1:4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
1:5 thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
1:6 And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
1:7 It is right for me to feel thus about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
1:8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
1:9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
1:10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
1:11 filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
1:12 I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,
1:13 so that it has become known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ;
1:14 and most of the brethren have been made confident in the Lord because of my imprisonment, and are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear.
1:15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.
1:16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel;
1:17 the former proclaim Christ out of partisanship, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.
1:18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice.
1:19 Yes, and I shall rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
1:20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored 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 If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
1:23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
1:24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
1:25 Convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
1:26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
1:27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
1:28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear omen to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
1:29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
1:30 engaged in the same conflict which you saw and now hear to be mine.
Your support helps pay our hosting costs, and
- with a little bit extra -
lets us pay transcribers and proofreaders.
If you can help, Click here to become a Patreon:
www.patreon.com/IslamAwakened Thank you!