I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Parallel translations
- WEB I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
- BSB I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- NKJV I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
- NASB I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
- NLT For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul can face every circumstance through Christ who strengthens him. His contentment and endurance flow from Christ's empowering, not his own resources.
Overview
This well-known verse is, in context, the secret behind Paul's contentment in plenty and want (4:11-12), not a promise of unlimited personal success. The 'all things' are the varied circumstances of life, met by the strength Christ supplies. It points away from self-reliance to dependence on the indwelling power of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 41:10Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
- 2 Cor 12:9–10And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
- Col 1:11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
- Eph 6:10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
- Isa 40:29–31He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
- Eph 3:16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
- John 15:7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
- 2 Cor 3:4–5And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
- John 15:4–5Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
- Isa 45:24Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The one who, being in the form of God, emptied himself to the point of death on a cross and was exalted to the name above every name — the joy and prize of the believer.
How Philippians 4:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.