| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. | 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. |
| 2Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. | 2Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! |
| 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh-- | 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 |
| 4though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: | 4--though mine too are significant. If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more: |
| 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; | 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. |
| 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. | 6In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. |
| 7But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. | 7But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. |
| 8What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ | 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, |
| 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. | 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. |
| 10I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, | 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, |
| 11and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. | 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. |
| 12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. | 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. |
| 13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, | 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, |
| 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. | 14with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. |
| 15All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. | 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. |
| 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained. | 16Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard that we have already attained. |
| 17Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. | 17Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example. |
| 18For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. | 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. |
| 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. | 19Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things. |
| 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, | 20But our citizenship is in heaven--and we also await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, |
| 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. | 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. |
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