Philippians 1:1-21 ▼

1 From: Paul and Timothy, servants of the Messiah Jesus. To: All the holy ones in Philippi, along with their overseers and ministers, who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.

2 May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

3 I thank my God every time I remember you,

4 always praying joyfully in every one of my prayers for all of you

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

6 I am convinced of this, that the one who began a good action among you will bring it to completion by the Day of the Messiah Jesus.

7 For it is only right for me to think this way about all of you, because you're constantly on my mind. Both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, all of you are partners with me in this privilege.

8 For God is my witness how much I long for all of you with the compassion that the Messiah Jesus provides.

9 And this is my prayer, that your love will keep on growing more and more with full knowledge and insight,

10 so that you may be able to choose what is best and be pure and blameless until the day when the Messiah returns,

11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus the Messiah so that God will be glorified and praised.

12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually caused the gospel to advance.

13 As a result, it has become clear to the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that I am in prison for preaching about the Messiah.

14 Moreover, because of my imprisonment the Lord has caused most of the brothers to become confident to speak God's word more boldly and courageously than ever before.

15 Some are preaching the Messiah because of jealousy and dissension, while others do so because of their good will.

16 The latter are motivated by love, because they know that I have been appointed to defend the gospel.

17 The former proclaim the Messiah because they are selfishly ambitious and insincere, thinking that they will stir up trouble for me during my imprisonment.

18 But so what? Just this—that in every way, whether by false or true motives, the Messiah is being proclaimed. Because of this, I rejoice and will continue to rejoice.

19 I know that this will result in my deliverance through your prayers and the help that comes from the Spirit of Jesus the Messiah.

20 I rejoice because I eagerly expect and hope that I will have nothing to be ashamed of, because through my boldness the Messiah will be exalted through me, now as always, whether I live or die.

21 For to me, to go on living is the Messiah, and to die is gain.