Filipenses 2

¹ Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any comfort of love, if there is any fellowship in the Spirit, if there is any compassion and sympathy,

² then fill me with joy by having the same attitude, sharing the same love, being united in spirit, and keeping one purpose in mind.

³ Do not act out of selfish ambition or conceit, but with humility think of others as being better than yourselves.

⁴ Do not be concerned about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.

⁵ Have the same attitude among yourselves that was also in Christ Jesus:

⁶ In God's own form existed he,And shared with God equality,Deemed nothing needed grasping.

⁷ Instead, poured out in emptiness,A servant's form did he possess,A mortal man becoming. In human form he chose to be,

⁸ And lived in all humility,Death on a cross obeying.

⁹ Now lifted up by God to heaven,A name above all others given,This matchless name possessing.

¹⁰ And so, when Jesus’ name is called,The knees of everyone should fallWhere'er they are residing.

¹¹ Then every tongue in one accord,Will say that Jesus Christ is Lord,While God the Father praising.

¹² And so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

¹³ For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining or arguing

¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and innocent, God's children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world

¹⁶ as you hold out the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or work hard in vain.

¹⁷ Yet even if I am being poured out like an offering as part of the sacrifice and service I offer for your faith, I rejoice, and I share my joy with all of you.

¹⁸ In the same way, you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.

¹⁹ Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I can be encouraged when I learn of your condition.

²⁰ I do not have anyone else like him who takes a genuine interest in your welfare.

²¹ For all the others look after their own interests, not after those of Jesus Christ.

²² But you know his proven worth—how like a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.

²³ Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things are going to turn out for me.

²⁴ Indeed, I am confident in the Lord that I will come to visit you soon.

²⁵ Meanwhile, I thought it best to send Epaphroditus—my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and minister to my need—back to you.

²⁶ For he has been longing for all of you and is troubled because you heard that he was sick.

²⁷ Indeed, he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow on top of another.

²⁸ Therefore, I am especially eager to send him so that you may have the joy of seeing him again, and so that I may feel relieved.

²⁹ So welcome him in the Lord with all joy, and make sure you honor such people highly.

³⁰ For he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.