Kuzwiyisa pasi kwa Kirisiti ne bukulu gugwe
1 Ndizo ha ili kuti kuna kukulumbidza muna Kirisiti, ne nyaladzo mu ludo gugwe, ne kukobana ne Meya, ne moyo nyolo ne kuhwila zogwadza, 2 zhadzisani kushatha kwangu nge bung'ompela mu nkumbulo, muna ludo gung'ompela ne meya ing'ompela ne nkumbulo nng'ompela. 3 Musishinge tjimwe nge kuzwikumbulila koga kene kuzwikudza, koga mu kuzwiyisa pasi, tolani kuti bamwe banoyita pamuli. 4 Mmwe ne mmwe wenyu ngaasilinge zwinonshathisa koga, koga ngaalinge ne zwinoshathisa bamwe. 5 Ibeni ne njalakang'wa edzi mu muli, idzo dzamunadzo muna Kirisiti Jesu:
6 Iye wakati ali Ndzimu,
kasitole kulizana ne Ndzimu,
ili tjimwe tjingagala tjakanamatigwa
7 koga wakasiya kose kukwe,
kangina mu bulanda
kabe mutjifano tje bathu.
8 Ngono kati awanika ali mu tjifano tje nthu kazwiyisa pasi,
kabe unohwa kudzina engina mu lufu,
igo lufu mu tjileyanyo dumbu.
9 Ndizo Ndzimu wakammilidzila pezhugwi kwazo,
ukampa zina lipezhugwi,
zina linopinda limwe ne limwe,
10 kuti ndizo nge zina la Jesu
zwidwi zose zwithigame,
kudzimu ne mu shango na pasi,
11 ne lulimi gumwe ne gumwe gulebe,
kuti Jesu Kirisiti ndi She,
kukudza Ndzimu Tate.
Penyani se tjedza mu shango
12 Ndizo badiwa bangu, sekwa magala mundihwa, kusi ndili yapo koga ne mu busipo gwangu mundihwe kupinda, mushingile tjidziwa kwenyu nge kutja nenge kutetema, 13 ngobe Ndzimu unoshinga mu muli, kuthama kuti mutubule kushingila ne kushaka kushathisa iwo.
14 Shingani tjimwe ne tjimwe musingang'ong'ole kene kuli kukakabadzana, 15 kuti ndizo musibe ne nlandu, mube babuyanana, muli bana be Ndzimu basina itoyi pakati kwe tjizekugwana tjakakombama tjakabipa kwazo. Mopenya pakati kwabo, muli tjedza mu shango, 16 makabhatisisa dama le butjilo, kuti ndizo mu zhuba la Kirisiti ndizwikudze kuti, andizolabukila suli kene kushingila suli.
17 Nenguba malopa angu angadigwa pezhugwi kwe tjibhayilo tje kugalamoyo kwenyu, ndakashatha, ndopululudza namwi mose. 18 Sa ikoko namwibo makafanila mushathe, mupululudze nami.
Timoti na Epafurodito
19 Ndogalabgwe muna She Jesu, kuti ndowotuma Timoti kumuli tjinyolotjo, kuti ndizo ndikulumbidziwe nge thawu nge kwenyu. 20 Andina mmwe unonga iye, ungabe ne hanya namwi nge malebeswa. 21 Akuna wandinaye unonga iye, bose banogwisila njemulo dzabo koga, dzisi dza Jesu Kirisiti. 22 Koga moziba sekwa akazwilakidza tjaali itjo. Wakashinga nami mu ndebo mbuya, se nthu ne nkololo uwe. 23 Ndizo ndogalabgwe kuntuma tjinyolotjo ha ndabona kuti tjimo ini nge kwangu. 24 Ndogalamoyo muna She kuti nami ndowozha ikoko tjinyolotjo.
25 Ndakakumbula kuti kwakafanila kutuma Epafurodito ikamu tjangu, kakale ali nshingi nami. Ti babhayani tose, iye ntumwa wenyu wakandibhatsha muna zwandinosheta. 26 Wakabe akamushuba mose, ngono ali mu buyendasi, ngobe makahwa kuti wakabe egwala. 27 Dumbu wakagwala, kashoko fa kabuya patukununu, koga Ndzimu wakanhwila zogwadza. Kusi iye koga, namibo kuti buyendasi gusi tathikane ne gumwe buyendasi. 28 Ndakatukutilila kuntuma, kuti mushathile kumbona kakale nenge kuti pamwe ndisidziyidzike kwazo. 29 Ndizo mun'amutjile muna She nge kushatha kose, mutete bathu bakajali, 30 ngobe wakashoko be afa, efila nshingo wa Kirisiti, elonga butjilo gugwe mu mbatsha, kuwidza nshingo wenyu kundili.
Christ's Humility and Greatness
1 Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another. 2 I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. 3 Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. 4 And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own. 5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had:
6 He always had the nature of God,
but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God.
7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had,
and took the nature of a servant.
He became like a human being
and appeared in human likeness.
8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—
his death on the cross.
9 For this reason God raised him to the highest place above
and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
10 And so, in honor of the name of Jesus
all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below
will fall on their knees,
11 and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Shining as Lights in the World
12 So then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation, 13 because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky, 16 as you offer them the message of life. If you do so, I shall have reason to be proud of you on the Day of Christ, because it will show that all my effort and work have not been wasted.
17 Perhaps my life's blood is to be poured out like an offering on the sacrifice that your faith offers to God. If that is so, I am glad and share my joy with you all. 18 In the same way, you too must be glad and share your joy with me.
Timothy and Epaphroditus
19 If it is the Lord's will, I hope that I will be able to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be encouraged by news about you. 20 He is the only one who shares my feelings and who really cares about you. 21 Everyone else is concerned only with their own affairs, not with the cause of Jesus Christ. 22 And you yourselves know how he has proved his worth, how he and I, like a son and his father, have worked together for the sake of the gospel. 23 So I hope to send him to you as soon as I know how things are going to turn out for me. 24 And I trust in the Lord that I myself will be able to come to you soon.
25 I have thought it necessary to send to you our brother Epaphroditus, who has worked and fought by my side and who has served as your messenger in helping me. 26 He is anxious to see you all and is very upset because you had heard that he was sick. 27 Indeed he was sick and almost died. But God had pity on him, and not only on him but on me, too, and spared me an even greater sorrow. 28 I am all the more eager, then, to send him to you, so that you will be glad again when you see him, and my own sorrow will disappear. 29 Receive him, then, with joy, as a believer in the Lord. Show respect to all such people as he, 30 because he risked his life and nearly died for the sake of the work of Christ, in order to give me the help that you yourselves could not give.