[en] First order linear differential equations are developed for the completely off-shell phase shift in terms of the cut-off radius of the local two-body interaction. The input to these equations involves on-shell as well as half-off-shell phase functions the latter of which in turn satisfy first order linear differential equations with on-shell phase functions as input. It is concluded that the solution of these new first-order linear differential equations developed within the framework of the standard phase approach is an appropriate means of calculating completely off-shell phase shifts. (D.P.)