New American Standard Bible

New Living Translation

1Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:

1This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God's holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the elders and deacons.

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

2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

3Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

4always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all,

4Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,

5in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.

5for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.

6For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

6And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

7For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.

7So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.

8For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

8God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,

9I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

10so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;

10For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return.

11having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

11May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation--the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ--for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

12Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel,

12And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.

13so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else,

13For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

14and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.

14And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear.

15Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will;

15It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.

16the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel;

16They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.

17the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.

17Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.

18What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

18But that doesn't matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.

19for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

19For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

20according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

20For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

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

21For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

22But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.

22But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better.

23But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

23I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.

24yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

24But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,

25Knowing 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.

26so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

26And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

27Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

27Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.

28in no way alarmed by your opponents-- which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

28Don't be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.

29For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

29For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

30experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

30We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All Rights Reserved.