^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 a spirit of ^(G)wisdom and of ^(H)revelation in the ^[c]knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that ^(I)the eyes of your heart ^[d]may be enlightened, so that you 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)These are in accordance with the working of the ^(P)strength of His might ²⁰ which He brought about in Christ, when He ^(Q)raised Him from the dead and ^(R)seated 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 He ^(W)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 in view of your ^[a](C)participation 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 feel this way about you all, because I ^(H)have you in my heart, since both in my ^[c](I)imprisonment and in the ^(J)defense and confirmation of the ^(K)gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. ⁸ For ^(L)God is my witness, how I long for you all with the ^[d]affection of ^(M)Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this I pray, that ^(N)your love may abound still more and more in ^(O)real knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may ^[e](P)approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless ^[f]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 Gospel Is Preached

¹² Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances ^(S)have turned out for the greater progress of the ^(T)gospel, ¹³ so that my ^[g](U)imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole ^[h]praetorian guard and to ^(V)everyone else, ¹⁴ and that most of the ^[i]brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my ^[j](W)imprisonment, have ^(X)far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. ^15 (Y)Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even ^[k]from envy and strife, but some also ^[l]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 ^[m]rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my ^[n](AB)imprisonment. 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 this will turn out for my ^[o]deliverance ^(AC)through your ^[p]prayers and the provision of ^(AD)the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my ^(AE)earnest expectation and ^(AF)hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with ^(AG)all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be ^(AH)exalted in my body, ^(AI)whether by life or by death.

To Live Is Christ

²¹ For to me, ^(AJ)to live is Christ and to die is gain. ^22 [q]But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean ^(AK)fruitful labor for me; and I do not know ^[r]which to choose. ²³ But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the ^(AL)desire to depart and ^(AM)be with Christ, for that is very much better; ²⁴ yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. ^25 (AN)Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy ^[s]in the faith, ²⁶ so that your ^(AO)proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

²⁷ Only conduct yourselves in a manner ^(AP)worthy of the ^(AQ)gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are ^(AR)standing firm in ^(AS)one spirit, with one ^[t]mind ^(AT)striving together for the faith of the gospel; ²⁸ in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a ^(AU)sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. ²⁹ For to you ^(AV)it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to ^(AW)suffer for His sake, ³⁰ experiencing the same ^(AX)conflict which ^(AY)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]increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^(K)heard of it and ^[g]understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(L)Epaphras, our ^(M)beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ and he also informed us of your ^(N)love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason also, ^(O)since the day we heard of it, ^(P)we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ^[h](Q)knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^(R)wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you will ^(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]increasing in the ^[k]knowledge of God; ^11 (V)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.

The Incomparable Christ

^13 [q]For He rescued us from the ^[r](AA)domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^[s](AB)His beloved Son, ^14 (AC)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

^15 [t]He is the ^(AD)image of the ^(AE)invisible God, the ^(AF)firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For ^[u](AG)by Him all things were created, ^(AH)both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(AI)thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—^(AJ)all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He ^[v](AK)is before all things, and in Him all things ^[w]hold together. ¹⁸ He is also ^(AL)head of ^(AM)the body, the church; and He is ^(AN)the beginning, ^(AO)the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For ^[x]it was ^(AP)the Father’s good pleasure for all ^(AQ)the ^[y]fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰ and through Him to ^(AR)reconcile all things to Himself, having made ^(AS)peace through ^(AT)the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, ^(AU)whether things on earth or things in ^[z]heaven.

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

^24 (BF)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(BG)I ^[ad]do my share on behalf of ^(BH)His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking ^[ae]in Christ’s afflictions. ^25 (BI)Of this church I ^[af]was made a minister according to the ^(BJ)stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might ^[ag]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 ^[ah]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 We proclaim Him, ^(BP)admonishing every man and teaching every man ^[ai]with all ^(BQ)wisdom, so that we may ^(BR)present every man ^[aj](BS)complete in Christ. ²⁹ For this purpose also I ^(BT)labor, ^(BU)striving ^(BV)according to His ^[ak]power, which ^[al]mightily works within me.

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

¹³ For this reason we also constantly ^(A)thank God 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 performs its work in you who believe.