< 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, therefore, ye have consolation in the Messiah, or if a commingling of hearts in love, or if a fellowship of the Spirit, or if compassions and sympathies;
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.
complete ye my joy, by having one apprehension, and one love, and one soul, and one mind.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
And do nothing in strife, or in vain glory; but, with lowliness of mind, let each esteem his neighbor as better than himself.
4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
And let not each be solicitous only for himself, but every one also for his neighbor.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:
And think ye so in yourselves, as Jesus the Messiah also thought;
6 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
who, as he was in the likeness of God, deemed it no trespass to be the coequal of God;
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.
yet divested himself, and assumed the likeness of a servant, and was in the likeness of men, and was found in fashion as a man;
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross.
and he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,
Wherefore, also, God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is more excellent than all names;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of beings in heaven, and 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 confess that Jesus the Messiah is the Lord, to the glory of God his 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 beloved, as ye have at all times obeyed, not only when I was near to you, but now when I am far from you, prosecute the work of your life, more abundantly, with fear and with trembling.
13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
For God is operating in you, both to purpose, and also to perform that which ye desire.
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
Do all things without murmuring, and without altercation;
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
that ye may be perfect and without blemish, as the sincere children of God, who are resident in a perverse and crooked generation; and that ye may appear among them as luminaries in the 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.
so that ye may be to them in place of life; for my glory in the day of the Messiah, that I may not have run in vain or toiled for naught.
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 if I should be made a libation upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and exult with you all.
18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
And so also do ye rejoice and exult with me.
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.
But I hope in our Lord Jesus, that I shall shortly send Timothy unto you, so that I also may have composure, when informed concerning you.
20 I have nobody else like him who will genuinely care for your needs.
For I have no other one here, who, like my self, will sincerely care for your welfare.
21 For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus the Messiah.
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 ye know the proof of him, that as a son with his father, so he labored with me in the gospel.
23 So I hope to send him as soon as I see what happens with me.
Him I hope shortly to send to you, when I shall have seen how things result with me.
24 And I trust in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
And I trust in my Lord, that I shall shortly come myself to you.
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.
But now, a circumstance urged me to send to you Epaphroditus, the brother who is an assistant and laborer with me, but is your legate and minister to my wants.
26 For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.
For he longed to see you all, and was anxious, because he knew ye had heard, that he was sick.
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 indeed he was sick, nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him: nor was it on him only, but also on me, that I might not have trouble upon trouble.
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.
Promptly, therefore, have I sent him to you; so that when ye see him, ye may again be joyful, and I may have a little breathing.
29 Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him,
Receive him then in the Lord, with all joy; and hold in honor those who are such.
30 because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.
For, because of the Messiah's work, he came near to death, and little regarded his life, that he might fulfill what you lacked in the ministration to me.

< Philippians 2 >