Bible / Philippians
Philippians 1
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ: to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.
2 Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I give thanks to my God in every remembrance of you: CCC
4 Always in all my prayers making supplication for you all with joy: CCC
5 For your communication in the gospel of Christ, from the first day until now. Fathers
6 Being confident of this very thing: that he who hath begun a good work in you will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.
7 As it is meet for me to think this for you all, for that I have you in my heart; and that, in my bands and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my joy.
8 For God is my witness how I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
9 And this I pray: That your charity may more and more abound in knowledge and in all understanding:
10 That you may approve the better things: that you may be sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ:
11 Filled with the fruit of justice, through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
12 Now, brethren, I desire you should know that the things which have happened to me have fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel:
13 So that my bands are made manifest in Christ, in all the court and in all other places.
14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, growing confident by my bands, are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear.
15 Some indeed, even out of envy and contention: but some also for good will preach Christ.
16 Some out of charity, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
17 And some out of contention preach Christ not sincerely: supposing that they raise affliction to my bands.
18 But what then? So that by all means, whether by occasion or by truth, Christ be preached: in this also I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
19 For I know that this shall fall out to me unto salvation, through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20 According to my expectation and hope; that in nothing I shall be confounded: but with all confidence, as always, so now also, shall Christ be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.
21 For to me, to live is Christ: and to die is gain. CCC
22 And if to live in the flesh: this is to me the fruit of labour. And what I shall choose I know not. Fathers
23 But I am straitened between two: having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, a thing by far the better. CCC
24 But to abide still in the flesh is needful for you.
25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all, for your furtherance and joy of faith:
26 That your rejoicing may abound in Christ Jesus for me, by my coming to you again.
27 Only let your conversation be worthy of the gospel of Christ: that, whether I come and see you, or, being absent, may hear of you, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind labouring together for the faith of the gospel. CCC
28 And in nothing be ye terrified by the adversaries: which to them is a cause of perdition, but to you of salvation, and this from God.
29 For unto you it is given for Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him:
30 Having the same conflict as that which you have seen in me and now have heard of me.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.
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- CCC 2636 “The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely. Thus the Apostle Paul gives them a share in his ministry of…”
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2636 “The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely. Thus the Apostle Paul gives them a share in his ministry of…”
Read the Fathers
“… God], and have accompanied, as became you, those who were bound in chains, the fitting ornaments of saints, and which are indeed the diadems of the true elect of God and our Lord; and because the strong root of your faith, spoken of in days”
Quoted in Letter to the Philippians, St. Polycarp of Smyrna (early 2nd century), Chapter I. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
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“But the apostle himself also, being one who had been formed in a womb, and had issued thence, wrote to us, and confessed in his Epistle to the Philippians that "to live in the flesh was the fruit of [his] work;”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
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- CCC 1005 “To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must "be away from the body and at home with the Lord."…”
- CCC 1011 “In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is…”
- CCC 1021 “Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.…”
- CCC 1025 “To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." the elect live "in Christ," but they retain, or rather find, their true…”
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- CCC 1692 “The Symbol of the faith confesses the greatness of God's gifts to man in his work of creation, and even more in…”
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.