Letters to Ephesians & Philippians

Letters to the Ephesians & Philippians - 

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Ephesians Chapter 1

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the purpose of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and those who have faith in Christ Jesus:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us every blessing of the Spirit in the heavens in Christ:

Even as he made selection of us in him from the first, so that we might be holy and free from all evil before him in love:

As we were designed before by him for the position of sons to himself, through Jesus Christ, in the good pleasure of his purpose,

To the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely gave to us in the Loved One:

In whom we have salvation through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins, through the wealth of his grace,

Which he gave us in full measure in all wisdom and care;

Having made clear to us the secret of his purpose, in agreement with the design which he had in mind, to put into his hands

The ordering of the times when they are complete, so that all things might come to a head in Christ, the things in heaven and the things on the earth; in him, I say,

In whom we have a heritage, being marked out from the first in his purpose who does all things in agreement with his designs;

So that his glory might have praise through us who first had hope in Christ:

In whom you, having been given the true word, the good news of your salvation, and through your faith in him, were given the sign of the Holy Spirit of hope,

Which is the first-fruit of our heritage, till God gets back that which is his, to the praise of his glory.

For this cause I, having had news of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and which you make clear to all the saints,

Give praise without end for you, keeping you in mind in my prayers;

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;

And that having the eyes of your heart full of light, you may have knowledge of what is the hope of his purpose, what is the wealth of the glory of his heritage in the saints,

And how unlimited is his power to us who have faith, as is seen in the working of the strength of his power,

By which he made Christ come back from the dead, and gave him a place at his right hand in heaven,

Far over all rule and authority and power and every name which is named, not only in the present order, but in that which is to come:

And he has put all things under his feet, and has made him to be head over all things to the church,

Which is his body, the full measure of him in whom all things are made complete.

Chapter 2

And to you did he give life, when you were dead through your wrongdoing and sins,

In which you were living in the past, after the ways of this present world, doing the pleasure of the lord of the power of the air, the spirit who is now working in those who go against the purpose of God;

Among whom we all at one time were living in the pleasures of our flesh, giving way to the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and the punishment of God was waiting for us even as for the rest.

But God, being full of mercy, through the great love which he had for us,

Even when we were dead through our sins, gave us life together with Christ (by grace you have salvation),

So that we came back from death with him, and are seated with him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus;

That in the time to come he might make clear the full wealth of his grace in his mercy to us in Christ Jesus:

Because by grace you have salvation through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is given by God:

Not by works, so that no man may take glory to himself.

For by his act we were given existence in Christ Jesus to do those good works which God before made ready for us so that we might do them.

For this reason keep it in mind that in the past you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are looked on as being outside the circumcision by those who have circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;

That you were at that time without Christ, being cut off from any part in Israel’s rights as a nation, having no part in God’s agreement, having no hope, and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who at one time were far off are made near in the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, who has made the two into one, and by whom the middle wall of division has been broken down,

Having in his flesh put an end to that which made the division between us, even the law with its rules and orders, so that he might make in himself, of the two, one new man, so making peace;

And that the two might come into agreement with God in one body through the cross, so putting an end to that division.

And he came preaching peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near;

Because through him the two of us are able to come near in one Spirit to the Father.

So then you are no longer as those who have no part or place in the kingdom of God, but you are numbered among the saints, and of the family of God,

Resting on the base of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief keystone,

In whom all the building, rightly joined together, comes to be a holy house of God in the Lord;

In whom you, with the rest, are united together as a living-place of God in the Spirit.

Chapter 3

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles,

If that ordering of the grace of God has come to your knowledge, which was given to me for you,

How by revelation the secret was made clear to me, as I said before in a short letter,

By the reading of which you will be clear about my knowledge of the secret of Christ;

Which in other generations was not given to the sons of men, but the revelation of it has now been made to his holy Apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

Which is that the Gentiles have a part in the heritage, and in the same body, and in the same hope in Christ through the good news,

Of which I was made a preacher, through that grace of God which was given to me in the measure of the working of his power.

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, was this grace given, so that I might make clear to the Gentiles the good news of the unending wealth of Christ:

And make all men see what is the ordering of the secret which from the first has been kept in God who made all things;

So that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavens might be made clear through the church the wide-shining wisdom of God,

Which is seen in his eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord:

By whom we come near to God without fear through faith in him.

For this reason it is my prayer that you may not become feeble because of my troubles for you, which are your glory.

For this cause I go down on my knees before the Father,

From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

That in the wealth of his glory he would make you strong with power through his Spirit in your hearts;

So that Christ may have his place in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and based in love,

May have strength to see with all the saints how wide and long and high and deep it is,

And to have knowledge of the love of Christ which is outside all knowledge, so that you may be made complete as God himself is complete.

Now to him who is able to do in full measure more than all our desires or thoughts, through the power which is working in us,

To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations for ever and ever. So be it.

Chapter 4

I then, the prisoner in the Lord, make this request from my heart, that you will see that your behaviour is a credit to the position which God’s purpose has given you,

With all gentle and quiet behaviour, taking whatever comes, putting up with one another in love;

Taking care to keep the harmony of the Spirit in the yoke of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, even as you have been marked out by God in the one hope of his purpose for you;

One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

But to every one of us has grace been given in the measure of the giving of Christ.

For this reason he says, He went up on high, taking his prisoners with him, and gave freely to men.

(Now this, He went up, what is it but that he first went down into the lower parts of the earth?

He who went down is the same who went up far over all the heavens so that he might make all things complete.)

And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching;

For the training of the saints as servants in the church, for the building up of the body of Christ:

Till we all come to the harmony of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to full growth, to the full measure of Christ:

So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error;

But saying true words in love, may come to full growth in him, who is the head, even Christ;

Through whom all the body, being rightly formed and united together, by the full working of every part, is increased to the building up of itself in love.

This I say, then, and give witness in the Lord, that you are to go no longer in the way of the Gentiles whose minds are turned to that which has no profit,

Whose thoughts are dark, to whom the life of God is strange because they are without knowledge, and their hearts have been made hard;

Who having no more power of feeling, have given themselves up to evil passions, to do all unclean things with overmuch desire.

For this was not the teaching of Christ which was given to you;

If in fact you gave ear to him, and were given teaching in him, even as what is true is made clear in Jesus:

That you are to put away, in relation to your earlier way of life, the old man, which has become evil by love of deceit;

And be made new in the spirit of your mind,

And put on the new man, to which God has given life, in righteousness and a true and holy way of living.

And so, putting away false words, let everyone say what is true to his neighbour: for we are parts one of another.

Be angry without doing wrong; let not the sun go down on your wrath;

And do not give way to the Evil One.

Let him who was a thief be so no longer, but let him do good work with his hands, so that he may have something to give to him who is in need.

Let no evil talk come out of your mouth, but only what is good for giving necessary teaching, and for grace to those who give ear.

And do not give grief to the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were marked for the day of salvation.

Let all bitter, sharp and angry feeling, and noise, and evil words, be put away from you, with all unkind acts;

And be kind to one another, full of pity, having forgiveness for one another, even as God in Christ had forgiveness for you.

Chapter 5

Let it then be your desire to be like God, as well-loved children;

And be living in love, even as Christ had love for you, and gave himself up for us, an offering to God for a perfume of a sweet smell.

But evil acts of the flesh and all unclean things, or desire for others’ property, let it not even be named among you, as is right for saints;

And let there be no low behaviour, or foolish talk, or words said in sport, which are not right, but in place of them the giving of praise.

Being certain of this, that no man who gives way to the passions of the flesh, no unclean person, or one who has desire for the property of others, or who gives worship to images, has any heritage in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Do not be turned from the right way by foolish words; for because of these things the punishment of God comes on those who do not put themselves under him.

Have no part with such men;

For you at one time were dark, but now are light in the Lord: let your behaviour be that of children of light

(Because the fruit of the light is in all righteousness and in everything which is good and true),

Testing by experience what is well-pleasing to the Lord;

And have no company with the works of the dark, which give no fruit, but make their true quality clear;

For the things which are done by them in secret it is shame even to put into words.

But all things, when their true quality is seen, are made clear by the light: because everything which is made clear is light.

For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.

Take care then how you are living, not as unwise, but as wise;

Making good use of the time, because the days are evil.

For this reason, then, do not be foolish, but be conscious of the Lord’s pleasure.

And do not take overmuch wine by which one may be overcome, but be full of the Spirit;

Joining with one another in holy songs of praise and of the Spirit, using your voice in songs and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Giving praise at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;

Letting yourselves be ruled by one another in the fear of Christ.

Wives, be under the authority of your husbands, as of the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body.

And as the church is under Christ’s authority, so let wives be under the rule of their husbands in all things.

Husbands, have love for your wives, even as Christ had love for the church, and gave himself for it;

So that he might make it holy, having made it clean with the washing of water by the word,

And might take it for himself, a church full of glory, not having one mark or fold or any such thing; but that it might be holy and complete.

Even so it is right for husbands to have love for their wives as for their bodies. He who has love for his wife has love for himself:

For no man ever had hate for his flesh; but he gives it food and takes care of it, even as Christ does for the church;

Because we are parts of his body.

For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

This is a great secret: but my words are about Christ and the church.

But do you, everyone, have love for his wife, even as for himself; and let the wife see that she has respect for her husband.

Chapter 6

Children, do what is ordered by your fathers and mothers in the Lord: for this is right.

Give honour to your father and mother (which is the first rule having a reward),

So that all may be well for you, and your life may be long on the earth.

And, you fathers, do not make your children angry: but give them training in the teaching and fear of the Lord.

Servants, do what is ordered by those who are your natural masters, having respect and fear for them, with all your heart, as to Christ;

Not only under your master’s eye, as pleasers of men; but as servants of Christ, doing the pleasure of God from the heart;

Doing your work readily, as to the Lord, and not to men:

In the knowledge that for every good thing anyone does, he will have his reward from the Lord, If he is a servant or if he is free.

And, you masters, do the same things to them, not making use of violent words: in the knowledge that their Master and yours is in heaven, and he has no respect for a man’s position.

Lastly, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power.

Take up God’s instruments of war, so that you may be able to keep your position against all the deceits of the Evil One.

For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens.

For this reason take up all the arms of God, so that you may be able to be strong in the evil day, and, having done all, to keep your place.

Take your place, then, having your body clothed with the true word, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness;

Be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on your feet;

And most of all, using faith as a cover to keep off all the flaming arrows of the Evil One.

And take salvation for your head-dress and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

With prayers and deep desires, making requests at all times in the Spirit, and keeping watch, with strong purpose, in prayer for all the saints,

And for me, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make clear without fear the secret of the good news,

For which I am a representative in chains, and that I may say without fear the things which it is right for me to say.

But so that you may have knowledge of my business, and how I am, Tychicus, the well-loved brother and tested servant in the Lord, will give you news of all things:

Whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, so that you may have knowledge of our position, and that he may give comfort to your hearts.

Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace be with all those who have true love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Letter to Philippians

Chapter 1

Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, with the Bishops and Deacons of the church:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give praise to my God at every memory of you,

And in all my prayers for you all, making my request with joy,

Because of your help in giving the good news from the first day till now;

For I am certain of this very thing, that he by whom the good work was started in you will make it complete till the day of Jesus Christ:

So it is right for me to take thought for you all in this way, because I have you in my heart; for in my chains, and in my arguments before the judges in support of the good news, making clear that it is true, you all have your part with me in grace.

For God is my witness, how my love goes out to you all in the loving mercies of Christ Jesus.

And my prayer is that you may be increased more and more in knowledge and experience;

So that you may give your approval to the best things; that you may be true and without wrongdoing till the day of Christ;

Being full of the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Now it is my purpose to make clear to you, brothers, that the cause of the good news has been helped by my experiences;

So that it became clear through all the Praetorium, and to all the rest, that I was a prisoner on account of Christ;

And most of the brothers in the Lord, taking heart because of my chains, are all the stronger to give the word of God without fear.

Though some are preaching Christ out of envy and competition, others do it out of a good heart:

These do it from love, conscious that I am responsible for the cause of the good news:

But those are preaching Christ in a spirit of competition, not from their hearts, but with the purpose of giving me pain in my prison.

What then? only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad.

For I am conscious that this will be for my salvation, through your prayer and the giving out of the stored wealth of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

In the measure of my strong hope and belief that in nothing will I be put to shame, but that without fear, as at all times, so now will Christ have glory in my body, by life or by death.

For to me life is Christ and death is profit.

But if I go on living in the flesh–if this is the fruit of my work–then I do not see what decision to make.

I am in a hard position between the two, having a desire to go away and be with Christ, which is very much better:

Still, to go on in the flesh is more necessary because of you.

And being certain of this, I am conscious that I will go on, yes, and go on with you all, for your growth and joy in the faith;

So that your pride in me may be increased in Christ Jesus through my being present with you again.

Only let your behaviour do credit to the good news of Christ, so that if I come and see you or if I am away from you, I may have news of you that you are strong in one spirit, working together with one soul for the faith of the good news;

Having no fear of those who are against you; which is a clear sign of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God;

Because to you it has been given in the cause of Christ not only to have faith in him, but to undergo pain on his account:

30 Fighting the same fight which you saw in me, and now have word of in me.

Chapter 2

If then there is any comfort in Christ, any help given by love, any uniting of hearts in the Spirit, any loving mercies and pity,

Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in harmony and of one mind;

Doing nothing through envy or through pride, but with low thoughts of self let everyone take others to be better than himself;

Not looking everyone to his private good, but keeping in mind the things of others.

Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus,

To whom, though himself in the form of God, it did not seem that to take for oneself was to be like God;

But he made himself as nothing, taking the form of a servant, being made like men;

And being seen in form as a man, he took the lowest place, and let himself be put to death, even the death of the cross.

For this reason God has put him in the highest place and has given to him the name which is greater than every name;

So that at the name of Jesus every knee may be bent, of those in heaven and those on earth and those in the underworld,

And that every tongue may give witness that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So then, my loved ones, as you have at all times done what I say, not only when I am present, but now much more when I am not with you, give yourselves to working out your salvation with fear in your hearts;

For it is God who is the cause of your desires and of your acts, for his good pleasure.

Do all things without protests and arguments;

So that you may be holy and gentle, children of God without sin in a twisted and foolish generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,

Offering the word of life; so that I may have glory in you in the day of Christ, because my running was not for nothing and my work was not without effect.

And even if I am offered like a drink offering, giving myself for the cause and work of your faith, I am glad and have joy with you all:

And in the same way do you be glad and have a part in my joy.

But I am hoping in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you before long, so that I may be comforted when I have news of you.

For I have no man of like mind who will truly have care for you.

For they all go after what is theirs, not after the things of Christ.

But his quality is clear to you; how, as a child is to its father, so he was a help to me in the work of the good news.

Him then I am hoping to send as quickly as possible, when I am able to see how things will go for me:

But I have faith in the Lord that I myself will come before long.

But it seemed to me necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, who has taken part with me in the work and in the fight, and your servant, sent by you for help in my need;

Because his heart was with you all, and he was greatly troubled because you had news that he was ill:

For in fact he was ill almost to death: but God had mercy on him; and not only on him but on me, so that I might not have grief on grief.

I have sent him, then, the more gladly, so that when you see him again, you may be happy and I may have the less sorrow.

So take him to your hearts in the Lord with all joy, and give honour to such as he is:

Because for the work of Christ he was near to death, putting his life in danger to make your care for me complete.

Chapter 3

For the rest, my brothers, be glad in the Lord. Writing the same things to you is no trouble to me, and for you it is safe.

Be on the watch against dogs, against the workers of evil, against those of the circumcision:

For we are the circumcision, who give worship to God and have glory in Jesus Christ, and have no faith in the flesh:

Even though I myself might have faith in the flesh: if any other man has reason to have faith in the flesh, I have more:

Being given circumcision on the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in relation to the law, a Pharisee:

In bitter hate I was cruel to the church; I kept all the righteousness of the law to the last detail.

But those things which were profit to me, I gave up for Christ.

Yes truly, and I am ready to give up all things for the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, which is more than all: for whom I have undergone the loss of all things, and to me they are less than nothing, so that I may have Christ as my reward,

And be seen in him, not having my righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

That I may have knowledge of him, and of the power of his coming back from the dead, and a part with him in his pains, becoming like him in his death;

If in any way I may have the reward of life from the dead.

Not as if I had even now got the reward or been made complete: but I go on in the hope that I may come to the knowledge of that for which I was made the servant of Christ Jesus.

Brothers, it is clear to me that I have not come to that knowledge; but one thing I do, letting go those things which are past, and stretching out to the things which are before,

I go forward to the mark, even the reward of the high purpose of God in Christ Jesus.

Then let us all, who have come to full growth, be of this mind: and if in anything you are of a different mind, even this will God make clear to you:

Only, as far as we have got, let us be guided by the same rule.

Brothers, take me as your example, and take note of those who are walking after the example we have given.

For there are those, of whom I have given you word before, and do so now with sorrow, who are haters of the cross of Christ;

Whose end is destruction, whose god is the stomach, and whose glory is in their shame, whose minds are fixed on the things of the earth.

For our country is in heaven; from where the Saviour for whom we are waiting will come, even the Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom this poor body of ours will be changed into the image of the body of his glory, in the measure of the working by which he is able to put all things under himself.

Chapter 4

So my brothers, well loved and very dear to me, my joy and crown, be strong in the Lord, my loved ones.

I make request to Euodias and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.

And I make request to you, true helper in my work, to see to the needs of those women who took part with me in the good news, with Clement and the rest of my brother-workers whose names are in the book of life.

Be glad in the Lord at all times: again I say, Be glad.

Let your gentle behaviour be clear to all men. The Lord is near.

Have no cares; but in everything with prayer and praise put your requests before God.

And the peace of God, which is deeper than all knowledge, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

For the rest, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things have honour, whatever things are upright, whatever things are holy, whatever things are beautiful, whatever things are of value, if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, give thought to these things.

The things which came to you by my teaching and preaching, and which you saw in me, these things do, and the God of peace will be with you.

But I am very glad in the Lord that your care for me has come to life again; though you did in fact take thought for me, but you were not able to give effect to it.

But I will not say anything about my needs, for I am able, wherever I am, to be dependent on myself.

It is the same to me if I am looked down on or honoured; everywhere and in all things I have the secret of how to be full and how to go without food; how to have wealth and how to be in need.

I am able to do all things through him who gives me strength.

But you did well to have care for me in my need.

And you have knowledge, Philippians, that when the good news first came to you, when I went away from Macedonia, no church took part with me in the business of giving to the saints, but you only;

Because even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to me in my need.

Not that I am looking for an offering, but for fruit which may be put to your credit.

I have all things and more than enough: I am made full, having had from Epaphroditus the things which came from you, a perfume of a sweet smell, an offering well pleasing to God.

And my God will give you all you have need of from the wealth of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Now to God our Father be glory for ever and ever. So be it.

Give words of love to every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their love.

All the saints send their love to you, specially those who are of Caesar’s house.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.