| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it 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. |
| 2Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of 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, exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials | 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, |
| 4--though mine too are significant. If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, 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! |
| 5I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as 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. |
| 6In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. | 6I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. |
| 7But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities 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 now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things--indeed, I regard them as dung!--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 because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ's faithfulness--a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ's faithfulness. | 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 aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in 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, |
| 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from 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 attained this--that is, I have not already been perfected--but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. | 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 attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are 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, |
| 14with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God 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 those of us who are "perfect" embrace this point of view. If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. | 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. |
| 16Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard that we have already attained. | 16But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. |
| 17Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example. | 17Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. |
| 18For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the 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 the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about 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 also await 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. |
| 21who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things 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. |
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