Philippians

Philippians

¹From Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints who have been made holy in Jesus Christ and who live in Philippi, together with the elders and deacons. ²Peace to you, and grace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. ³I thank God constantly every time you remember me. ⁴I pray for you at all times, and I pray with joy, ⁵because of your partnership with me in the teaching of the gospel, from the first day until now. ⁶For I am confident that he who began a good work for you will bring it to completion for you, until the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷It is right for me to think this way about you, because you are in my heart. In my chains, in my defense, and in the teaching of truth, you have shared with me in grace. ⁸God is my witness that I love you with the love of Christ. ⁹And this is what I pray: that your love for one another may grow and overflow in knowledge and in all the wisdom of the Spirit, ¹⁰so that you can test and discern what is better and what is good to do, and so that you may be holy and without stumbling on the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. ¹²Brothers, I want you to know my news: it has greatly advanced the teaching of the gospel of Christ. ¹³My chains in Christ have become known throughout the whole governor's court and to everyone else. ¹⁴And many of our believing brothers in the Lord have taken courage from my chains, and they are much bolder to speak the word of God without fear. ¹⁵Some do it out of envy and some out of rivalry, but some want to preach and teach about Christ out of good will. ¹⁶They know that I have been appointed to teach the gospel. ¹⁷The others speak about Christ out of selfish ambition, not with pure motives. They imagine that by doing this they will add suffering to my chains. ¹⁸Yet I rejoice in this, and I will keep rejoicing in it in every way. Let them speak about Christ, whether out of pretense or in truth, and call everyone to him. ¹⁹I know that this will bring me to life through your prayers and through the gift of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. ²⁰This is my eager hope and trust: that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that openly, in the joy of the Spirit, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body now as well, whether by my life or by my death. ²¹For me, if I live, it is for Christ, and if I die, it is gain to me. ²²If I live on in the flesh, it is so that I may bear fruit in my work. And I do not know which of the two to choose for myself, since I long for both. ²³I want to depart and leave this world so that I may be with Christ, and that is far better and more fitting for me. ²⁴But to remain alive in the flesh is necessary for your sake. ²⁵Knowing this, I am confident that I will stay and remain for your joy and the growth of your faith, so that when I come to you again, your pride in me may grow in Jesus Christ. ²⁶Only let your conduct be worthy of the teaching of Christ. Then if I come to you, I will see it. ²⁷And even when I am not there, I will hear about you: that you stand firm in one spirit and with one soul, contending together with effort for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and not frightened in anything by those who oppose us. This is a sign of their destruction, but for you it is life. ²⁹And this too is the grace of God given to you: not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. ³⁰In the same way you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw in me and now hear about me.