The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, with the Bishops and Deacons of the church:
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From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus - To all God's people in Philippi who are in union with Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and helpers:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
3 I give praise to my God at every memory of you,
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I thank my God for you every time I think of you;
4 And in all my prayers for you all, making my request with joy,
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and every time I pray for you all, I pray with joy
5 Because of your help in giving the good news from the first day till now;
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because of the way in which you have helped me in the work of the gospel from the very first day until now.
6 For I am certain of this very thing, that he by whom the good work was started in you will make it complete till the day of Jesus Christ:
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And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus.
7 So it is right for me to take thought for you all in this way, because I have you in my heart; for in my chains, and in my arguments before the judges in support of the good news, making clear that it is true, you all have your part with me in grace.
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You are always in my heart! And so it is only right for me to feel as I do about you. For you have all shared with me in this privilege that God has given me, both now that I am in prison and also while I was free to defend the gospel and establish it firmly.
8 For God is my witness, how my love goes out to you all in the loving mercies of Christ Jesus.
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God is my witness that I tell the truth when I say that my deep feeling for you all comes from the heart of Christ Jesus himself.
9 And my prayer is that you may be increased more and more in knowledge and experience;
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I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment,
10 So that you may give your approval to the best things; that you may be true and without wrongdoing till the day of Christ;
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so that you will be able to choose what is best. Then you will be free from all impurity and blame on the Day of Christ.
11 Being full of the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
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Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce, for the glory and praise of God.
12 Now it is my purpose to make clear to you, brothers, that the cause of the good news has been helped by my experiences;
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I want you to know, my friends, that the things that have happened to me have really helped the progress of the gospel.
13 So that it became clear through all the Praetorium, and to all the rest, that I was a prisoner on account of Christ;
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As a result, the whole palace guard and all the others here know that I am in prison because I am a servant of Christ.
14 And most of the brothers in the Lord, taking heart because of my chains, are all the stronger to give the word of God without fear.
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And my being in prison has given most of the believers more confidence in the Lord, so that they grow bolder all the time to preach the message fearlessly.
15 Though some are preaching Christ out of envy and competition, others do it out of a good heart:
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Of course some of them preach Christ because they are jealous and quarrelsome, but others from genuine good will.
16 These do it from love, conscious that I am responsible for the cause of the good news:
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These do so from love, because they know that God has given me the work of defending the gospel.
17 But those are preaching Christ in a spirit of competition, not from their hearts, but with the purpose of giving me pain in my prison.
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The others do not proclaim Christ sincerely, but from a spirit of selfish ambition; they think that they will make more trouble for me while I am in prison.
18 What then? only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad.
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It does not matter! I am happy about it - just so Christ is preached in every way possible, whether from wrong or right motives. And I will continue to be happy,
19 For I am conscious that this will be for my salvation, through your prayer and the giving out of the stored wealth of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
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because I know that by means of your prayers and the help which comes from the Spirit of Jesus Christ I shall be set free.
20 In the measure of my strong hope and belief that in nothing will I be put to shame, but that without fear, as at all times, so now will Christ have glory in my body, by life or by death.
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My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail in my duty, but that at all times, and especially right now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.
21 For to me life is Christ and death is profit.
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For what is life? To me, it is Christ. Death, then, will bring more.
22 But if I go on living in the flesh--if this is the fruit of my work--then I do not see what decision to make.
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But if by continuing to live I can do more worthwhile work, then I am not sure which I should choose.
23 I am in a hard position between the two, having a desire to go away and be with Christ, which is very much better:
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I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing;
24 Still, to go on in the flesh is more necessary because of you.
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but for your sake it is much more important that I remain alive.
25 And being certain of this, I am conscious that I will go on, yes, and go on with you all, for your growth and joy in the faith;
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I am sure of this, and so I know that I will stay. I will stay on with you all, to add to your progress and joy in the faith,
26 So that your pride in me may be increased in Christ Jesus through my being present with you again.
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so that when I am with you again, you will have even more reason to be proud of me in your life in union with Christ Jesus.
27 Only let your behaviour do credit to the good news of Christ, so that if I come and see you or if I am away from you, I may have news of you that you are strong in one spirit, working together with one soul for the faith of the good news;
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Now, the important thing is that your way of life should be as the gospel of Christ requires, so that, whether or not I am able to go and see you, I will hear that you are standing firm with one common purpose and that with only one desire you are fighting together for the faith of the gospel.
28 Having no fear of those who are against you; which is a clear sign of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God;
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Don't be afraid of your enemies; always be courageous, and this will prove to them that they will lose and that you will win, because it is God who gives you the victory.
29 Because to you it has been given in the cause of Christ not only to have faith in him, but to undergo pain on his account:
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For you have been given the privilege of serving Christ, not only by believing in him, but also by suffering for him.
30 Fighting the same fight which you saw in me, and now have word of in me.
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Now you can take part with me in the battle. It is the same battle you saw me fighting in the past, and as you hear, the one I am fighting still.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.