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2:1 If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2:2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; 2:4 do not [merely] look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 2:9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 2:11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 2:12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for [His] good pleasure. 2:14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 2:15 that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 2:16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may have cause to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. 2:17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. 2:18 And you too, [I urge you], rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 2:20 For I have no one [else] of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 2:21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. 2:22 But you know of his proven worth that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child [serving] his father. 2:23 Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things [go] with me; 2:24 and I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall be coming shortly. 2:25 But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; 2:26 because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 2:27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 2:28 Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly in order that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned [about you]. 2:29 Therefore receive him in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; 2:30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.