Philippians 3
1 In conclusion, my friends, may all joy be yours in your union with the Lord. To repeat what I have already written does not weary me, and is the safe course for you.
In conclusion, my brethren, be joyful in the Lord. For me to give you the same warnings as before is not irksome to me, while so far as you are concerned it is a safe precaution.
2 Beware of those dogs! Beware of those mischievous workers! Beware of the men who mutilate themselves!
Beware of 'the dogs,' the bad workmen, the self-mutilators.
3 For it is we who are the circumcised – we whose worship is prompted by the Spirit of God, who exult in Christ Jesus, and who do not rely on external privileges;
For we are the true circumcision--we who render to God a spiritual worship and make our boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in outward ceremonies:
4 though I, if anyone, have cause to rely even on them. If anyone thinks he can rely on external privileges, far more can I!
although I myself might have some excuse for confidence in outward ceremonies. If any one else claims a right to trust in them, far more may I:
5 I was circumcised when eight days old; I am an Israelite by birth, and of the tribe of Benjamin; I am a Hebrew, and the child of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;
circumcised, as I was, on the eighth day, a member of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew sprung from Hebrews; as to the Law a Pharisee;
6 as to zeal, I was a persecutor of the church; as to such righteousness as is due to Law, I proved myself blameless.
as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church; as to the righteousness which comes through Law, blameless.
7 But all the things which I once held to be gains I have now, for the Christ’s sake, come to count as loss.
Yet all that was gain to me--for Christ's sake I have reckoned it loss.
8 More than that, I count everything as loss, for the sake of the exceeding value of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. And for his sake I have lost everything, and count it as rubbish, if I may but gain Christ and be found in union with him;
Nay, I even reckon all things as pure loss because of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. And for His sake I have suffered the loss of everything, and reckon it all as mere refuse, in order that I may win Christ and be found in union with Him,
9 any righteousness that I have being, not the righteousness that results from Law, but the righteousness which comes through faith in Christ – the righteousness which is derived from God and is founded on faith.
not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the Law, but that which arises from faith in Christ--the righteousness which comes from God through faith.
10 Then indeed I will know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and all that it means to share his sufferings,
I long to know Christ and the power which is in His resurrection, and to share in His sufferings and die even as He died;
11 in the hope that, if I become like him in death, I may possibly attain to the resurrection from the dead.
in the hope that I may attain to the resurrection from among the dead.
12 Not that I have already laid hold of it, or that I am already made perfect. But I press on, in the hope of actually laying hold of that for which indeed I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
I do not say that I have already won the race or have already reached perfection. But I am pressing on, striving to lay hold of the prize for which also Christ has laid hold of me.
13 For I, friends, do not regard myself as having yet laid hold of it. But this one thing I do – forgetting what lies behind, and straining every nerve for that which lies in front,
Brethren, I do not imagine that I have yet laid hold of it. But this one thing I do--forgetting everything which is past and stretching forward to what lies in front of me,
14 I press on to the goal, to gain the prize of that heavenward call which God gave me through Christ Jesus.
with my eyes fixed on the goal I push on to secure the prize of God's heavenward call in Christ Jesus.
15 Let all of us, then, whose faith is mature, think this way. Then, if on any matter you think otherwise, God will make that also plain to you.
Therefore let all of us who are mature believers cherish these thoughts; and if in any respect you think differently, that also God will make clear to you.
16 Only we are bound to order our lives by what we have already attained.
But whatever be the point that we have already reached, let us persevere in the same course.
17 My friends, unite in following my example, and fix your eyes on those who are living by the pattern which we have set you.
Brethren, vie with one another in imitating me, and carefully observe those who follow the example which we have set you.
18 For there are many – of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears – who are living in enmity to the cross of the Christ.
For there are many whom I have often described to you, and I now even with tears describe them, as being enemies to the Cross of Christ.
19 The end of such people is ruin; for their appetites are their God, and they glory in their shame; their minds are given up to earthly things.
Their end is destruction, their bellies are their God, their glory is in their shame, and their minds are devoted to earthly things.
20 But we are citizens of heaven, and from heaven we expect a savior to come, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We, however, are free citizens of Heaven, and we are waiting with longing expectation for the coming from Heaven of a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 By the exercise of his power to bring everything into subjection to himself, he will make our humble bodies like his glorious body.
who, in the exercise of the power which He has even to subject all things to Himself, will transform this body of our humiliation until it resembles His own glorious body.
