to send him, so that you may rejoice when you see him again; and I, for my part, may be less sad. ²⁹ So give him a joyful welcome in the Lord; honor such people. ³⁰ For he risked his life and nearly died working for the Messiah, in order to give me the help you were not in a position to give.

3 In conclusion, my brothers: rejoice in union with the Lord.

It is no trouble for me to repeat what I have written you before, and for you it will be a safeguard: ² beware of the dogs, those evildoers, the Mutilated! ³ For it is we who are the Circumcised, we who worship by the Spirit of God and make our boast in the Messiah Yeshua! We do not put confidence in human qualifications, ⁴ even though I certainly have grounds for putting confidence in such things. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for putting confidence in human qualifications, I have better grounds:

• ⁵ b’rit-milah on the eighth day,
• by birth belonging to the people of Isra’el,
• from the tribe of Binyamin,
• a Hebrew-speaker, with Hebrew-speaking parents,
• in regard to the Torah, a Parush,
• ⁶ in regard to zeal, a persecutor of the Messianic Community,
• in regard to the righteousness demanded by legalism, blameless.

⁷ But the things that used to be advantages for me, I have, because of the Messiah, come to consider a disadvantage. ⁸ Not only that, but I consider everything a disadvantage in comparison with the supreme value of knowing the Messiah Yeshua as my Lord. It was because of him that I gave up everything and regard it all as garbage, in order to gain the Messiah ⁹ and be found in union with him, not having any righteousness of my own based on legalism, but having that righteousness which comes through the Messiah’s faithfulness, the righteousness from God based on trust. ¹⁰ Yes, I gave it all up in order to know him, that is, to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings as I am being conformed to his death, ¹¹ so that somehow I might arrive at being resurrected from the dead. ¹² It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal — no, I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that for which the Messiah Yeshua took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I, for my part, do not think of myself as having yet gotten hold of it; but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind me and straining forward toward what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize offered by God’s upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua. ¹⁵ Therefore, as many of us as are mature, let us keep paying attention to this; and if you are differently minded about anything, God will also reveal this to you. ¹⁶ Only let our conduct fit the level we have already reached.

¹⁷ Brothers, join in imitating me, and pay attention to those who live according to the pattern we have set for you. ¹⁸ For many — I have told you about them often before, and even now I say it with tears — live as enemies of the Messiah’s execution-stake. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction! Their god is the belly; they are proud of what they ought to be ashamed of, since they are concerned about the things of the world. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, and it is from there that we expect a Deliverer, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. ²¹ He will change the bodies we have in this humble state and make them like his glorious body, using the power which enables him to bring everything under his control.

4 So, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, my dear friends, keep standing firm in union with the Lord.

² I beg Evodia and I beg Syntyche to agree with each other in union with the Lord. ³ I also request you, loyal Syzygus, to help these women; for they have worked hard proclaiming the Good News with me, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers whose names are in the Book of Life.

⁴ Rejoice in union with the Lord always! I will say it again: rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see how reasonable and gentle you are. The Lord is near! ⁶ Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. ⁷ Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua. ⁸ In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy. ⁹ Keep doing what you have learned and received from me, what you have heard and seen me doing; then the God who gives shalom will be with you.

¹⁰ In union with the Lord I greatly rejoice that now, after this long time, you have let your concern for me express itself again. Of course, you were concerned for me all along, but you had no opportunity to express it. ¹¹ Not that I am saying this to call attention to any need of mine; since, as far as I am concerned, I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it is to have more than enough — in everything and in every way I have learned the secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who gives me power.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, it was good of you to share in my trouble. ¹⁵ And you Philippians yourselves know that in the early days of my work spreading the Good News, when I left Macedonia, not a single congregation shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving — only you. ¹⁶ Indeed, in Thessalonica when I needed it, you sent me aid twice. ¹⁷ I am not seeking the gift; rather, I am looking for what will increase the credit balance of your account. ¹⁸ I have been more than paid in full: I have been filled, since I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent — they are a fragrant aroma,^[d] an acceptable sacrifice, one that pleases God well. ¹⁹ Moreover, my God will fill every need of yours according to his glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua. ²⁰ And to God our Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²¹ Greet each of God’s people in the Messiah Yeshua. The brothers with me send their greetings to you. ²² All God’s people send greetings, but especially those in the Emperor’s household.

²³ The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit.

1 From: Sha’ul, by God’s will an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua, and brother Timothy

² To: God’s people in Colosse, faithful brothers in the Messiah:

Grace to you and shalom from God our Father.

³ Whenever we pray, we always give thanks for you to God, the Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. ⁴ For we have heard of your trust in the Messiah Yeshua and of the love you have for all God’s people. ⁵ Both spring from the confident hope that you will receive what is stored up for you in heaven. You heard of this earlier in the message about the truth. This Good News ⁶ has made its presence felt among you, just as it is also being fruitful and multiplying^[e] throughout the world in the same way as it has among you since the day you heard and understood the grace of God as it really is. ⁷ You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow-slave and a faithful worker for the Messiah on your behalf; ⁸ and he has told us about the love which the Spirit has given you.

⁹ Therefore, from the day we heard of it, we have not stopped praying for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all the wisdom and understanding which the Spirit gives; ¹⁰ so that you may live lives worthy of the Lord and entirely pleasing to him, being fruitful in every good work and multiplying in the full knowledge of God. ¹¹ We pray that you will be continually strengthened with all the power that comes from his glorious might; so that you will be able to persevere and be patient in any situation, joyfully ¹² giving thanks to the Father for having made you fit to share in the inheritance of his people in the light. ¹³ He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.

¹⁴ It is through his Son that we have redemption — that is, our sins have been forgiven. ¹⁵ He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, ¹⁶ because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.

¹⁸ Also he is head of the Body, the Messianic Community — he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might hold first place in everything. ¹⁹ For it pleased God to have his full being live in his Son ²⁰ and through his Son to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through him, through having his Son shed his blood by being executed on a stake.

²¹ In other words, you, who at one time were separated from God and had a hostile attitude towards him because of your wicked deeds, ²² he has now reconciled in the Son’s physical body through his death; in order to present you holy and without defect or reproach before himself — ²³ provided, of course, that you continue in your trusting, grounded and steady, and don’t let yourselves be moved away from the hope offered in the Good News you heard.

This is the Good News that has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven; and I, Sha’ul, have become a servant of it. ²⁴ I rejoice in my present sufferings on your behalf! Yes, I am completing in my own flesh what has been lacking of the Messiah’s afflictions, on behalf of his Body, the Messianic Community. ²⁵ I became a servant of the Good News because God gave me this work to do for your benefit. The work is to make fully known the message from God, ²⁶ the secret hidden for generations, for ages, but now made clear to the people he has set apart for himself. ²⁷ To them God wanted to make known how great among the Gentiles is the glorious richness of this secret. And the secret is this: the Messiah is united with you people! In that rests your hope of glory! ²⁸ We, for our part, proclaim him; we warn, confront and teach everyone in all wisdom; so that we may present everyone as having reached the goal, united with the Messiah. ²⁹ It is for this that I toil, striving with all the energy that he stirs up in me so mightily.

2 For I want you to know how hard I work for you, for those in Laodicea, and for the rest of those who have not met me personally. ² My purpose is that they may be encouraged, that they may be joined together in love, and that they may have all the riches derived from being assured of understanding and fully knowing God’s secret truth, which is — the Messiah! ³ It is in him that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

⁴ I say this so that no one will fool you with plausible but specious arguments. ⁵ For although I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing as I see the disciplined and resolute firmness of your trust in the Messiah. ⁶ Therefore, just as you received the Messiah Yeshua as Lord, keep living your life united with him. ⁷ Remain deeply rooted in him; continue being built up in him and confirmed in your trust, the way you were taught, so that you overflow in thanksgiving.

⁸ Watch out, so that no one will take you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, following human tradition which accords with the elemental spirits of the world but does not accord with the Messiah. ⁹ For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is. ¹⁰ And it is in union with him that you have been made full — he is the head of every rule and authority.

¹¹ Also it was in union with him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by human hands, but accomplished by stripping away the old nature’s control over the body. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, ¹² you were buried along with him by being immersed; and in union with him, you were also raised up along with him by God’s faithfulness that worked when he raised Yeshua from the dead. ¹³ You were dead because of your sins, that is, because of your “foreskin,” your old nature. But God made you alive along with the Messiah by forgiving you all your sins. ¹⁴ He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake. ¹⁵ Stripping the rulers and authorities of their power, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by means of the stake.

¹⁶ So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.

¹⁸ Don’t let anyone deny you the prize by insisting that you engage in self-mortification or angel-worship. Such people are always going on about some vision they have had, and they vainly puff themselves up by their worldly outlook. ¹⁹ They fail to hold to the Head, from whom the whole Body, receiving supply and being held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God makes it grow. ²⁰ If, along with the Messiah, you died to the elemental spirits of the world, then why, as if you still belonged to the world, are you letting yourselves be bothered by its rules? — ²¹ “Don’t touch this!” “Don’t eat that!” “Don’t handle the other!” ²² Such prohibitions are concerned with things meant to perish by being used [not by being avoided!], and they are based on man-made rules and teachings.^{[f] 23} They do indeed have the outward appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed religious observances, false humility and asceticism; but they have no value at all in restraining people from indulging their old nature.