Epistle to the Philippians - The New Testament

¹ Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with their presiding elders and the deacons.

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ I thank my God whenever I think of you,

⁴ and every time I pray for you all, I always pray with joy

⁵ for your partnership in the gospel from the very first day up to the present.

⁶ I am quite confident that the One who began a good work in you will go on completing it until the Day of Jesus Christ comes.

⁷ It is only right that I should feel like this towards you all, because you have a place in my heart, since you have all shared together in the grace that has been mine, both my chains and my work defending and establishing the gospel.

⁸ For God will testify for me how much I long for you all with the warm longing of Christ Jesus;

⁹ it is my prayer that your love for one another may grow more and more with the knowledge and complete understanding

¹⁰ that will help you to come to true discernment, so that you will be innocent and free of any trace of guilt when the Day of Christ comes,

¹¹ entirely filled with the fruits of uprightness through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.

¹² Now I want you to realise, brothers, that the circumstances of my present life are helping rather than hindering the advance of the gospel.

¹³ My chains in Christ have become well known not only to all the Praetorium, but to everybody else,

¹⁴ and so most of the brothers in the Lord have gained confidence from my chains and are getting more and more daring in announcing the Message without any fear.

¹⁵ It is true that some of them are preaching Christ out of malice and rivalry; but there are many as well whose intentions are good;

¹⁶ some are doing it out of love, knowing that I remain firm in my defence of the gospel.

¹⁷ There are others who are proclaiming Christ out of jealousy, not in sincerity but meaning to add to the weight of my chains.

¹⁸ But what does it matter? Only that in both ways, whether with false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and for that I am happy;

¹⁹ and I shall go on being happy, too, because I know that this is what will save me, with your prayers and with the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ;

²⁰ all in accordance with my most confident hope and trust that I shall never have to admit defeat, but with complete fearlessness I shall go on, so that now, as always, Christ will be glorified in my body, whether by my life or my death.

²¹ Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would be a positive gain.

²² On the other hand again, if to be alive in the body gives me an opportunity for fruitful work, I do not know which I should choose.

²³ I am caught in this dilemma: I want to be gone and to be with Christ, and this is by far the stronger desire-

²⁴ and yet for your sake to stay alive in this body is a more urgent need.

²⁵ This much I know for certain, that I shall stay and stand by you all, to encourage your advance and your joy in the faith,

²⁶ so that my return to be among you may increase to overflowing your pride in Jesus Christ on my account.

²⁷ But you must always behave in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to you and see for myself or whether I only hear all about you from a distance, I shall find that you are standing firm and united in spirit, battling, as a team with a single aim, for the faith of the gospel.

²⁸ undismayed by any of your opponents. This will be a clear sign, for them that they are to be lost, and for you that you are to be saved.

²⁹ This comes from God, for you have been granted the privilege for Christ's sake not only of believing in him but of suffering for him as well;

³⁰ you are fighting the same battle which you saw me fighting for him and which you hear I am fighting still.