PhilippiansChapter 1

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¹This letter is from Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. We are writing to all of God's people in Christ Jesus who live in Philippi. We also write to the overseers and deacons. ²May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. ³I thank my God every time I think of you. ⁴Each time I pray for all of you, I always pray with joy. ⁵I am glad because you have been my partners in the good news. You have done this from the first day until now. ⁶I am sure of this: God began a good work in you, and he will keep at it. He will finish it by the day Christ Jesus comes back. ⁷It is right for me to feel this way about all of you. You have a place in my heart. I am in chains. I am also defending the good news and showing that it is true. And in all of this, you share in God's grace with me. ⁸God knows how much I miss all of you. I love you with the same tender love that Christ Jesus has. ⁹Here is what I pray for you. I pray that your love will grow more and more. I pray it will grow in knowledge and deep understanding. ¹⁰Then you will be able to test things and see what is best. Then you will be pure and without blame on the day Christ comes. ¹¹You will be filled with the fruit of doing what is right. This fruit comes through Jesus Christ. It brings glory and praise to God. ¹²Brothers and sisters, I want you to know something. The things that have happened to me have really helped the good news spread. ¹³Because of this, the whole palace guard knows I am in chains for Christ. Everyone else here knows it too. ¹⁴My chains have made most of the believers here trust the Lord more. Now they are much bolder. They speak God's word without fear. ¹⁵It's true that some people preach about Christ because they are jealous and want to compete. But others preach because they mean well. ¹⁶These people preach out of love. They know God has put me here to defend the good news. ¹⁷But the others preach about Christ because they want to get ahead. They are not honest about it. They think they can make my troubles worse while I am in chains. ¹⁸So what does it matter? Here is what matters. Christ is being preached in every way, whether for wrong reasons or right ones. And I am glad about that. Yes, and I will keep on being glad. ¹⁹I will be glad because I know that your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ will turn my trouble into my rescue. ²⁰I truly expect and hope that I will not be ashamed in any way. I hope to be fully brave. Then, now as always, Christ will be honored by what happens to my body. That is true whether I live or die. ²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I go on living in this body, I can do more useful work. So which should I choose? I don't know. ²³I am pulled between the two. I want to leave this life and be with Christ. That is much, much better. ²⁴But it is more important for you that I stay in this body. ²⁵I am sure of this. So I know I will stay. I will keep on being with all of you. That way you can grow and have joy in your faith. ²⁶Then, when I come to see you again, you will have even more reason to be proud and happy in Christ Jesus because of me. ²⁷No matter what happens, live in a way that is worthy of the good news about Christ. Then maybe I will come and see you. Or maybe I will only hear about you while I am away. Either way, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit. I will know that you are working side by side for the faith of the good news. ²⁸Don't be afraid of the people who are against you in any way. This shows clearly that they will be destroyed. But it also shows that you will be saved, and this comes from God. ²⁹For God has given you a gift because of Christ. You get to believe in him. But you also get to suffer for him. ³⁰You are in the same fight you saw me in before. And you hear that I am still in it now.