¹From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.

To all of God’s holy people in Christ Jesus in Philippi, together with your leaders and deacons.

²May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

³I thank my God every time I remember you.

⁴In all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy

⁵because you’ve joined me in spreading the good news. You’ve done so from the time you first believed until now.

⁶And I’m confident that God, who has begun a good work in you, will carry it on until it’s completed on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

⁷It’s right for me to feel this way about all of you. You have a special place in my heart. Whether I’m being held in chains or standing up for the truth of the good news, either way, all of you share together in God’s grace with me.

⁸God is my witness that I long for all of you with the love of Christ Jesus.

⁹And so I pray that your love will grow more and more in knowledge and understanding.

¹⁰Then you’ll be able to recognize the things that are best, and you’ll be pure and blameless on the day when Christ returns.

¹¹You’ll be filled with the fruit of right living that comes from following Jesus Christ. All of these things bring glory and praise to God.

¹²I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually helped spread the good news.

¹³It’s clear I’m being held in chains because I’m a witness for Christ. All of the palace guards know this, and so does everyone else here.

¹⁴Because I’m a prisoner, most of the brothers and sisters have become much bolder in the Lord, and they’re not afraid to preach the good news.

¹⁵It’s true that some are preaching about Christ because they’re jealous of me. But others are preaching about Christ to help me in my work.

¹⁶They’re acting out of love, knowing that I’ve been placed here to defend the good news.

¹⁷The jealous ones are preaching about Christ out of selfish ambition; they’re not doing it sincerely. They think they can create trouble for me while I’m being held in chains.

¹⁸But what does it matter? The important thing is that whether for good reasons or bad ones, Christ is being preached. And that makes me very glad.

And I’ll continue to be glad,

¹⁹because I know you’re praying for me and that God will give me the Spirit of Jesus Christ to help me. No matter what happens, I’ll be set free.

²⁰I truly expect and hope that I won’t be ashamed in any way, but that I’ll be brave enough so that now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether I live or die.

²¹As I see it, if I live, I live for Christ, and if I die, I get something even better than this life.

²²If I go on living in my body, then I’ll be able to carry on my work, and it will bear a lot of fruit. But which one should I choose? I don’t know.

²³I can’t decide between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ. That would be better by far.

²⁴But it would help you more if I stayed in this body.

²⁵Since I’m convinced of that, I know I’ll stay with you and continue to help you grow and be joyful in your faith.

²⁶I’m confident that I’ll be able to come see you again, and then you’ll be able to boast in Christ Jesus even more because of me.

²⁷But no matter what happens, live in a way that brings honor to the good news about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you, I’ll know that you’re standing firm together in the one Spirit and that you’re fighting together as a unit to defend the good news.

²⁸So don’t be afraid in any way of those who oppose you. Your fearlessness will show them that they’re going to be destroyed but you’re going to be saved.

²⁹You’ve been given the privilege, for the sake of Christ, not only of believing in him but also of suffering for him.

³⁰You’re going through the same struggle that you saw me go through and that you hear I’m going through now.