Philippians 1-2

Philippians 1

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.

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.

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.

²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

²²But if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. So what shall I choose? I do not know.

²³I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.

²⁴But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

²⁵Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

²⁶so that through my coming to you again your exultation in Christ Jesus will resound on account of me.

²⁷Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,

²⁸without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God.

²⁹For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him,

³⁰since you are encountering the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Philippians 2

¹Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,

²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.

⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

⁵Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:

⁶Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

⁷but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.

⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross.

⁹Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,

¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹²Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

¹³For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing,

¹⁵so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world

¹⁶as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

¹⁷But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

¹⁸So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

¹⁹Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I learn how you are doing.

²⁰I have nobody else like him who will genuinely care for your needs.

²¹For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

²²But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel.

²³So I hope to send him as soon as I see what happens with me.

²⁴And I trust in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

²⁵But 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 needs.

²⁶For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.

²⁷He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.

²⁸Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious.

²⁹Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him,

³⁰because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.