Parallel Bible results for "philippians 1"

Philippians 1

New Revised Standard NRS

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 I thank my God every time I remember you,

4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,

5 because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.

6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight

10 to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,

11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

12 I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel,

13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ;

14 and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

15 Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill.

16 These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel;

17 the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment.

18 What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.

20 It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death.

21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer.

23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better;

24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.

25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith,

26 so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

28 and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing.

29 For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—

30 since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

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.