Greeting

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

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

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ Every time I pray for all of you, I always pray with joy, ⁵ because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ I am convinced of this very thing: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷ I am equally convinced that it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, for both in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all share in this grace with me. ⁸ Yes, God is my witness of how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹ And I pray that your love may still increase more and more in knowledge and every insight. ¹⁰ This will result in your approval of the things that really matter, so that you will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Christ Is Proclaimed

¹² I want you to know, brothers,^[a] that the things which happened to me actually took place to advance the gospel. ¹³ And so it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to all the rest, that I am in chains because of Christ.^{[b] 14} And, through my chains, the majority of the brothers in the Lord have become much more confident about daring to speak the word of God^[c] fearlessly. ¹⁵ Some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, and others out of good will. ¹⁶ The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am placed here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking they can cause trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸ What does it matter? Only this, that in every way, whether for outward appearance or for the truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ, to Die Is Gain

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹ because I know that this will turn out for my deliverance, through your prayer and the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. ²⁰ This matches my earnest expectation and hope that I will in no way be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, so even now, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ Yes, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I am to go on living in the flesh, that will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet which should I prefer? I do not know. ²³ I am pulled in two directions, because I have the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. ²⁴ But, it is more necessary for your sake that I remain in the flesh. ²⁵ And since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you, for your progress and joy in the faith. ²⁶ And so by my coming to you again, my goal is to give you even more reason to boast in Christ Jesus.

Stand Firm

²⁷ Just conduct yourselves in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to see you or am absent, I may hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, contending together with one soul for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ not frightened in any way by the adversaries. This is a sign for them of their destruction and of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹ For it has been graciously granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, ³⁰ having the same kind of struggle that you saw I was in, and that you now hear I am still experiencing.