1PAUL and Ti-mo’the-us, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Jesus Christ who are at Philippi, together with the elders and deacons:
2Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD Jesus Christ. 3I give thanks to my God for your steady remembrance of me. 4In all my prayers for you, I make supplication with joy, 5For your fellowship in the gospel, from the very first day until now, 6Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun the good work among you, the same will continue it until the day of our LORD Jesus Christ: 7And this is the right way for me to think of you all, because I have you in my heart, because through all my imprisonment and my defense and confirmation of the truth of the gospel, you have been partakers with me of grace. 8For God is my witness of how much I love you through the love of Jesus Christ. 9And for this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all spiritual understanding: 10So that you may choose the things that are excellent; and that you may be pure and without offence in the day of Christ; 11And be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and the praise of God. 12Now I would have you know this, my brethren, that my work has been greatly furthered by the gospel; 13And the reasons for my imprisonments have been made manifest by Christ to all Cæsar’s court, and to all men. 14And many of the brethren in our LORD have grown confident by my imprisonment and, with increasing boldness, speak the word of God without fear. 15While some of them preach only because of envy and strife; others preach Christ in good will and love: 16For they know that I am appointed for the defence of the gospel: 17But those who preach Christ out of contention, do it not sincerely, but do it expecting to increase the hardship of my imprisonment. 18And I have rejoiced and still do rejoice in this: that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. 19For I know that through your prayers and the gift of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, all these things will ultimately turn out for my salvation, 20Just as it is my earnest hope and expectation that in nothing shall I be ashamed, but that openly as always, so also now will Christ be magnified through my body, whether in life or death. 21For Christ is my life, and to die is gain. 22Even if, in this life of the flesh, my labors bear fruits, I do not know what to choose. 23For I am drawn between two desires, the one to depart, that I may be with Christ, which is far better: 24Nevertheless, for me to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25And this I surely know, that I shall be spared and remain for your joy and for the furtherance of your faith; 26So that when I come again to you, your rejoicing in Jesus Christ will abound through me. 27Only conduct yourselves as becomes the gospel of Christ: so that whether I come and see you, or whether I am far away, I may hear of your good conduct, that you are standing firm in one spirit, and in one soul, and triumphing together through the faith of the gospel; 28And that in nothing are you terrified by our adversaries, whose conduct is the sign of their own destruction, but your salvation, and this is from God. 29For it has been given to you, not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for his sake. 30And that you may endure such trials as those which you have seen me in, and such as you now hear that I am in. Holy Bible From The Ancient Eastern Texts: Aramaic Of The Peshitta by George M. Lamsa (1933) |