Philippians 1-4

New King James Version

Greeting

1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the ^[a]bishops and ^(A)deacons:

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

Thankfulness and Prayer

^3 (B)I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, ⁴ always in ^(C)every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, ^5 (D)for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun ^(E)a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; ⁷ just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. ⁸ For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness ^(F)which are by Jesus Christ, ^(G)to the glory and praise of God.

Christ Is Preached

¹² But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become evident ^(H)to the whole ^[b]palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; ¹⁴ and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

¹⁵ Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: ^16 [c]The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; ¹⁷ but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

¹⁹ For I know that ^(I)this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but ^(J)with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life ^(K)or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I ^[d]cannot tell. ^23 [e]For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a ^(L)desire to depart and be with Christ, which is ^(M)far better. ²⁴ Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. ²⁵ And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, ²⁶ that ^(N)your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

Striving and Suffering for Christ

²⁷ Only ^(O)let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, ^(P)with one mind ^(Q)striving together for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but ^[f]to you of salvation, and that from God. ²⁹ For to you ^(R)it has been granted on behalf of Christ, ^(S)not only to believe in Him, but also to ^(T)suffer for His sake, ^30 (U)having the same conflict ^(V)which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

Unity Through Humility

2 Therefore if there is any ^[g]consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any ^(W)affection and mercy, ^2 (X)fulfill my joy ^(Y)by being like-minded, having the same love, being of ^(Z)one accord, of one mind. ^3 (AA)Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but ^(AB)in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ^4 (AC)Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of ^(AD)others.

The Humbled and Exalted Christ

^5 (AE)Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, ^(AF)being in the form of God, did not consider it ^[h]robbery to be equal with God, ^7 (AG)but ^[i]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form ^(AH)of a bondservant, and ^(AI)coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and ^(AJ)became ^(AK)obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ^9 (AL)Therefore God also ^(AM)has highly exalted Him and ^(AN)given Him the name which is above every name, ^10 (AO)that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and ^(AP)that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Light Bearers

¹² Therefore, my beloved, ^(AQ)as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, ^(AR)work out your own salvation with ^(AS)fear and trembling; ¹³ for ^(AT)it is God who works in you both to will and to do ^(AU)for His good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things ^(AV)without ^[j]complaining and ^(AW)disputing,^{[k] 15} that you may become blameless and ^[l]harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as ^(AX)lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that ^(AY)I may rejoice in the day of Christ that ^(AZ)I have not run in vain or labored in ^(BA)vain.

¹⁷ Yes, and if ^(BB)I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice ^(BC)and service of your faith, ^(BD)I am glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸ For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy Commended

¹⁹ But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send ^(BE)Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your ^[m]state. ²⁰ For I have no one ^(BF)like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. ²¹ For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. ²² But you know his proven character, ^(BG)that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. ²³ Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. ²⁴ But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.

Epaphroditus Praised

²⁵ Yet I considered it necessary to send to you ^(BH)Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and ^(BI)fellow soldier, ^(BJ)but your messenger and ^(BK)the one who ministered to my need; ^26 (BL)since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. ²⁷ For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸ Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. ²⁹ Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; ³⁰ because for the work of Christ he came close to death, ^[n]not regarding his life, ^(BM)to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.

All for Christ

3 Finally, my brethren, ^(BN)rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

^2 (BO)Beware of dogs, beware of ^(BP)evil workers, ^(BQ)beware of the mutilation! ³ For we are ^(BR)the circumcision, ^(BS)who worship ^[o]God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, ⁴ though ^(BT)I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I ^(BU)more so: ⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, ^(BV)of the tribe of Benjamin, ^(BW)a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, ^(BX)a Pharisee; ⁶ concerning zeal, ^(BY)persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

⁷ But ^(BZ)what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. ⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss ^(CA)for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having ^(CB)my own righteousness, which is from the law, but ^(CC)that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the ^(CD)power of His resurrection, and ^(CE)the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may ^(CF)attain^[p] to the resurrection from the dead.

Pressing Toward the Goal

¹² Not that I have already ^(CG)attained,^[q] or am already ^(CH)perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have ^[r]apprehended; but one thing I do, ^(CI)forgetting those things which are behind and ^(CJ)reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ^14 (CK)I press toward the goal for the prize of ^(CL)the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Therefore let us, as many as are ^(CM)mature, ^(CN)have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, ^(CO)God will reveal even this to you. ¹⁶ Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already ^[s]attained, ^(CP)let us walk ^(CQ)by the same ^[t]rule, let us be of the same mind.

Our Citizenship in Heaven

¹⁷ Brethren, ^(CR)join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as ^(CS)you have us for a pattern. ¹⁸ For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are ^(CT)the enemies of the cross of Christ: ^19 (CU)whose end is destruction, ^(CV)whose god is their belly, and ^(CW)whose glory is in their shame—^(CX)who set their mind on earthly things. ²⁰ For ^(CY)our citizenship is in heaven, ^(CZ)from which we also ^(DA)eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ^21 (DB)who will transform our lowly body that it may be ^(DC)conformed to His glorious body, ^(DD)according to the working by which He is able even to ^(DE)subdue all things to Himself.

Be Anxious for Nothing; Think These Thoughts

4 Therefore, my beloved and ^(DF)longed-for brethren, ^(DG)my joy and crown, so ^(DH)stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

Be United, Joyful, and in Prayer

² I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche ^(DI)to be of the same mind in the Lord. ^3 [u]And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who ^(DJ)labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in ^(DK)the Book of Life.

^4 (DL)Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

⁵ Let your ^[v]gentleness be known to all men. ^(DM)The Lord is at hand.

^6 (DN)Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with ^(DO)thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and ^(DP)the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Meditate on These Things

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are ^(DQ)true, whatever things are ^(DR)noble, whatever things are ^(DS)just, ^(DT)whatever things are pure, whatever things are ^(DU)lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and ^(DV)the God of peace will be with you.

Philippian Generosity

¹⁰ But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last ^(DW)your^[w] care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. ¹¹ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, ^(DX)to be content: ^12 (DY)I know how to ^[x]be abased, and I know how to ^[y]abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things ^(DZ)through ^[z]Christ who strengthens me.

¹⁴ Nevertheless you have done well that ^(EA)you shared in my distress. ¹⁵ Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, ^(EB)no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. ¹⁶ For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. ¹⁷ Not that I seek the gift, but I seek ^(EC)the fruit that abounds to your account. ¹⁸ Indeed I ^[aa]have all and abound. I am full, having received from ^(ED)Epaphroditus the things sent from you, ^(EE)a sweet-smelling aroma, ^(EF)an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God ^(EG)shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ^20 (EH)Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Greeting and Blessing

²¹ Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren ^(EI)who are with me greet you. ²² All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.

²³ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with ^[ab]you all. Amen.