¹⁴ “Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the Lord.^{(A) 15} Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”^(B)

Salutation

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops^[a] and deacons:^[b]

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(A)

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

³ I thank my God for every remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy ⁵ for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.^{(B) 6} I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete^[c] it until the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart,^[d] for all of you are my partners in God’s grace,^[e] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.^{(C) 8} For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus.^{(D) 9} And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight^{(E) 10} to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest^[f] of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Paul’s Present Circumstances

¹² I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the progress of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard^[g] and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ, ¹⁴ and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word^[h] with greater boldness and without fear.

The Commissioning of the Disciples

¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.^{(A) 17} When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.^{(B) 19} Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit^{(C) 20} and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”^[a]