| New Living Translation | English Standard Version |
| 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. | 1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: |
| 2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. | 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 3Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. | 3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, |
| 4Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, | 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, |
| 5for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. | 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. |
| 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. | 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. |
| 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. | 7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. |
| 8God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. | 8For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. |
| 9I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. | 9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, |
| 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. | 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, |
| 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. | 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. |
| 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. | 12I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, |
| 13For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. | 13so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. |
| 14And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear. | 14And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. |
| 15It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. | 15Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. |
| 16They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. | 16The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. |
| 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. | 17The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. |
| 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. | 18What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, |
| 19For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. | 19for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, |
| 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. | 20as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. |
| 21For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. | 21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. |
| 22But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. | 22If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. |
| 23I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. | 23I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. |
| 24But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. | 24But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. |
| 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. | 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, |
| 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. | 26so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. |
| 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. | 27Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, |
| 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. | 28and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. |
| 29For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. | 29For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, |
| 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. | 30engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. |
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. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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