Philippians 1

¹ Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the holy ones in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and ministers:

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

³ I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you,

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

⁵ because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now.

⁶ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷ It is right that I should think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, you who are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

⁸ For 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 increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception,

¹⁰ to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

¹² I want you to know, brothers, that my situation has turned out rather to advance the gospel,

¹³ so that my imprisonment has become well known in Christ throughout the whole praetorium and to all the rest,

¹⁴ and so that the majority of the brothers, having taken encouragement in the Lord from my imprisonment, dare more than ever to proclaim the word fearlessly.

¹⁵ Of course, some preach Christ from envy and rivalry, others from good will.

¹⁶ The latter act out of love, aware that I am here for the defense of the gospel;

¹⁷ the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not from pure motives, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment.

¹⁸ What difference does it make, as long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed? And in that I rejoice. Indeed I shall continue to rejoice,

¹⁹ for I know that this will result in deliverance for me through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

²⁰ My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

²¹ For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.

²² If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose.

²³ I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, (for) that is far better.

²⁴ Yet that I remain (in) the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.

²⁵ And this I know with confidence, that I shall remain and continue in the service of all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

²⁶ so that your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound on account of me when I come to you again.

²⁷ Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel,

²⁸ not intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is proof to them of destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing.

²⁹ For to you has been granted, for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.

³⁰ Yours is the same struggle as you saw in me and now hear about me.