Greetings from Paul and Timothy

¹ Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

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

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

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy, ⁵ because of your partnership^* in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ 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.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense^* and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me. ⁸ God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to test and prove^* what is best^* and may 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.

Paul’s Trials Advance the Gospel

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have actually served to advance the gospel. ¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴ And most of the brothers, confident in the Lord by my chains, now dare more greatly to speak the word without fear.

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry,^* but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶ The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.¹⁷ The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.

¹⁸ What then ^* is the issue?^* Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives^* or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹ because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, my distress will turn out for my deliverance.^{* 20} I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed^*, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ^* will be exalted^* in my body, whether by life or by death.

To Live Is Christ

²¹ For to me, to live is Christ,^* and to die is gain. ²² But if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. So what shall I choose? I do not know.^{* 23} I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed. ²⁴ But it is more necessary for you that I remain^* in the body.

²⁵ 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 so that through my coming to you again your exultation in Christ Jesus will resound on account of me.

Worthy of the Gospel

²⁷ Nevertheless, 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 together as one for the faith^* of the gospel, ²⁸ without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God. ²⁹ For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, ³⁰ since you are encountering the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.