Philippians 3

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

¹¹Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

²³Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

⁴Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,

¹³For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

¹⁶They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

¹⁵But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁰Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.

¹¹Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

¹But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.

²For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

¹⁵But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

¹¹In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.

⁶The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

⁶But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

¹³For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

¹⁴But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

¹⁸Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast.

¹⁹For you gladly put up with fools, since you are so wise.

²²Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

¹I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁶Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”

⁴Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from my earliest childhood among my own people, and also in Jerusalem.

⁵They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.

¹²Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

¹³For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

¹⁴I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

³But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

⁹So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,

²⁰For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁵They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.

³³In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

²⁶What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

⁴⁴The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.

⁴⁵Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.

²⁶“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

⁸Riches may ransom a man’s life, but a poor man hears no threat.

⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

⁹and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.

²³This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.

²⁴But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.

²⁴But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

⁷But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

³Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,

²¹God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

³⁰It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

¹⁶know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

⁵However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

⁶And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

¹³For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

¹⁴For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,

¹⁷For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

¹Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin.

²Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.

¹¹This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;

¹²if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us;

¹⁷And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

³Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

⁴We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

¹⁹and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,

²⁰which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,

³⁵But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

³⁶In fact, they can no longer die, because they are like the angels. And since they are sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God.

⁵The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection.

⁶Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”

⁷the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.

³⁵Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

³I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

¹¹But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.

⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;

⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

⁸The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me. O Lord, Your loving devotion endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.

³So let us know—let us press on to know the Lord. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.

¹¹He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

¹Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

⁶²Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.

²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.

²⁵Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.

⁴One thing I have asked of the Lord; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple.

⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.

¹⁰And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.

²¹To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

²⁸And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

²⁹For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

¹²encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

¹⁷If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

¹⁰I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be.

⁴Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

⁶Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

³if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

⁴if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,

¹²Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God.

⁶Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,

³Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

⁴But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.

⁵Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

³⁸But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

⁵Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you harmony with one another in Christ Jesus,

²⁷Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending together as one for the faith of the gospel,

⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

¹²Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

⁷Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you,

¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

¹¹For this is what the Lord has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:

¹²Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ.

⁷which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.

¹⁷But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

⁴In every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy,

¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

⁵Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

⁶The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace,

³In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

¹²These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.

¹³They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁵It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

¹⁹Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

¹Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

²²Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

⁸From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

²Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

⁴²So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable.

⁴³It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

²⁹For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

²⁴Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.

¹⁹Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.