New Living Translation

English Standard Version

Greetings from Paul

This 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 church leadersa and deacons.

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Greeting

Paul and Timothy, servantsa of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseersb and deacons:c

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May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

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

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Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer

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

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Thanksgiving and Prayer

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

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

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

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for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.

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

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And 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.

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And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

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So 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.

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It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,d both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

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

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For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

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

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And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,

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For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.

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so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

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May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation — the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christb — for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

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

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Paul’s Joy That Christ Is Preached

And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters,c that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.

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The Advance of the Gospel

I want you to know, brothers,e that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,

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

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so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guardf and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

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And because of my imprisonment, most of the believerse here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s messagef without fear.

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And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the wordg without fear.

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

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Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.

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

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The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

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Those 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.

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The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

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But 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.

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What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice,

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For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

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for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,

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Paul’s Life for Christ

For 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.

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as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

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For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

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For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

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

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If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

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

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I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

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

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But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

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Knowing 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.

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Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,

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And 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.

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so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

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Live as Citizens of Heaven

Above 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.

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Only let your manner of life be worthyh of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

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Don’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.

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and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

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

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For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

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We 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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engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Parallel

New Living Translation

English Standard Version

Philippians 1

Philippians 1