| New International Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together 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. |
| 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy | 4Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, |
| 5because of your partnership 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. |
| 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion 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. |
| 7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's 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. |
| 8God can testify how 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 this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth 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 may be able to discern what is best and may be pure 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. |
| 12Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served 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. |
| 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. | 13For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. |
| 14And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. | 14And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear. |
| 15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of 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 out of love, knowing that I am put 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 preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. | 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. |
| 18But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of 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 through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. | 19For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. |
| 20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will 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. |
| 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! | 22But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. |
| 23I am torn between the two: I 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 necessary for you that I remain in the body. | 24But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. |
| 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you 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 through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. | 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. |
| 27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one 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. |
| 28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by 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 on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, 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 going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. | 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. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | 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. |
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