I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat.ad Philippenses 4:13 · Clementine Vulgate
Explanation — not a translation
In brief
In Philippians 4:13 Paul says he can face whatever comes “through Christ who strengthens me.” In context, “all things” means every circumstance, whether hunger or plenty, and the strength he describes is the strength to be content and faithful in each of them.
The setting
Paul wrote Philippians while in custody (Philippians 1:7, 13), not knowing whether he would be released or executed (1:20-21). Near the end of the letter he thanks the church for a gift of money they had sent him by Epaphroditus (4:18). He wants to thank them without suggesting that his contentment depended on their help.
Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. I know how to be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.
Non quasi propter penuriam dico: ego enim didici, in quibus sum, sufficiens esse. Scio et humiliari, scio et abundare (ubique et in omnibus institutus sum): et satiari, et esurire, et abundare, et penuriam pati.ad Philippenses 4:11–12 · Clementine Vulgate
Paul has learned to be content “in whatever state I am” — humbled or abounding, filled or hungry.
Verse 13 is the conclusion of that thought. The “secret” he has learned is not a technique for getting what he wants. It is a way of living in Christ that holds steady whether he has much or little.
What “all things” means
The phrase is wide but not unlimited. It refers to the circumstances he has just listed: being in need and having plenty, hunger and a full stomach. Paul is saying that no situation, good or bad, can take away his footing in Christ. He applies the same strength to abundance as to want, which suggests that comfort can test a person as much as hardship.
The emphasis also falls on the source of the strength. Paul does not claim self-sufficiency; the Stoic philosophers of his day prized contentment as a mark of the self-reliant person, but Paul locates it in Christ. Some ancient manuscripts and many modern translations read Him who strengthens me, without naming Christ; the meaning is the same.
What it doesn’t necessarily mean
The verse is often quoted before games, exams and business ventures, as if it promised that a believer can achieve any goal. Paul’s own life does not fit that reading: he wrote it in chains, and he was not promising himself release. The verse does not guarantee winning, success or recovery.
That does not make it wrong to pray it before a hard task. Read in context, it is a prayer for faithfulness and steadiness whatever the result, which may be the more useful thing to ask for on the day of a big game or a difficult diagnosis.
However you did well that you shared in my affliction.
Verumtamen bene fecistis, communicantes tribulationi meæ.ad Philippenses 4:14 · Clementine Vulgate
Paul immediately adds that the Philippians did well to share in his hardship: Christ’s strength came to him partly through their care.
How Christians read it
Across traditions, Christians read this verse alongside Paul’s other words about strength in weakness. In 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 the Lord tells him, “My grace is sufficient for you,” and Paul concludes that “when I am weak, then am I strong.”
Read it with
Philippians 4:19 follows with a promise that God will supply the Philippians’ needs. The Strength page gathers related passages.