Written to the congregation in Philippi, Greece for the Apostle Paul (possibly by Timothy and possibly in Aramaic) sometime around 62-CE.
Chapter 1
1 Paul and
Timothy, slaves of the Anointed Jesus, to all the
Holy Ones in the Anointed Jesus [who are] in Philippi, along with the overseers and servants;
2 May you have kindness and peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus the Anointed.
3 I thank my
God every time you’re mentioned, 4
and I’m constantly begging [God] on your behalf… begging with joy, 5 because of your partnership in [sharing]
the good news from the first day until now.
6
I’m confident that the one who started this good work among you will continue
to perfect it until the Day of Jesus the Anointed
One.
7 It’s a
righteous thing for me to think this way about all of you, and I keep you in my
heart both when I'm in chains and when I'm defending and confirming the good
news, for all of you are sharers in my loving care.
8 God is my witness as to how much I long
for all of you with the same tender affection that the Anointed Jesus has.
9 And this is what I keep praying:
That
your love will continue to grow more and more, along with your higher knowledge
and understanding; 10 and that
you will keep on proving the most excellent things, so that you might be found
pure and blameless until the day of the Anointed One…
11 Being filled with righteous fruit
(through the Anointed Jesus) to God’s glory and praise.
12 Now, I
want you to know this, brothers:
I’m seeing results from the things that I’m
doing for the advancement of the good news.
13
For my imprisonment because of the Anointed One has become public knowledge
among the entire Praetorian
Guard and everyone else [here].
14
Also, because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord are now more
confident and they are showing more courage and fearlessness when teaching the
word of God.
15
Unfortunately, it’s true that some are preaching the Anointed One out of envy
and rivalry.
However, many others are doing it for good motives… 16 out of love, because they know that
[the reason why] I’m lying here is to defend the good news.
17 Yet, none of the rest are doing it for
good reasons; for they’re preaching the Anointed One by arguing, and they think
that this will create more problems for me while I’m in prison.
18 Why?
It doesn’t make any difference,
for whether they’re just pretending or they’re being sincere, the Anointed One
is being made known, and I rejoice over this. In fact, I’ll keep on rejoicing, 19 because I know that through your
earnest prayers and a [generous] supply of the spirit of Jesus the Anointed
One, I will be saved.
20 I
eagerly hope (and don’t expect to be disappointed) that I will soon be able to
speak freely about the Anointed One as before, and even more so, whether my
body is dead or alive.
21 To me,
life is the Anointed One and my reward is death.
22 However, if I can keep on living in the flesh, I
consider this to be the fruitage of my work.
Which do I prefer?
I won’t say, 23 for I’m obsessed by the two.
What I
really want is to be released [from this body] and to be with the Anointed One,
since that is surely the best.
24
However, for your sakes, it’s better for me to remain in the flesh.
25 And because I’m confident of this, I
know that I will survive and still be with all of you, so I can help you to
grow in the joy of the faith…
26
And then your reasons for pride in the Anointed Jesus will grow because of me,
due to the fact that I’ll be coming to you again.
27 Just behave
in a way that’s worthy of the good news about the Anointed One, so that
regardless of whether I’m coming to visit or I’m far away, I can hear [good]
things about you…
Such as that you’re all standing firm with the same
motivations, and that you’re serving the faith of the good news side-by-side as
a single person, 28 not being
frightened by those who oppose you.
Such [fine conduct on your part] will prove
all the others to be worthy of destruction, while you are worthy of salvation
by God, 29 since you’ve been
given the privilege of not only putting faith in Him, but also of suffering for
the sake of the Anointed One.
30
Yes, you’ve had to struggle with the same things that you saw me having to
[struggle with], and which you’re now hearing are happening to me again.
Chapter 2
1 Therefore,
if there is any encouragement in the Anointed One,
any consoling love, any fellowship of the Spirit,
any depth of heart or compassion 2
– anything that would make my joy in you complete – [it would be to hear that]:
You all agree
and share the same love,
You’ve become as one person that is thinking the
same thoughts,
3 You
aren’t doing anything out of spite or pride but humbly, believing all the others
to be better than you,
4 And
that you’re not just watching out for yourselves, but for the best
interests of each other.
5 Yes, keep
this attitude in you that the Anointed Jesus had.
6 For though he once existed in the same form as God, he didn’t consider trying to make himself equal to Him.
7 Rather, he emptied himself into the
shape of a slave and became a human.
8 And when he found himself
shaped as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to death… yes, to
death on a pole.
9 This is why
God promoted him to a superior position and granted him a reputation that is
far above every other name, 10
so that in the name of Jesus every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the
ground should bend, 11 and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus the Anointed One is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.
12 So, my
loved ones;
In the same way that you have always obeyed (not just when I’m
there but also while I’m away), keep on working toward your own salvation in
fear and trembling.
13 For it
is indeed God that is working through you to accomplish His work and His will,
as He pleases.
14 Therefore, do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you can be found blameless and innocent children of God that are free from the accusations of this crooked and twisted generation, among whom you are shining as lights to the world!
16 Also,
hang onto the life-giving words, so that I can boast in the Day of the Anointed
One that I didn’t run without reason or labor in vain.
17 And then, even if I am being poured out
as a drink offering sacrifice over the welfare of your faith, I can be thankful
and rejoice with all of you…
18
As I want you to be glad and rejoice along with me!
19 I hope
(in the Lord Jesus) to send Timothy
to you soon, so I can be encouraged by hearing about how you’re getting along.
20 For I have no one else here that shares
this same spirit and that genuinely cares about your
needs.
21 All the rest are just
watching out for their own interests, not those of the Anointed Jesus.
22 So recognize how well [Timothy]
has proven himself; for he has slaved with me as a child does with his father
when it comes to promoting the good news.
23
Yes, this is the man that I hope to send to you, just as soon as I see where I
really stand in this situation that I’m in.
24
However, I’m confident in the Lord that I'll soon be able to come and see you
myself.
25 I also
considered it necessary to return EpaPhraditus (my brother,
co-worker, and fellow soldier, but your envoy and social worker for my
assistance) to you, 26 because
he’s been longing to see all of you, and he’s been concerned over the fact that
you learned about his illness.
27
Yes, he was indeed ill, almost to the point of death!
However, The God had
mercy on him… and not just on him, but on me too, so I wouldn’t be grieved with
sadness!
28
Therefore, I’m sending him to you immediately, so that when you see him you can
once again rejoice… and I can be less anxious too.
29 Give him your customary welcome in the Lord with all
joy… and remember his reputation!
30
For he came very close to being killed while doing the Lord’s work, and he has
exposed his life to great danger in order to make up for your not being here to
provide for my welfare.
Chapter 3
1 Finally,
my brothers;
Keep on rejoicing in the Lord!
The fact that I’m writing these
same things to you once again is no trouble for me, and it’s for your own
safety.
2 Just watch out for
the dogs, for those that are doing wicked things, and for those that cut the
flesh!
3 Indeed, we are the
circumcision to those that are serving the Spirit of God
and finding glory in the Anointed Jesus, but not to those that are putting their
trust in the flesh.
4 Realize
that I’m someone who has every reason for confidence in the flesh…
And if
anyone else thinks he has a reason for confidence in the flesh, I have even
more reasons!
5 [For I was]
circumcised on the eighth day,
[I’m] of the race of IsraEl,
Of the tribe of
BenJamin,
And a Hebrew from among Hebrews.
When it comes to the Law, a
Pharisee;
6 When it comes to
zeal, a persecutor of the called ones;
When it comes
to righteousness by following the Law, one that has proven himself blameless!
7 Yet, the things that I [once] considered
my assets are what I now consider my shortcomings because of the Anointed One.
8 For now I consider everything a loss
compared to the superiority of the knowledge of the Anointed Jesus, my Lord.
And because of him, I’ve accepted the loss of everything and
consider it all to be just so much garbage, so I can gain the Anointed One 9 and to be found
in him.
But this isn’t
because of my own righteousness due to following the Law; rather, it comes from
my faith that he is the Anointed of God!
For my righteousness [is now based on
my] faith 10 and my knowledge of
him, and in the power of his resurrection.
Therefore, I've been willing to
share in his sufferings and resign myself to a death like his, 11 so that I can somehow be found worthy
of an out-resurrection from the dead.
12 [No, I’m not
saying] that I’ve made it yet or that I’m already perfect, just that I’m
chasing after it…
I’m trying to grab hold of that for which the Anointed Jesus
grabbed hold of me!
13 Brothers,
I don’t think of myself as having achieved it yet,
but I am doing this one thing:
[I’m] forgetting the things in the past and
stretching out to reach for the things that are ahead…
14 I’m running toward the goal, the prize
of the higher calling from God, through the Anointed Jesus.
15 And may all of us that are mature start
thinking this same way;
For if your thinking is
inclined any other way, God will [soon] reveal this to you.
16
Nevertheless, we’ve gained all of this by following the rule:
We should walk
together in the same mind.
17
So, become imitators of me, brothers, and consider those that are walking as
you’ve been doing, to be the pattern for each of us.
18 Yet
there are many that I used to talk to you about, whom I now mention with tears.
For because they’ve become enemies of the Anointed One’s impaling
pole, 19 they'll end up by being
destroyed, because their bellies have become their gods and the things they are
proud of are the things that shame them, since all they think about is earthly things!
20 But as for us;
We possess a citizenship
in the heavens, from which we’re eagerly awaiting our Savior the Lord Jesus the
Anointed, 21 who will transform
our humiliated bodies and mold them into his own glorious body in the same way
that he’s able to make all things subject to himself.
Chapter 4
1 So my
brothers who are loved and longed for (my joy and my victory
garland);
Keep standing just as you are in the Lord, my loved ones!
2
I encourage EuOdia and SynTyche to think the same way in the Lord.
3 And I’m asking [the rest of] you who
have truly shared under my same yoke to stick by these women who have worked so
hard side-by-side with me in the good news…
Along with Clement and the rest of
my fellow workers whose names are [written] in the Scroll
of Life.
4 Always
rejoice in the Lord!
I’ll say it again:
Rejoice… 5 and let everyone know how reasonable you can be!
Since
the Lord is close [to you], 6
don’t be anxious about anything! But through prayers and heart-felt petitions
along with the giving of thanks, make your requests known to God…
7 And then the peace of God, which is
beyond all understanding, will guard your hearts and your reasoning, through
the Anointed Jesus.
8 Finally,
brothers;
Keep on thinking about whatever things are true, serious, righteous, chaste, lovable, well spoken of,
virtuous, and praiseworthy.
9
And if you continue to do the things that you learned, accepted, heard, and saw
through me, the God of peace will be with you.
10 I’m so
joyful in the Lord that you’ve finally started thinking about my needs once
again.
It’s not that you’ve forgotten me, it’s just that you haven’t had much
opportunity.
11 I’m not saying
this because I’m in need, for I’ve learned to be very self-sufficient… 12 I know how to be poor and I know how to
have plenty.
For in everything and in every way, I’ve learned the secrets of
how to have enough to eat and how to go hungry, how to have plenty and how to
do without.
13 Yes, I have the
strength for everything by the One that gives me power.
14 However,
you have acted well by sharing with me during my difficulties.
15 In fact, you Philippians may remember
how, back in the early [days] of the good news (after I left Macedonia), not a
single congregation was willing to share with me in the matter of giving and
receiving, other than you.
16
For even [when I was] in Thessalonica, you sent something to help with my
needs… not just once but twice!
17 It’s not
that I’m begging for such gifts; I’m just looking for the fruitage of becoming
a greater part of your conversations.
18
I’ve received everything that I need from you, which is more than enough!
I’ve
been filled with the sweet-smelling odor of a sacrifice that is acceptable and
very pleasing to God, now that I’ve received these things from you through
EpaPhraditus.
19 So be assured
that my God will in turn fully supply all of your needs from His great wealth,
through the glory of the Anointed Jesus.
20 Now, may our
God and Father be glorified through ages of ages…
May it be so.
21 Give my
greetings to all the Holy Ones in the Anointed Jesus. The brothers that are with
me also send you their greetings.
22
Yes, all the Holy Ones – and especially those of the house of Caesar – send you their greetings.
23 May the kindness of the Lord
Jesus the Anointed One be with the spirit [that you are showing].