1:4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
1:5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
1:6 And I am sure of this, 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 this way 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 defence 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 so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
1:12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,
1:13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.
1:14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word 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 defence of the gospel.
1:17 The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.
1:18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,
1:19 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 will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured 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 I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour 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 will 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 are standing 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 sign 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 that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
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