Timothy and Epaphroditus

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be encouraged when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like-minded who will be genuinely concerned about your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of [fn]Christ Jesus. 22 But you know Timothy's proven character, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23 Therefore I hope to send him to you at once, as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me. 24 And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will also come soon.

25 But for now I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus—my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need. 26 For he has been longing [fn]to see you all and was distressed because you heard that he was sick. 27 Indeed he was sick, almost to the point of death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. 28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you can rejoice and I can be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor men like him, 30 because he drew near to death for the work of [fn]Christ, [fn]disregarding his own life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.