章 |
2:1 |
Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
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2:2 |
make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
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2:3 |
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
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2:4 |
do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
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2:5 |
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
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2:6 |
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
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2:7 |
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
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2:8 |
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
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2:9 |
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
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2:10 |
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
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2:11 |
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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2:12 |
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
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2:13 |
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
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2:14 |
Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
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2:15 |
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
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2:16 |
holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
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2:17 |
But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
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2:18 |
You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
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2:19 |
But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition.
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2:20 |
For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.
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2:21 |
For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.
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2:22 |
But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father.
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2:23 |
Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me;
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2:24 |
and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly.
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2:25 |
But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need;
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2:26 |
because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
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2:27 |
For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.
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2:28 |
Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you.
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2:29 |
Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard;
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2:30 |
because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.
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