Philippians 2
1 Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
If, then, any encouragement comes through union with Christ, if there is any persuasive power in love, if there is any communion with the Spirit, if there is any tenderness or pity,
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.
I entreat you to make my happiness complete – live together animated by the same spirit and in mutual love, one in heart, animated by one Spirit.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
Nothing should be done out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility lift others up above yourselves,
4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
considering not only your own interests but also the interests of others.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:
Let the spirit of Christ Jesus be yours also.
6 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
Though the divine nature was his from the beginning, yet he did not look on equality with God as above all things to be clung to,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.
but impoverished himself by taking the nature of a servant and becoming like one of us;
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross.
he appeared among us as a man, and still further humbled himself by submitting even to death – to death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,
And that is why God raised him to the very highest place, and gave him the name which stands above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
so that in adoration of the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
and that every tongue should acknowledge JESUS CHRIST as LORD – to the glory of God the Father.
12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always been obedient in the past, so now work out your own salvation with anxious care, not only when I am with you, but all the more now that I am absent.
13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
Remember it is God who, in his kindness, is at work within you, enabling you both to will and to work.
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
In all that you do, avoid murmuring and dissension,
15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
so as to prove yourselves blameless and innocent – faultless children of God, in the midst of an evil-disposed and perverse generation, in which you are seen shining like stars in a dark world,
16 as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
offering to them the message of life; and then I will be able at the day of Christ to boast that I did not run my course for nothing, or toil for nothing.
17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
And yet, even if, when your faith is offered as a sacrifice to God, my lifeblood must be poured out in addition, still I will rejoice and share the joy of you all;
18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
and you must also rejoice and share my joy.
19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I learn how you are doing.
I hope, however, as one who trusts in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you before long, so that I may myself be cheered by receiving news of you.
20 I have nobody else like him who will genuinely care for your needs.
For I have no one but him to send – no one of kindred spirit who would take the same genuine interest in your welfare.
21 For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
They are all pursuing their own aims and not those of Christ Jesus.
22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel.
But you know what Timothy has proved himself to be, and how, like a child working for his father, he worked hard with me in spreading the good news.
23 So I hope to send him as soon as I see what happens with me.
It is Timothy, then, whom I hope to send, just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here.
24 And I trust in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
And I am confident, as one who trusts in the Lord Jesus, that before long I myself will follow.
25 But I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my needs.
Still I think it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you now, for he is my dear friend, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, and he was also your messenger to help me in my need.
26 For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.
For he has been longing to see you all, and has been distressed because you heard of his illness.
27 He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
And I can assure you that his illness very nearly proved fatal. But God had pity on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.
28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious.
I am all the more ready, therefore, to send him, so that the sight of him may revive your spirits and my own sorrow be lightened.
29 Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him,
Give him, then, the heartiest of Christian welcomes, and hold such people in great honour.
30 because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.
For it was owing to his devotion to the Master’s work that he was at the point of death, having risked his own life in the effort to supply what was wanting in the help that you sent me.
