Chapter 1

¹Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

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

³I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

⁴always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,

⁵on account of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,

⁶being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷For it is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.

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

⁹And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,

¹⁰so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;

¹¹having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

¹²Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel,

¹³so that my chains have become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else,

¹⁴and that most of the brothers and sisters, having become confident in the Lord by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear.

¹⁵Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill.

¹⁶The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel;

¹⁷the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they will cause me distress in my chains.

¹⁸What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

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

²⁰according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

²¹For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

²²But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.

²³But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

²⁴yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

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

²⁶so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

²⁷Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together for the faith of the gospel;

²⁸and in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

²⁹For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

³⁰experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me. © Veritable King James Version (VKJV) 2025. All Rights Reserved. Philippians 2 The Letter to the Philippians, Chapter 2 | VKJV