Common - Philippians - 2

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,

2:2  make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

2:3  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

2:4  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

2:5  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

2:6  who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

2:7  but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

2:8  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

2:9  Therefore God also highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,

2:10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

2:11  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2:12  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

2:13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

2:14  Do all things without grumbling or arguing,

2:15  so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

2:16  holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

2:17  But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

2:18  So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

2:19  I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news of you.

2:20  I have no one else like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

2:21  For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

2:22  But you know that he has proved his worth, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

2:23  Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me;

2:24  and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

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;

2:26  for he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was ill.

2:27  Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

2:28  Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may have less anxiety.

2:29  So receive him in the Lord with all joy; and honor men like him,

2:30  because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.