2 You belong to Christ, and he makes you brave. His love makes you strong. You are able to help one another because his Spirit is in you. You can be kind to each other, and you can forgive each other. 2 Because of that, this is how you can make me completely happy: In your mind, think about things in the same way as one another. Love one another completely. In your spirit, agree with one another. And work together for the same purpose. 3 In the way that you live, do not just try to help yourself. Do not be proud. Instead, respect other people. Think about other people as more important than yourself. 4 Do not think only about the things that you want to do for yourself. Each of you should think also about how you can help other people.
5 You should think about things in the same way that Christ Jesus thought:
6 Christ had the same nature as God.
He was completely equal with God.
But he did not try to keep hold of that.
7 Instead, he chose to leave heaven.
He took for himself the nature of a slave.
He became like a human.
8 And when he lived as a man,
he made himself even less important.
He obeyed God completely, so that he died.
He even died on a cross! [ a ]
9 Because of that, God then raised Jesus Christ to the most important place.
God gave him the name that is greater than every other name.
10 As a result, when people hear Jesus' name, they must worship him.
Everyone will have to go down on their knees in front of him.
That includes everything that is in heaven,
everything on the earth and everything under the earth.
11 Everyone will have to agree that Jesus Christ is Lord.
When they say that aloud, they will show that God the Father is very great. [ b ]
12 So, my friends, you must continue to obey God. [ c ] When I was with you, you always obeyed. Now that I am not with you, that is even more important. God has saved you. You must always live in a way which shows that is true. Respect God and obey him. Remember that he is great and powerful. 13 It is God himself who is working in you. Now you want to obey him, and he makes you strong to do that. When you obey him, that makes him very happy.
14 Whatever you are doing, do not complain. And do not argue. 15 Then you will not be guilty of anything that is wrong. You will be clean inside yourselves. You will be living in a completely good way, as God's children should. In this world, you are living among bad people who have turned away from what is good. But you must bring light into this dark place, like stars that shine in the night. 16 Tell people the true message that can give them life with God. Then I will know that my work among you had good results. Because of that, I will be very happy on the day when Christ returns.
17 You believe in Christ, and you are his servants. That is like you are offering yourselves as a sacrifice to God. Perhaps I will soon have to die. Then my blood would be like drink that I am pouring on your sacrifice, to please God. So, if I have to die now, I will be happy. And we should all be happy together. 18 Yes, it is right that you should be happy, and I will also be happy with you.
19 I want to send Timothy to come to you soon. I hope that the Lord Jesus will let me do that. Then, when Timothy returns to me, he can tell me news about you. And that will make me happy. 20 Timothy really loves you, as I do. There is nobody else here with me like him. 21 Everyone else thinks only about themselves. They have no interest in the things that are important to Jesus Christ. 22 But you know what Timothy is like. He has worked with me like a son works to help his father. Together we have taught people God's good news. 23 That is why I hope to send him to you soon. But first, I want to know what will happen to me here. 24 The Lordhas helped me to hope that I will soon come to you myself.
25 Whatever happens, I think I must send Epaphroditus to come back to you. [ d ] He is our true Christian brother. He has worked with me to serve God together. We have worked hard, like soldiers. When I needed help, you sent him to me. He has helped me on your behalf. 26 Now he wants very much to see all of you again. He became very sad, because you heard the message that he was ill. 27 Certainly, he was very ill, and he almost died. But God was kind to him. And God was kind to me too. If Epaphroditus had died, I would have become even more sad. 28 So I want even more to send him back to you. Then you can be really happy, and I will not feel sad any more.
29 Receive Epaphroditus well when he comes, and be happy. Like you, he belongs to the Lord's people. You should respect people like him and be kind to them. 30 He nearly died because he was working to serve Christ. He came to help me, because you could not help me yourselves. He was even ready to die so that he could do that on your behalf. [ e ]
2 Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings, 2 then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. 3 In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. 4 Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.
5 In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought.
6 He was like God in every way,
but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit.
7 Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God.
He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form.
During his life as a man,
8 he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God,
even when that caused his death—death on a cross.
9 So God raised him up to the most important place
and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
10 God did this so that every person will bow down to honor the name of Jesus.
Everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow.
11 They will all confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord,”
and this will bring glory to God the Father.
12 My dear friends, you always obeyed what you were taught. Just as you obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important for you to obey now that I am not there. So you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God. 13 Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it.
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing 15 so that you will be blameless and pure, children of God without any fault. But you are living with evil people all around you, who have lost their sense of what is right. Among those people you shine like lights in a dark world, 16 and you offer them the teaching that gives life. So I can be proud of you when Christ comes again. You will show that my work was not wasted—that I ran in the race and won.
17 Your faith makes you give your lives as a sacrifice in serving God. Maybe I will have to offer my own life with your sacrifice. But if that happens, I will be glad, and I will share my joy with all of you. 18 You also should be glad and share your joy with me.
19 With the blessing of the Lord Jesus, I hope I will be able to send Timothy to you soon. I will be glad to learn how you are. 20 I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares for you. 21 Others are interested only in their own lives. They don’t care about the work of Christ Jesus. 22 You know the kind of person Timothy is. He has served with me in telling the Good News like a son with his father. 23 I plan to send him to you quickly, as soon as I know what will happen to me. 24 I am sure the Lord will help me come to you soon.
25 For now, I think I must send Epaphroditus back to you. He is my brother in God’s family, who works and serves with me in the Lord’s army. When I needed help, you sent him to me, 26 but now he wants very much to see all of you again. He is worried because you heard that he was sick. 27 He was sick and near death. But God helped him and me too, so that I would not have even more grief. 28 So I want very much to send him to you. When you see him, you can be happy. And I can stop worrying about you. 29 Welcome him in the Lord with much joy. Give honor to people like Epaphroditus. 30 He should be honored because he almost died for the work of Christ. He put his life in danger so that he could help me. This was help that you could not give me.
2 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.
20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.
22 But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.
23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.
25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
2 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any ( A ) fellowship of the Spirit, if any [ a ] ( B ) affection and compassion, 2 ( C ) make my joy complete [ b ] by ( D ) being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing [ c ] from [ d ] ( E ) selfishness or ( F ) empty conceit, but with humility ( G ) consider one another as more important than yourselves; 4 ( H ) do not merely look out for your own personal interests , but also for the interests of others. 5 ( I ) Have this attitude [ e ] in yourselves which was also in ( J ) Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already ( K ) existed in the ( L ) form of God, ( M ) did not consider equality with God something to be [ f ] grasped, 7 but [ g ] ( N ) emptied Himself by taking the form of a ( O ) bond-servant and [ h ] ( P ) being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, ( Q ) He humbled Himself by becoming ( R ) obedient to the point of death: ( S ) death [ i ] on a cross. 9 ( T ) For this reason also God ( U ) highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him ( V ) the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus ( W ) every knee will bow , of ( X ) those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is ( Y ) Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, ( Z ) just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own ( AA ) salvation with ( AB ) fear and trembling; 13 for it is ( AC ) God who is at work in you, both to [ j ] desire and to work ( AD ) for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without ( AE ) complaining or arguments; 15 so that you will [ k ] prove yourselves to be ( AF ) blameless and innocent, ( AG ) children of God above reproach in the midst of a ( AH ) crooked and perverse generation, among whom you [ l ] ( AI ) appear as [ m ] lights in the world, 16 holding firmly the word of life, so that on ( AJ ) the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not ( AK ) run in vain nor ( AL ) labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being ( AM ) poured out as a drink offering upon ( AN ) the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. 18 You too, I urge you , rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
19 But I hope, [ n ] in the Lord Jesus, to ( AO ) send ( AP ) Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else ( AQ ) of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all ( AR ) seek after their own interests , not those of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know ( AS ) of his proven character, that ( AT ) he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel ( AU ) like a child serving his father. 23 ( AV ) Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me; 24 and ( AW ) I trust in the Lord that I myself will also be coming shortly. 25 But I thought it necessary to send to you ( AX ) Epaphroditus, my brother and ( AY ) fellow worker and ( AZ ) fellow soldier, who is also your [ o ] ( BA ) messenger and ( BB ) minister to my need, 26 because he was longing [ p ] for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly, so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you . 29 ( BC ) Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and ( BD ) hold people like him in high regard, 30 because he came close to death [ q ] ( BE ) for the work of Christ, risking his life to ( BF ) compensate [ r ] for your absence in your service to me.
2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, ( A ) if any tenderness and compassion, ( B ) 2 then make my joy complete ( C ) by being like-minded, ( D ) having the same love, being one ( E ) in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. ( F ) Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ( G ) 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ( H )
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ( I )
6 Who, being in very nature [ a ] God, ( J )
did not consider equality with God ( K ) something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing ( L )
by taking the very nature [ b ] of a servant, ( M )
being made in human likeness. ( N )
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death ( O ) —
even death on a cross! ( P )
9 Therefore God exalted him ( Q ) to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name, ( R )
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, ( S )
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ( T )
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, ( U )
to the glory of God the Father.
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ( V ) 13 for it is God who works in you ( W ) to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. ( X )
14 Do everything without grumbling ( Y ) or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless ( Z ) and pure, “children of God ( AA ) without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” [ c ] ( AB ) Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ ( AC ) that I did not run ( AD ) or labor in vain. ( AE ) 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering ( AF ) on the sacrifice ( AG ) and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ( AH ) 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy ( AI ) to you soon, ( AJ ) that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, ( AK ) who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, ( AL ) not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father ( AM ) he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23 I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. ( AN ) 24 And I am confident ( AO ) in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker ( AP ) and fellow soldier, ( AQ ) who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. ( AR ) 26 For he longs for all of you ( AS ) and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, ( AT ) so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. 29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, ( AU ) 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me. ( AV )
