New King James Version

New Living Translation

1Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops 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 to you and peace 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 upon every remembrance of you,

3Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

4always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,

4Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,

5for your fellowship 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 very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

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.

7just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.

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, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

8God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,

9I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

10that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till 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.

11being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by 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.

12But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of 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.

13so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ;

13For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

14and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

14And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear.

15Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill:

15It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.

16The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains;

16They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.

17but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed 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.

18What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will 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 prayer and the supply 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.

20according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified 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.

22But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.

22But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better.

23For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

23I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.

24Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

24But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

25And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of 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.

26that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

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 let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together 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 not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that 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 to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

29For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

30having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

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.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

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.