Philippians 1

Greeting

1Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the ¹bishops and ^adeacons:

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

Thankfulness and Prayer

^3bI thank my God upon every remembrance of you, ⁴always in ^cevery prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, ^5dfor your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun ^ea good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; ⁷just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. ⁸For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

⁹And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹being filled with the fruits of righteousness ^fwhich are by Jesus Christ, ^gto the glory and praise of God.

Christ is Preached

¹²But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, ¹³so that it has become evident ^hto the whole ²palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; ¹⁴and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

¹⁵Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: ¹⁶³The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; ¹⁷but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁸What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

To Live is Christ

¹⁹For I know that ⁱthis will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but ^jwith all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life ^kor by death. ²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I ⁴cannot tell. ²³⁵For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a ^ldesire to depart and be with Christ, which is ^mfar better. ²⁴Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. ²⁵And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, ²⁶that ⁿyour rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

Striving and Suffering for Christ

²⁷Only ^olet your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, ^pwith one mind ^qstriving together for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but ⁶to you of salvation, and that from God. ²⁹For to you ^rit has been granted on behalf of Christ, ^snot only to believe in Him, but also to ^tsuffer for His sake, ^30uhaving the same conflict ^vwhich you saw in me and now hear is in me.