| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1From Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with 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 and peace to you 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 every time I remember you. | 3Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. |
| 4I always pray with joy in my every prayer for all of you | 4Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, |
| 5because 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 sure of this very thing, that the one 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 right for me to think this about all of you, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel all of you became partners in God's grace together 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 that I long for all of you 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 I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight | 9I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. |
| 10so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for 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. |
| 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that 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. |
| 12I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my situation has actually turned out to advance 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. |
| 13The whole imperial guard and everyone else knows that I am in prison for the sake of Christ, | 13For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. |
| 14and most of the brothers and sisters, having confidence in the Lord because of my imprisonment, now more than ever dare to speak the word fearlessly. | 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 from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. | 15It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. |
| 16The latter do so from love because they know that I am placed here 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 from selfish ambition, not sincerely, because they think they can cause trouble for me 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 is the result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to 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 help 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. |
| 20My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die. | 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, living is Christ and dying is gain. | 21For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. |
| 22Now if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean productive work for me, yet I don't know which I prefer: | 22But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. |
| 23I feel torn between the two, because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, | 23I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. |
| 24but it is more vital for your sake that I remain in the body. | 24But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. |
| 25And since I am sure of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for the sake of 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 what you can be proud of may increase because of me in Christ Jesus, when I come back to you. | 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 whether I remain absent--I should hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side 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. |
| 28and by not being intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of their destruction, but of your salvation--a sign which is 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 it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him, | 29For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. |
| 30since you are encountering the same conflict that you saw me face and now hear that I am facing. | 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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