2:1 If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit,¹ any affection or mercy,² 2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind,³ by having the same love, being united in spirit,⁴ and having one purpose. 2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition⁵ or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 2:4 Each of you should be concerned⁶ not only⁷ about your own interests, but the interests of others as well.⁸ 2:5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,⁹

2:6 who though he existed in the form of God¹⁰
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
2:7 but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,¹¹
and by sharing in human nature.¹²
2:8 He humbled himself,
by becoming obedient to the point of death
—even death on a cross!
2:9 As a result God exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
2:10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow
—in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
2:11 and every tongue confess¹³
to the glory of God the Father
that Jesus Christ is Lord.

2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with humility and dependence, 2:13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God. 2:14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world¹⁴ 2:16 by holding on to¹⁵ the word of life so that I will have a reason to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 2:17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink-offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I have joy and rejoice together with you. 2:18 And in the same way, you also should be glad and rejoice together with me.

2:19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you quickly, so that I too may be encouraged by hearing news about you. 2:20 For there is no one here like him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you.¹⁶ 2:21 Others are busy with their own concerns, not the Lord’s. 2:22 But you know his qualifications, that like a son working with his father, he served with me in advancing the gospel. 2:23 So I hope to send him as soon as I know more about my situation, 2:24 though I am confident in the Lord that I too will be coming soon.

2:25 But for now¹⁷ I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother,¹⁸ coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger¹⁹ and minister²⁰ to me in my need.²¹ 2:26 Indeed, he greatly missed all of you and was distressed because you heard that he had been ill. 2:27 In fact he became so ill that he nearly died.²² But God showed mercy to him—and not to him only, but also to me—so that I would not have grief on top of grief. 2:28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him,²³ so that when you see him again you can rejoice²⁴ and I can be free from anxiety. 2:29 So welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 2:30 since it was because of the work of Christ that he almost died. He risked his life so that he could make up for your inability to serve me.²⁵