Paul’s Letter to the Philippians

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God’s people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, with their visitors and deacons: 2 grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 I always thank my God at all recollection of you, 4 in all my petitions for you all making the petitions with joy 5 at your cooperativeness toward the missionary work from the first day till now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that he who has started a good work in you will carry it through till the day of Christ Jesus, 7* as it is right for me to be thus minded about you all because I have it at heart that both in my imprisonment and in the defending and guaranteeing of the gospel you are all of you my fellows in grace. 8* For God is my witness how I yearn over you all in Christ Jesus’s tenderness, 9* and pray for this, that your love may superabound yet more and more in insight and the use of every sense 10* so that you shall be judges of the things worth caring about, in order that you may be clear and untainted for Christ’s day, 11 filled with fruit of righteousness such as comes through Jesus Christ, to God’s praise and glory.

12 But I wish you to know, brothers, that my affairs have come into such shape as more to advance the gospel work, 13* so that my imprisonment has become well known in connection with Christ throughout the Praetorian Guard and to everybody else, 14 and so that most of the brothers, resting confident in the Lord, are venturing to speak God’s word all the more fearlessly for my imprisonment. 15 Some are preaching Christ for sheer enviousness and rivalry, and some for sheer goodwill; 16 the one group out of love, knowing that the defense of the gospel is what I exist for, 17 but the others are delivering the message of the Christ from motives of church politics, not honestly, thinking they are fomenting distress for my imprisonment. 18 What of it? anyhow, be it in pretense or in truth, the message of Christ is being delivered, and of that I am glad; and I will be glad too, 19* for I know this will turn out to be for my salvation through your petitions and the support of Jesus Christ’s spirit, 20 in accordance with my expectation and hope that in no respect shall I be put to shame, but with all straightforwardness Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death, now too as he always was. 21 For to me living is Christ and dying is profit-taking. 22* But if it is just living in flesh that means fruit of work for me, then I cannot tell what to choose; 23 but I am caught between the two things, having the desire for getting away and being with Christ—for it is a very long way better— 24 but staying in the flesh is more needful on your account; 25 and this I know with assurance, that I shall remain and stand by you all for your advancement and joy in the faith, 26 in order that you may in my case have the more to boast of in Christ Jesus through my arrival to be with you again.

27* Only lead a life worthy of the gospel of the Christ, in order that whether when I come and see you or while I am away I may hear of you that you are standing your ground in one spirit, united in wholesouled teamwork for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened as to anything by your opponents, which is an omen of perdition for them but of your salvation, and that from God, 29 because you have been given the grace that for Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for him, 30* facing the same contest such as you saw in my case and are now hearing of in my case.

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2* make my gladness complete by being concerned for the same things, having the same love, united in soul, of one mind; 3 nothing along the line of church politics or of pretentiousness, but in humility regarding each other as superiors; 4 not each keeping his eyes on his own interests but on those of others too. 5 Have in you, each of you, this same mind as in Christ Jesus, 6 who, when he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as a prize, 7 but emptied himself, taking slave form, coming into the likeness of humanity; 8 and, being found as it were a man in guise, he humbled himself to become obedient down to death, the death of a cross; 9 for which very reason God raised him supremely high and granted him the name above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee of what is in heaven and what is on earth and what is underground should bend 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Consequently, dear friends, as you always did obey, not as if only in my presence but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you to produce both the willing and the working for his pleasure. 14 Do everything without grumblings and questionings, 15 in order that you may come out irreproachable and innocent, faultless children of God in the midst of a devious and shifty generation among whom you show like luminaries in the world presenting the word of life, 16 to give me a ground for boasting on the day of Christ that I did not run a bootless race nor toil bootlessly; 17 nay, if I am even going to be poured out as the wine over the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am joyous, and share in the joy you are all having. 18 The same joy to you too, and a share in my joy!

19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send you Timothy speedily in order that I too may be in good spirits by knowing about you. 20 For I have nobody his equal in soul who will genuinely take care for you; 21 for all of them are looking after what will be for themselves, not what will be for Jesus Christ. 22* And you know by experience that as a son would for a father he did his service with me toward the gospel work. 23 So I hope to send him right away when I see how it goes with me; 24 and I feel assured in the Lord that I myself shall come speedily.

25 But I have felt it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you, my brother and co-worker and fellow-soldier and your delegate and agent in service to my needs, 26 since he was longing after you all and was uneasy because you heard that he was sick— 27 for sick he was, very close to death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me too, in order that I should not have one grief upon another. 28 So I have been the more intent on sending him, in order that at seeing him you may be glad again, and I be freer from grief. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all rejoicing, and hold such men in honor, 30 because for Christ’s work he came close up to death, endangering his life in order to fill out the shortage of you in the service to me.

3 For the rest, brothers, joy to you in the Lord. To be writing the same things to you is no trouble to me and is a safe thing for you.

2 Look out for the dogs! look out for the bad workers! look out for the concision! 3 for the circumcision are we, who worship in God’s spirit and boast in Christ Jesus and do not trust in flesh—even though as far as I am concerned I should have a trust even in flesh. 4 If anybody else thinks he may trust in flesh, more so I, 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews, as to the law a Pharisee, 6 as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law never found fault with. 7 But the things that were profit to me, these I have regarded as loss on the Christ’s account; 8 why, I even regard everything as being a loss in view of the superiority of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, on whose account I have taken the loss of everything and regard it as garbage in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that derived from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, righteousness derived from God, conditioned on faith, 10 so as to know him and the power of his resurrection, and solidarity in his sufferings, having myself assimilated to his death 11* in the hope that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12**** Not that I have already got what I am after or am already perfected; but I am driving ahead in the hope of eventually laying hold, seeing that I have myself been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13* Brothers, I do not figure that I have laid hold as yet; but there is one thing, I am forgetting what is behind and reaching out for what is before 14 and driving ahead toward the goal for the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus. 15* So let us, as many of us as are full-grown, take this stand; and if your stand is otherwise in any respect, God will reveal to you this point too.

16* In what we have arrived at, though, follow the same line. 17 Be my imitators together, brothers, and keep your eyes on those who walk in such a way as you have us for an example of. 18* For there are many walkers of whom I have repeatedly spoken to you, and am now speaking even with tears, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 of whom the end is destruction, whose god is their stomach and whose glory is in their shame—those who have earthly matters on their minds. 20 For the state we are citizens of is in the heavens; wherefrom, too, we are awaiting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will reshape our body of humiliation to agree with the form of his body of glory in the working of the power he has to even subject everything to him.

4 Consequently, my dear and much-missed brothers, my gladness and my garland, thus stand fast in the Lord, dear friends.

2 I appeal to Euodia and appeal to Syntyche to agree together in the Lord. 3* Yes, and I ask you too, genuine Yokemate, lend them a helping hand, them who took part in my struggles for the gospel, with Clement too and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

4 Joy to you in the Lord always; I will say it again, joy to you. 5* Let your reasonableness be conspicuous to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry over anything, but in everything let the things you have to ask for be made known to God by prayer and petition with thanksgiving. 7 And God’s peace beyond the highest reach of any mind will guard your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.

8* For the rest, brothers, as many things as are true, as are worthy, as are honest, as are pure, as are lovable, as would sound well to speak of, whatever there is of virtue and whatever there is for praise, take account of these things; 9 the same things that you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things practice; and the God of peace shall be with you.

10 But it was great pleasure to me in the Lord that after so long you came to a fresh start in your thoughtfulness for me—though for that matter you were being thoughtful but were finding no opportunity. 11* Not that I say anything along the line of having a shortage; myself in. 12 I know both how to stand low and how to enjoy a surplus; in anything and everything I have got the secret both for having a full stomach and for going hungry, both for having a surplus and for running short. 13 I have the strength for everything in him who invigorates me. 14 You did well, though, to come into solidarity with my distress. 15 And you yourselves know, you Philippians, that at the start of the mission, when I went out of Macedonia, no church went into partnership with me on an account of giving and receiving but only you, 16* because even in Thessalonica you sent once and a second time for my needs. 17* Not that I am after the gift, I am after the fruit that is growing plentiful to your credit. 18 But I have received everything and have my surplus; I am filled out, having had from Epaphroditus what came from you, a genial odor, an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God. 19 And my God will fill out every need of yours suitably to his wealth, in glory, in Christ Jesus. 20 And to our God and Father be glory forever and ever; amen.

21 Give my greetings to everyone of God’s people in Christ Jesus. All the brothers with me send you greetings. 22 All God’s people send you greetings, and especially those who belong to Caesar’s house. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

MARGINAL NOTES TO PHILIPPIANS