33Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Children and Parents

1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.2“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),3“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”

4Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Serving with Honor

5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.6And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.7Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men,8because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

9And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.

The Full Armor of God

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,15and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel,20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.

Final Greetings

21Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know about me and what I am doing.22I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about us, and that he may encourage your hearts.

23Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.24Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Greetings from Paul and Timothy

1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3I thank my God every time I remember you.4In every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy,5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,6being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.8God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,10so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Paul’s Trials Advance the Gospel

12Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have actually served to advance the gospel.13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.14And most of the brothers, confident in the Lord by my chains, now dare more greatly to speak the word without fear.15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.16The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.17The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.

18What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,19because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, my distress will turn out for my deliverance.20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.