Philippians 1:3-11

English Standard Version

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³^(A)I thank my God ^(B)in all my remembrance of you, ⁴always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵^(C)because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶And I am sure of this, that he who began ^(D)a good work in you ^(E)will bring it to completion at ^(F)the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you ^(G)in my heart, for you are all ^(H)partakers with me of grace,^[a] both ^(I)in my imprisonment and in ^(J)the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸For ^(K)God is my witness, ^(L)how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹And it is my prayer that ^(M)your love may abound more and more, ^(N)with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, ^(O)and so be pure and blameless ^(P)for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled ^(Q)with the fruit of righteousness that comes ^(R)through Jesus Christ, ^(S)to the glory and praise of God.

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Footnotes

Philippians 1:7 Or you all have fellowship with me in grace

Luke 3:1-6

English Standard Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^(A)Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate ^(C)being governor of Judea, and ^(D)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ²during ^(E)the high priesthood of Annas and ^(F)Caiaphas, ^(G)the word of God came to ^(H)John the son of Zechariah in ^(I)the wilderness. ³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^(J)a baptism of repentance ^(K)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As it is written in ^(L)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

^(M)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^(N)‘Prepare the way of the Lord,^[a]
    make his paths straight.
⁵^(O)Every valley shall be filled,
    ^(P)and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
^(Q)and the crooked shall become straight,
    and the rough places shall become level ways,
⁶^(R)and all flesh shall see ^(S)the salvation of God.’”