Philippians 1

¹Paul and Timothy , servants of Christ Jesus , To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi , with the overseers and deacons :

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ .

³I thank my God in all my remembrance of you ,

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

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

⁶And 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 .

⁷It 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 , both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel .

⁸For God is my witness , how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus .

⁹And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more , with knowledge and all discernment ,

¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent , and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ ,

¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ , to the glory and praise of God .

¹²I want you to know , brothers , that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel ,

¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ .

¹⁴And most of the brothers , having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment , are much more bold to speak the word without fear .

¹⁵Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry , but others from good will .

¹⁶The latter do it out of love , knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel .

¹⁷The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition , not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment .

¹⁸What then ? Only that in every way , whether in pretense or in truth , Christ is proclaimed , and in that I rejoice . Yes , and I will rejoice ,

¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance ,

²⁰as 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 .

²¹For to me to live is Christ , and to die is gain .

²²If I am to live in the flesh , that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell .

²³I am hard pressed between the two . My desire is to depart and be with Christ , for that is far better .

²⁴But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account .

²⁵Convinced of this , I know that I will remain and continue with you all , for your progress and joy in the faith ,

²⁶so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus , because of my coming to you again .

²⁷Only let your manner of life be worthy 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 ,

²⁸and 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 .

²⁹For 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 ,

³⁰engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have .