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- Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
- Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
- I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
- Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
- For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
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- Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
- Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- I thank my God every time I remember you.
- In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
- because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
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- Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
- Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
- For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
- And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
- That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.
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- being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
- It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me.
- God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
- And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
- so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
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- Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
- But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
- So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
- And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
- Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
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- filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
- Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
- As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
- Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
- It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
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- The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
- But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
- What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
- For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
- According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
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- The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
- The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
- But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
- for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
- I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
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- For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
- But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
- For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
- Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
- And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
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- For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
- If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
- I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
- but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
- Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,
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- That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
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- so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
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