Parallel Bible results for "philippians 1"

Philippians 1

New Living Translation NLT

1 This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the elders and deacons.

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

3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,

5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.

6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.

8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.

11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ —for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

12 And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.

13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.

16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.

17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.

18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.

19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better.

23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.

24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.

26 And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.

28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.

29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Paul and Timothy, both of us committed servants of Christ Jesus, write this letter to all the Christians in Philippi, pastors and ministers included.

2 We greet you with the grace and peace that comes from God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.

3 Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God.

4 Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.

5 I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present.

6 There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

7 It's not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God.

8 He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!

9 So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings

10 so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of:

11 bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

12 I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered.

13 All the soldiers here, and everyone else too, found out that I'm in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they've learned all about him.

14 Not only that, but most of the Christians here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.

15 It's true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they'll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world.

16 One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help.

17 The others, now that I'm out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better - they think - for them.

18 So how am I to respond? I've decided that I really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

19 because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done.

20 I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit!

21 Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dead, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose.

22 As long as I'm alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I'd choose.

23 Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better

24 . But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it's better for me to stick it out here.

25 So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues.

26 You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We'll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.

27 Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people's trust in the Message, the good news,

28 not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they're up against: defeat for them, victory for you - and both because of God.

29 There's far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting.

30 You're involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.