King James Bible

New Living Translation

1Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

1This 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 leaders and deacons.

2Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer

3I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

3Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

4Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

4Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,

5For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

5for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.

6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

6And 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.

7Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

7So 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.

8For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

8God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

9I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

10That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

10For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.

11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

11May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ —for this will bring much glory and praise to God. Paul’s Joy That Christ Is Preached

12But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

12And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.

13So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;

13For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

14And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

14And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

15Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

15It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.

16The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

16They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.

17But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

17Those 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.

18What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

18But 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.

19For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

19For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. Paul’s Life for Christ

20According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

20For 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.

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

21For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

22But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.

22But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better.

23For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

23I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.

24Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

24But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

25And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

25Knowing 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.

26That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

26And 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. Live as Citizens of Heaven

27Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

27Above 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.

28And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

28Don’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.

29For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

29For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

30Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

30We 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.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.