2:1 [L Therefore,] ·Does your life in Christ give you strength? [L If there is any encouragement in Christ…] ·Does his love comfort you? [L …if any comfort from (his) love…] ·Do we share together in the Spirit? [L …if any fellowship/sharing of the Spirit…] ·Do you have mercy and kindness? [L …if any mercy/affection and kindness/compassion…]
2:2 ·If so […then], ·make me very happy [L fulfill/complete my joy] by ·having the same thoughts [being like-minded/of one mind], sharing the same love, and having one ·mind [heart; soul] and ·purpose [goal; mind].
2:3 When you do things, do not let ·selfishness [rivalry; selfish ambition] or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more ·honor [regard; value] to others than to yourselves.
2:4 Do not ·be interested only in your own life [look out for your own interests], but ·be interested in the lives of others [look out for others’ interests].
2:5 In your lives you must ·think and act like [have the same attitude as] Christ Jesus. [C What follows may be from an early Christian hymn.]
2:6 ·Christ himself was like God in everything [L Who, being in the form of God]. But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be ·used for his own benefit [or grasped; seized; held on to].
2:7 But he ·gave up his place with God and made himself nothing [L emptied himself]. He ·became like [L took the form of] a ·servant [slave; bondservant] and was born ·as a man [L in the likeness of humanity/men].
2:8 And ·when he was living [L being found in appearance/likeness] as a ·man [human being], he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even ·when that caused his [to the point of] death—death on a cross.
2:9 So God ·raised [exalted] him to the highest place. God ·made his name [or gave him the name] ·greater than [far above] every other name
2:10 so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus— everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.
2:11 And ·everyone [L every tongue] will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and bring glory to God the Father.
2:12 My ·dear friends [beloved], you have always obeyed God when I was with you. It is even more important that you obey now while I am away from you. ·Keep on working to complete [Continue working out] your salvation with ·fear [awe; reverence] and trembling,
2:13 because God is working in you ·to help you want to do and be able to do [L both to will/desire and to work] what pleases him.
2:14 Do everything without ·complaining [grumbling] or arguing.
2:15 Then you will be ·innocent [blameless] and ·without any wrong [innocent; pure; harmless], God’s children without ·fault [blemish; C as are sacrificial animals]. ·But you are living with people that are crooked and evil [L …in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; Deut. 32:5], among whom you shine like stars in the ·dark world [or sky; L world].
2:16 You ·offer [or hold firmly/fast to] the ·teaching that gives life [message/word of life]. So ·when Christ comes again [L on the day of Christ; C judgment day], I can ·be happy [L be proud; boast] because I ·ran the race and won [L did not run for nothing/in vain]. ·My work was not wasted [L …nor did I labor for nothing/in vain].
2:17 Your faith makes you offer your lives as a sacrifice in serving God. [L Even] If I ·have to offer my own blood [L am poured out as a drink offering] with your sacrifice, I will be ·happy [rejoicing] and full of joy with all of you.
2:18 You also should be ·happy [rejoicing] and full of joy with me.
2:19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon. [L …so that] I will be ·happy [encouraged] to learn how you are.
2:20 I have no one else like Timothy [1:1], who ·truly [genuinely] cares for you.
2:21 Other people ·are interested only in their own lives [pursue their own interests/concerns], not ·in the work [the interests/concerns; L the things] of Jesus Christ.
2:22 You know ·the kind of person Timothy is [his tested and proven character]. You know he has served with me in ·telling the Good News [L the Gospel], as a son serves his father.
2:23 [L Therefore] I ·plan [hope] to send him to you quickly when I know what will happen to me [C probably referring to the outcome of Paul’s trial in Rome].
2:24 I am ·sure [confident] ·that the Lord will help me to [L in the Lord that I will] come to you soon.
2:25 [L But; or Meanwhile,] I thought ·I should [it necessary to] send back to you Epaphroditus [4:18], my ·brother in Christ [L brother] and coworker, ·who serves with me in Christ’s army [L and fellow soldier]. He was your messenger, sent as a ·servant [minister] to meet my needs.
2:26 I am sending him because he ·wants very much to see [greatly misses; L longs for] all of you. He is ·worried [distressed] because you heard that he was sick.
2:27 Yes, he was sick, and nearly died, but God had mercy on him and me too so that I would not have ·more sadness [L sorrow upon sorrow].
2:28 I ·want very much [am very eager] to send him to you so that when you see him you can ·be happy [rejoice], and I can stop worrying about you.
2:29 Welcome him in the Lord with much joy. Give honor to people like him,
2:30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to give me the help you could not give in your service to me.
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