Philippians 2:1-13

Philippians 1 Philippians 3

Philippians 2:1-13 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

True Humility

2 Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God’s Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others. ²Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person. ³Don’t be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. ⁴Care about them as much as you care about yourselves ⁵and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought:^[a]

⁶Christ was truly God.
But he did not try to remain^[b]
    equal with God.
⁷Instead he gave up everything^[c]
    and became a slave,
when he became
    like one of us.

⁸Christ was humble.
He obeyed God
and even died
    on a cross.
⁹Then God gave Christ
    the highest place
and honored his name
    above all others.

¹⁰So at the name of Jesus
    everyone will bow down,
those in heaven, on earth,
    and under the earth.
¹¹And to the glory
    of God the Father
everyone will openly agree,
    “Jesus Christ is Lord!”

Lights in the World

¹²My dear friends, you always obeyed when I was with you. Now that I am away, you should obey even more. So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved. ¹³God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.

Footnotes:

2.5 think the same way that Christ Jesus thought: Or “think the way you should because you belong to Christ Jesus.”
2.6 remain: Or “become.”
2.7 Instead he gave up everything: Greek, “He emptied himself.”