New Testament · Easy read · Philippians
Philippians 1
1Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Messiah Yeshua, to all the holy ones in Messiah Yeshua who are in Philippi, including the overseers and servants:
2grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua Messiah.
3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
4always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all,
5in view of your fellowship in the good news from the first day until now.
6For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Messiah Yeshua.
7For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the good news, you all are partakers of grace with me.
8For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the tender mercies of Messiah Yeshua.
9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in complete 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 Messiah;
11having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Yeshua Messiah, to the glory and praise of God.
12Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the good news,
13so that my imprisonment in Messiah has become well known throughout the whole praetorium and to everyone else,
14and that most of the brothers, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.
15Some, to be sure, are proclaiming Messiah even from envy and strife, but some also from good will;
16the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the good news;
17the former proclaim Messiah out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.
18What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Messiah is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,
19for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the spirit of Yeshua Messiah,
20according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Messiah will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
21For to me, to live is Messiah and to die is gain.
22But if I am to live on in 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 Messiah, for that is very much better;
24yet to remain on in 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 Messiah Yeshua through my coming to you again.
27Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the good news of Messiah, 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 good news;
28in 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 Messiah'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.