1:4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all,
1:5 because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.
1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
1:7 For it is only right for me to think 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 fellow partakers with me in this grace.
1:8 For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in full knowledge and all discernment,
1:10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and without fault until the day of Christ,
1:11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
1:12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel,
1:13 so that my chains in Christ have become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else,
1:14 and that most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord because of my chains, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.
1:15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will;
1:16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel;
1:17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me affliction in my chains.
1:18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,
1:19 for I know that this will turn out for my salvation through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
1:20 according 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 magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
1:22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know what I will choose.
1:23 But I am hard-pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better,
1:24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
1:25 And convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
1:26 so that your reason for boasting may abound in Christ Jesus in me, through my coming to you again.
1:27 Only live your lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear about your circumstances, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind contending together for the faith of the gospel,
1:28 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.
1:29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
1:30 having the same struggle which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
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