³ concerning His Son, who was born ^(A)of the seed of David ^(B)according to the flesh,

⁴ But when ^(A)the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, ^(B)born of a woman, born ^(C)under ^[a]the Law,

⁷ but ^[a](A)emptied Himself, by taking the form of a ^(B)slave, by ^(C)being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, ^(D)He humbled Himself by becoming ^(E)obedient to the point of death, even ^(F)death ^[b]on a cross. ^9 (G)Therefore, God also ^(H)highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him ^(I)the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus ^(J)every knee will bow, of ^(K)those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that ^(L)every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is ^[c](M)Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹² So then, my beloved, ^(N)just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your ^(O)salvation with ^(P)fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is ^(Q)God who is at work in you, both to will and to work ^(R)for His good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things without ^(S)grumbling or disputing, ¹⁵ so that you will be ^(T)blameless and innocent, ^(U)children of God without blemish in the midst of a ^(V)crooked and perverse generation, among whom you ^(W)shine as ^[d]lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding ^[e]fast the word of life, so that in ^(X)the day of Christ I will have reason to boast because I did not ^(Y)run in vain nor ^(Z)labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being ^(AA)poured out as a drink offering upon ^(AB)the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. ¹⁸ And you also, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus Sent

¹⁹ But I hope in the Lord Jesus to ^(AC)send ^(AD)Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be in good spirits when I learn of your circumstances. ²⁰ For I have no one else ^(AE)of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned about your circumstances. ²¹ For they all ^(AF)seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. ²² But you know ^(AG)of his proven worth, that ^(AH)he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel ^(AI)like a child serving his father. ^23 (AJ)Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I ^[f]evaluate my own circumstances, ²⁴ and ^(AK)I am confident in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly. ²⁵ But I regarded it necessary to send to you ^(AL)Epaphroditus, my brother and ^(AM)fellow worker and ^(AN)fellow soldier, who is also your ^[g](AO)messenger and ^(AP)minister to my need; ²⁶ because he was longing ^[h]for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. ²⁷ For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸ Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned. ^29 (AQ)Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and ^(AR)hold men like him in high regard ³⁰ because he came close to death ^[i](AS)for the work of Christ, risking his life to ^(AT)fulfill ^[j]what was lacking in your service to me.

¹⁶ And by common confession, great is ^(A)the mystery of godliness:

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in ^[a](A)flesh and blood, ^(B)He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that ^(C)through death He might render powerless ^(D)him who had the ^[b]power of death, that is, the devil,

The Word of Life

1 What was ^(A)from the beginning, what we have ^(B)heard, what we have ^(C)seen with our eyes, what we ^(D)beheld and ^(E)touched with our hands, concerning the ^(F)Word of Life— ² and ^(G)the life was manifested, and we have ^(H)seen and ^(I)bear witness and proclaim to you ^(J)the eternal life, which was ^(K)with the Father and was ^(L)manifested to us— ³ what we have ^(M)seen and ^(N)heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our ^(O)fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. ^4 (P)And these things we are writing, so that our ^(Q)joy may be made complete.

God Is Light

^5 (R)And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that ^(S)God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ^6 (T)If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we ^(U)lie and ^(V)do not do the truth; ⁷ but if we ^(W)walk in the Light as ^(X)He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and ^(Y)the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ^8 (Z)If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the ^(AA)truth is not in us. ^9 (AB)If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and ^(AC)to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ^10 (AD)If we say that we have not sinned, we ^(AE)make Him a liar and ^(AF)His word is not in us.

² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(A)every spirit that ^(B)confesses that ^(C)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

⁷ For ^(A)many deceivers have ^(B)gone out into the world, those who ^(C)do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is ^(D)the deceiver and the ^(E)antichrist.