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Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
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Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
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For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
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Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
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Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
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For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
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And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and [in] all judgment;
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That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
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Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
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But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things [which happened] unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
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So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other [places];
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And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
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Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
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The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
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But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
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What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
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For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
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According to my earnest expectation and [my] hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but [that] with all boldness, as always, [so] now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether [it be] by life, or by death.
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For to me to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain.
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But if I live in the flesh, this [is] the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
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For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
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Nevertheless to abide in the flesh [is] more needful for you.
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And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
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That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
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Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
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And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
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For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
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Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear [to be] in me.
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If [there be] therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
