- Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers
and deacons:
- Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- I thank my God every time I remember you.
- In all my prayers for all of you, I always
pray with joy
- because of your partnership in the gospel
from the first day until now,
- being confident of this, that he who began
a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ
Jesus.
- It is right for me to feel this way about
all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or
defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with
me.
- God can testify how I long for all of you
with the affection of Christ Jesus.
- And this is my prayer: that your love may
abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
- so that you may be able to discern what
is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
- filled with the fruit of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
- Now I want you to know, brothers, that
what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
- As a result, it has become clear throughout
the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
- Because of my chains, most of the brothers
in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously
and fearlessly.
- It is true that some preach Christ out
of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
- The latter do so in love, knowing that
I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
- The former preach Christ out of selfish
ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me
while I am in chains.
- But what does it matter? The important
thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is
preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
- for I know that through your prayers and
the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will
turn out for my deliverance.
- I eagerly expect and hope that I will in
no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always
Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
- For to me, to live is Christ and to die
is gain.
- If I am to go on living in the body, this
will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know
!
- I am torn between the two: I desire to
depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
- but it is more necessary for you that I
remain in the body.
- Convinced of this, I know that I will remain,
and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,
- so that through my being with you again
your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
- Whatever happens, 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 as one man for the faith of the gospel
- without being frightened in any way by
those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed,
but that you will be saved--and that by God.
- For it has been granted to you on behalf
of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,
- since you are going through the same struggle
you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
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