Chapter 1

¹Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the devoted adherents of Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the superintendents and assistants; ²God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.

³I never think of you without thanking my God, ⁴and always whenever I pray for you all I do it with joy, ⁵over your co-operation in the good news from the day you first received it until now. ⁶For I am certain that he who has begun the good work in you will finish it for the Day of Jesus Christ. ⁷And I have a right to feel in this way about you all, because both when I am in prison and when I am defending and vindicating our right to preach the good news, I have you in my heart as all sharing that privilege with me. ⁸For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus himself. ⁹And it is my prayer that your love may grow richer and richer in knowledge and perfect insight, ¹⁰so that you may have a sense of what is vital, and may be men of transparent character and blameless life, in preparation for the Day of Christ, ¹¹with your lives filled with the fruits which uprightness produces through Jesus Christ, to the honor and praise of God.

¹²Now I want to assure you, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in furthering the preaching of the good news. ¹³Thus it is generally known throughout the Imperial Guard and elsewhere that it is for the sake of Christ that I am in prison, ¹⁴and so most of the Christian brothers have been exceedingly encouraged by my example to declare God’s message without any fear of the consequences.

¹⁵Some of them, it is true, are actually preaching the Christ from jealousy and partisanship, but there are others who are doing it out of good-will. ¹⁶These latter do it from love for me, for they know that God has put me where I am to defend our right to preach the good news. ¹⁷But the others are preaching the Christ not sincerely but for their own ends, imagining that they are making my imprisonment harder to bear.

¹⁸But what difference does it make? All that matters is that, in one way or another, from false motives or honest ones, Christ is being made known; I am glad of that. Yes, and I expect to be glad, ¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, all this will turn out for my highest welfare, ²⁰for I eagerly and confidently hope that I shall never disgrace myself but that this time as always hitherto, living or dying, I shall do Christ credit by my unfailing courage.

²¹For, as I see it, living means Christ and dying something even better. ²²But if living on here means having my labor bear fruit, I cannot tell which to choose. ²³I am undecided between the two, for I long to depart and be with Christ, for that is far, far better, ²⁴and yet your needs make it very necessary for me to stay on here. ²⁵I am convinced of this, and so I know that I shall stay on and serve you all, to help you to develop and to be glad in your faith. ²⁶So you will find in me fresh cause for Christian exultation, through having me with you again.

²⁷Whatever happens, show yourselves citizens worthy of the good news of the Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am kept away and only hear news of you, I may know that you are standing firm with one spirit, one purpose, fighting side by side for faith in the good news. ²⁸Never for a moment falter before your opponents, for your fearlessness will be a sure sign for them of their coming destruction, but to you it will be an omen, from God himself, of your deliverance. ²⁹For you have been granted the privilege not only of trusting in Christ but of suffering for him. ³⁰Take your part in the same struggle that you have seen me engage in and that you hear I am still keeping up.