Montgomery - Philippians - 2

2:1  If then there is any comfort in Christ, if there is any persuasive power in love, if there is any companionship of the Spirit, if there is any tenderness or pity,

2:2  I entreat you to make my joy overflow by living in harmony; possessing the same love, and with one soul united in one purpose.

2:3  Do nothing out of strife, nothing out of vanity, but let each one in true humility consider the others to be of more account than himself.

2:4  Let each have an eye not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

2:5  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

2:6  who, though from the beginning he had the nature of God, did not reckon equality with God something to be forcibly retained,

2:7  but emptied himself of his glory by taking the form of a slave, when he was born in the likeness of men.

2:8  More than this, after he had shone himself in human form, he humbled himself in his obedience even to death; yes, and to death on a cross.

2:9  And for this God highly exalted him, and graciously bestowed upon him the name which is above every name;

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

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

2:12  And so, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, with reverence and self- distrust work out your own salvation;

2:13  for it is God who, in his good-will is ever working in you both will and deed.

2:14  Do everything without grumbling and disputes,

2:15  that you may become blameless and innocent, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in a dark world,

2:16  holding out a message of life. Thus it will be my boast at the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, or toiled for nothing.

2:17  Nay, even if my life is to be poured out as a libation upon the sacrifice and service of you faith,

2:18  I will rejoice and congratulate you all; and in the same way you must rejoice and congratulate me.

2:19  Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you before long, so that I may be of good comfort when I learn the news concerning you.

2:20  For I have no other like him with a genuine concern for your welfare,

2:21  for they are all seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

2:22  And you know Timothy’s worth, how he has shared my servitude in furtherance of the gospel, like a son helping his father.

2:23  So I hope to send him, as soon as ever I see how it will go with me;

2:24  but I trust in the Lord that I also shall come shortly.

2:25  Epaphroditus, my brother and coworker and fellow soldier, who is your messenger and minister to my needs, I have thought it necessary to send to you;

2:26  for he has been homesick for you all, and distressed at your having heard of his illness.

2:27  And indeed he was sick nigh unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also so that I should not have sorrow upon sorrow.

2:28  Therefore I have been the more eager to send him, in order that you may rejoice in seeing him again, and that I may have one sorrow less.

2:29  Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold in honor men like him;

2:30  for it was through the work of the Lord that he came near to death; for he hazarded his very life to supply what was lacking in the help you sent me.