For I am certain that he who has begun the good work in you will finish it for the Day of Jesus Christ.

And I have a right to feel in this way about you all, because both when I am in prison and when I am defending and vindicating our right to preach the good news, I have you in my heart as all sharing that privilege with me.

Thus it is generally known throughout the Imperial Guard and elsewhere that it is for the sake of Christ that I am in prison,

These latter do it from love for me, for they know that God has put me where I am to defend our right to preach the good news.

But what difference does it make? All that matters is that, in one way or another, from false motives or honest ones, Christ is being made known; I am glad of that. Yes, and I expect to be glad,

I am undecided between the two, for I long to depart and be with Christ, for that is far, far better,

I am convinced of this, and so I know that I shall stay on and serve you all, to help you to develop and to be glad in your faith.

Take your part in the same struggle that you have seen me engage in and that you hear I am still keeping up.

So, my dear friends, as you have always been obedient, with reverence and awe make every effort to insure your salvation, not simply as though I were with you, but all the more because I am away.

Even if my life is to be poured out as a libation as you offer your faith in a service of sacrifice to God, I am glad to have it so, and I congratulate you upon it,

So I am all the more eager to send him, so that you may have the pleasure of seeing him again, and I may feel more relieved.

though I at least am entitled to rely on them. If anyone thinks he can rely on his physical advantages, still more can I!

I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a descendant of Israel. I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and the son of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;

Not that I have secured it yet, or already reached perfection, but I am pressing on to see if I can capture it, because I have been captured by Jesus Christ.

I am pressing toward the goal, for the prize to which God through Christ Jesus calls us upward.

Not that I have anything to complain of, for I have learned how to be contented with the condition I am in.

And you at Philippi know as well as I do, that in the early days of the good news, after I left Macedonia, no church but yours went into partnership and opened an account with me.

You have paid me in full, and more too. I am fully supplied with what I have received from you through Epaphroditus. It is like fragrant incense, just such a sacrifice as God welcomes and approves.