²¹For me, to live is Christ^ak and to die is gain.^al ²²Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful^am work^an for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. ²³I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ^ao—which is far better^ap—²⁴but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. ²⁵Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,^aq

Read in Logos

Philippians 1:21: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Cross references

ak Rm 14:7–9; Gl 2:19–20; Php 1:11,15; Col 2:6–3:11
al Rm 8:38–39; Php 3:7
am Mt 3:8; Rm 1:13; Gl 5:22
an Mk 14:6; Gl 3:10; Jms 2:14–26
ao Rm 6:8; 2Co 4:14; 13:4–5; 1Th 4:14; 5:9–10
ap Jn 12:26
aq Mt 8:10; Ac 3:16; Rm 1:8; 1Co 2:5; Gl 2:16; 1Tm 1:2; Heb 4:2; Jd 3

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,

NIVNew International Version (2011)

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,

NLTNew Living Translation

For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if it is to live in the flesh, this is fruitful work for me, and which I will prefer I do not know. But I am hard pressed between the two options, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for this is very much better. But to stay on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. And because I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

KJV 1900King James Version

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

Public Domain