| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you. | 1Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. |
| 2Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. | 2Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. |
| 3For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh-- | 3For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, |
| 4although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: | 4though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! |
| 5circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; | 5I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. |
| 6regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. | 6I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. |
| 7But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. | 7I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. |
| 8More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ | 8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ |
| 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ--the righteousness from God based on faith. | 9and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. |
| 10My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, | 10I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, |
| 11assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. | 11so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! Pressing toward the Goal |
| 12Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. | 12I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. |
| 13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, | 13No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, |
| 14I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. | 14I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. |
| 15Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. | 15Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. |
| 16In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained. | 16But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. |
| 17Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. | 17Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. |
| 18For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. | 18For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. |
| 19Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things, | 19They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. |
| 20but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. | 20But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. |
| 21He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself. | 21He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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