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Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A reading plan that walks through the entire New Testament in 24 weeks of daily readings.

Duration: 168 days

Philippians 1-2

Introduction

Chapter 1

Address.^[a] ¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with their bishops and deacons: ²grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Joyful Prayer for the Philippians.^[b] ³I give thanks to my God every time I think of you. ⁴I always pray for you, interceding for you with joy ⁵because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶I am confident of this: that the one who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.^[c]

⁷It is only right for me to feel this way toward you, because I hold you in my heart, for you have all shared with me in God’s grace, both during my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸Indeed, God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹And for this I pray: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and full insight ¹⁰to enable you to discover what is really important, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹filled with the fruits of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

News and Instructions

¹²To Live Is Christ.^[d] Brethren, I want you to know that what has happened to me has actually helped spread the gospel, ¹³for my imprisonment has become known not only throughout the praetorium^[e] but to everyone else as well. ¹⁴And the majority of the brethren having taken encouragement in the Lord from my imprisonment, dare more than ever to proclaim the word without fear.

¹⁵It is true that some are proclaiming Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others are doing so with goodwill. ¹⁶These latter ones do so out of love, aware that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not in sincerity, but in an effort to increase my suffering while I am in chains. ¹⁸But what does it matter, as long as in every way, with false motives or true, that Christ is proclaimed? And in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and with the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will result in deliverance for me. ²⁰It is my firm expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but will act with complete fearlessness, now as always, so that Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by my life or by my death.

²¹For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.^[f] ²²But if I continue living in the body, that will mean fruitful work for me. Hence, I do not know which I should choose. ²³I am pulled in opposite directions. My desire is to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far better, ²⁴but, it is a more urgent need for you that I remain in the body.

²⁵Since I am convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with all of you to ensure your progress and joy in the faith. ²⁶Thus, you will rebound with joy in Christ Jesus when I return to be with you once again.

²⁷Striving and Suffering for Christ.^[g] Only live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or simply hear news of you from a distance, I will know that you are standing firm and united in spirit, striving together for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and being in no way intimidated by those who oppose you.

This will be a clear sign to them of their forthcoming destruction as well as of your salvation. All of this is in accord with God’s design. ²⁹For it has been granted you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him. ³⁰You are taking part in the same struggle that you have seen in me and that you now hear I am experiencing.^[h]

Chapter 2

Unity and Humility.^[i] ¹Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, any comfort in love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ²make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love for one another, and united in thought. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vanity, but humbly regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴Be concerned not only with your own interests but also with those of others.

⁵Let your attitude be identical to that of Christ Jesus.

The Humbled and Exalted Christ^[j]

⁶Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped.
⁷Rather, he emptied himself,^[k]
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
Being found in appearance as a man,
⁸he humbled himself,
and became obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
⁹Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above all other names,
¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue should proclaim
to the glory of God the Father:
Jesus Christ is Lord.^[l]

¹²Innocence of the Children of God.^[m] Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always been obedient when I am present, you must be so all the more now when I am absent, as you work out your salvation in fear and trembling.^[n] ¹³For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to desire and to act for his chosen purpose.

¹⁴Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world ¹⁶as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life. Then I will have cause to boast of you on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor to no purpose.

¹⁷But even if my blood is to be poured out as a libation upon the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I rejoice, and I share my joy with all of you. ¹⁸In the same way, you too must rejoice and share your joy with me.

¹⁹Timothy Commended.^[o]I hope, in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by hearing news of you. ²⁰I have no one else like him in his genuine concern for your welfare. ²¹All the others serve their own interests more than those of Jesus Christ.

²²His reputation is well known to you. Like a son helping his father, he has worked with me in the service of the gospel. ²³I hope to send him to you as soon as I see how things will go with me. ²⁴And I am confident in the Lord that I myself shall also come before long.

²⁵Epaphroditus Praised. I have also decided that it is necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother and coworker and fellow soldier, who was your messenger and ministered to my needs. ²⁶He has missed all of you and been greatly distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷And indeed he was dangerously ill and close to death. However, God had mercy on him—and not merely on him but on me as well, so that I would not have to endure one sorrow on top of another.

²⁸Therefore, I am all the more eager to send him in order that you may rejoice on seeing him again and I may thereby feel less anxious. ²⁹Receive him joyfully in the Lord, and value people like him very highly. ³⁰For he came perilously close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to render me those services that you were unable to provide.

Footnotes

Philippians 1:1 While writing to all of the baptized—“the saints”—the author thinks in particular of the responsibility of the “bishops” (literally, “overseers”), that is, of those who, under the higher authority of the apostles and with the help of deacons (literally, “assistants”), lead and encourage the community (see 1 Tim 3:1; 5:17; Tit 1:5-9).
Philippians 1:3 This prayer, filled with confidence and thanksgiving, gives us a glimpse of the deep attachment held by Paul, the prisoner, for the living community of Philippi that shares his concerns and his initiatives. He regards the action and life of Christians as a project that must be ceaselessly developed until the encounter with Christ at his Second Coming. Hence, he prays that believers might have the spiritual sense that will enable them to take hold of the essential, i.e., the very will of the Lord, in any situation: faith and love will help discern what is the best thing for them to do.
Philippians 1:6 The day of Christ Jesus: the Second Coming of the Lord in all his glory, when the faithful will be with him and will share in eternal glory (see 1 Cor 1:8; Phil 1:10; 2:16; 3:20f; 1 Thes 4:17; 5:10; 2 Thes 1:10).
Philippians 1:12 Little concerned for his own fate, the prisoner is interested only in the progress of the Good News of Christ. Certain missionaries, jealous of his success among the Gentiles, profit from his captivity to gain influence at his expense (see 1 Cor 1). Far from taking offense, Paul is able to rejoice in this: for it means that Christ is better known and loved.
Never before has he let his readers discern the profound bond that unites him to Jesus, a bond inaugurated by Baptism and sealed by the Eucharist but a bond that is lived in the whole initiative of his existence. He has already attained his spiritual maturity, and all his desire is fixed on Christ. As in the Second Letter to the Corinthians (5:6-8), he lets us glimpse his eager longing for an immediate meeting with the Savior. There is a part of him that can no longer wait for the day of the resurrection. This striking text constitutes one of the highest points of Christian mysticism.
Philippians 1:13 Praetorium: this may refer to the praetorian guard in the city of Paul’s imprisonment or to the governor’s residence in a Roman province (see Mk 15:16; Acts 23:35).
Philippians 1:21 Paul has reached the highest level of spiritual growth.
Philippians 1:27 At Philippi itself, Paul quickly encountered persecution (see Acts 16:19-40; 1 Thes 2:2). His mission was plagued by unceasing threats and perils (see 2 Cor 11:24—12:10). The life and activity of Christians partake of the Lord’s Passion (see Mt 5:12; Acts 5:41).
Philippians 1:30 This verse refers to the Apostle’s earlier imprisonment in Philippi (Acts 16:29-34; 1 Thes 2:2) and to his present situation in chains.
Philippians 2:1 For those who live by faith, united to Christ and the Holy Spirit, communion is the most precious of goods. It demands a complete turnaround extending to true humility. This means a generous abnegation that makes one prefer the interests of others rather than one’s own. Paul presses ahead on this subject and suddenly, gripped by the shining example of Christ, he then chants the hymn of the incredible abasements of God.
Philippians 2:6 The full breadth of the mystery of Christ is expressed in this hymn, which was either written by Paul himself or perhaps taken from the Liturgy of another community. The mystery is celebrated in two of its major aspects: descent and return, which form a curve whose two ends meet.
During his stay on earth, Jesus was deprived of the glory that belonged to him, so that he might receive it again from the Father as a reward for his supreme sacrifice. He descended into the ultimate depths of abasement; then the movement was reversed: the Father glorified him, made the universe subject to him, and gave him the supreme prerogative, the regal and Divine title of “Lord.”
In the background here, Paul was thinking of the pride shown by created beings who want to be equal to God (the desire of Adam); he contrasts with this the self-giving and self-denial of Christ. But the hymn reminds us even more clearly of the songs of the Servant of God (especially Isa 53), which echoed strongly in the preaching of Jesus and in the teaching and Liturgy of the very early Church.
It is the whole mystery of the incarnate Son of God that Paul here chants with such clarity and depth: his preexistence, his abasement, and his exaltation. And the Apostle does so in order to exhort some Christians to live the demands of their Baptism!
Philippians 2:7 He emptied himself: this means, not that Jesus ceased to be equal to God, but rather that in his humanity he stripped himself of the Divine glory, manifesting this only at the Transfiguration (Mt 17:1-8), and subsequently received it again from the Father (v. 8).
Philippians 2:11 Jesus Christ is Lord: a common acclamation used by the early Christians (see Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3).
Philippians 2:12 Christians are touched by the Lord to the very depths of their being. Their conduct, their plans, and their testimony are the authentic expression of this in their life. Using the religious language of the time, Paul regards his role as apostle and the surrender of his life as an offering and sacrifice, a true worship of God (see Rom 1:9; 15:16).
Philippians 2:12 Fear and trembling: an expression common in the Old Testament to indicate awe and devotion in God’s service (see Ex 15:16; Jud 2:28; Ps 2:11; Isa 19:16).
Philippians 2:19 Paul announces to the Philippians that he is sending them his most trusted coworker—Timothy, whom they already know (see Acts 16:1-15). He also hopes to visit them himself upon being released. And he will send Epaphroditus back to them when he is well. The last line (v. 1a) seems to be the beginning of a conclusion to the Letter.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)