And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.
The apostle Paul wrote this letter from prison to the church in Philippi, a city in what is now northern Greece. He is asking a trusted leader — called a loyal yokefellow — to help mediate between two women named Euodia and Syntyche, who appear to have had a falling out (mentioned just verses earlier). Paul's language about these women is striking: he says they contended at his side — real, active partnership in spreading the message of Jesus at personal risk. He also mentions Clement and other fellow workers. The "book of life" is a biblical image for God's record of those who belong to him — Paul is affirming that all these people, including the women in conflict, are known and loved by God.
God, thank you for the people who have fought alongside me — the ones whose names and sacrifices I don't always stop to honor. Give me the courage to be a peacemaker, not a bystander, when the people I love are at odds. Help me see others the way you do: as partners worthy of care, whose names are known to you. Amen.
Paul is in chains — possibly awaiting execution — and one of the things weighing on him is a rift between two women in a church he loves. Not theological controversy. Not his legal defense. Two real people who once worked beautifully together and now can't seem to get along. And his instinct isn't just to pray about it; he asks someone by name to get involved and help. There's something quietly convicting here for anyone who has watched a conflict fester and called it "not my place." Paul frames these women not as problems, but as partners — people who fought at his side, whose names are written in the book of life. If you're the loyal yokefellow in someone else's conflict, that's your job description: not to take sides, but to help. The church has always needed people willing to sit down in the middle of someone else's mess and work toward peace. Are you one of them?
Paul describes these women as having 'contended at his side in the cause of the gospel' — what does that phrase tell you about the role women played in the early church, and does anything about it surprise you?
Have you ever had a falling out with someone you once worked closely alongside? What makes that particular kind of conflict feel different from other disagreements?
Paul asks a third party to step in and help rather than leaving the women to sort it out alone. When is outside help in a conflict genuinely useful, and when does bringing someone else in make things worse?
Think of someone in your community whose contribution to a shared cause you've overlooked or taken for granted — how might naming their effort, the way Paul does here, change your relationship with them?
Is there a conflict in your church, family, or workplace right now where you have the trust and history to play a peacemaking role? What is one concrete step you could take this week?
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation 3:5
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
1 Timothy 5:17
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Revelation 20:12
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was , and is not, and yet is.
Revelation 17:8
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
Luke 10:20
Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Philippians 1:27
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:8
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Revelation 21:27
Indeed, I ask you too, my true companion, to help these women [to keep on cooperating], for they have shared my struggle in the [cause of the] gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
AMP
Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
ESV
Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in [the cause of] the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
NASB
Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
NIV
And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
NKJV
And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.
NLT
And, oh, yes, Syzygus, since you're right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the Message hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the book of life.
MSG