Philippians 1–2

Salutation

¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops^a and deacons:^b

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

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

³I thank my God for every remembrance of you, ⁴always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy ⁵for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.^{* 6}I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete^c it until the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart,^d for all of you are my partners in God’s grace,^e both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.^{* 8}For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus.^{* 9}And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight^{* 10}to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹having produced the harvest^f of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Paul’s Present Circumstances

¹²I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the progress of the gospel, ¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard^g and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ, ¹⁴and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word^h with greater boldness and without fear.

¹⁵Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry but others from goodwill. ¹⁶These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; ¹⁷the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. ¹⁸What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true, and in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my salvation.^{* 20}It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way but that by my speaking with all boldness Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death.^{* 21}For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet I cannot say which I will choose. ²³I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better,^{* 24}but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. ²⁵Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, ²⁶so that, by my presence again with you, your boast might abound in Christ Jesus because of me.^*

²⁷Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel ²⁸and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of their destruction but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing.^{* 29}For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well,^{* 30}since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.^*

Imitating Christ’s Humility

²If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy,^{* 2}make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.^{* 3}Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.^{* 4}Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.^{* 5}Let the same mind be in you that wasⁱ in Christ Jesus,^*

⁶who, though he existed in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be grasped,^*

⁷but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

assuming human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a human,^*

⁸he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death—

even death on a cross.^*

⁹Therefore God exalted him even more highly

and gave him the name

that is above every other name,^*

¹⁰so that at the name given to Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,^*

¹¹and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.^*

Shining as Lights in the World

¹²Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling,^{* 13}for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

¹⁴Do all things without murmuring and arguing,^{* 15}so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world,^{* 16}holding forth the word of life so that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.^*

¹⁷But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the service of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice together with all of you;^{* 18}in the same way also you should rejoice and rejoice together with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I, too, may be consoled by news of you. ²⁰I have no one so like myself who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. ²¹All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.^{* 22}But Timothy’s^j worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.^{* 23}I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me, ²⁴and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.

²⁵Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and coworker and fellow soldier, your messenger^k and minister to my need,^{* 26}for he has been longing for^l all of you and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. ²⁸I am the more eager to send him, therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be less anxious. ²⁹Welcome him, then, in the Lord with all joy, and honor such people,^{* 30}because he came close to death for the work of Christ,^m risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.