Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe.
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision:
for we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh:
though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh: if any other man {Or, seemeth}thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more:
circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
as touching zeal, persecuting the church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless.
Howbeit what things were {Greek: gains.}gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.
Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,
and be found in him, {Or, not having as my righteousness that which is of the law}not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God {Greek: upon.}by faith:
that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death;
if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may {Or, lay hold, seeing that also I was laid hold on}lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I count not myself {Many ancient authorities omit yet.}yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before.
I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the {Or, upward}high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore, as many as are {Or, full-grown 1 Corinthians 2:6.}perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you:
only, whereunto we have attained, by that same rule let us walk.
Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample.
For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
For our {Or, commonwealth}citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.
Querverweise zu Philipper 3,6 Phil 3,6
And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah);
But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison.
For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot.
But Saul, yet breathing threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
and asked of him letters to Damascus unto the synagogues, that if he found any that were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
And as he journeyed, it came to pass that he drew nigh unto Damascus: and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven:
and he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest:
but rise, and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
And the men that journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the {Or, sound}voice, but beholding no man.
And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing; and they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
And he was three days without sight, and did neither eat nor drink.
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said unto him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus: for behold, he prayeth;
and he hath seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.
But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many of this man, how much evil he did to thy saints at Jerusalem:
and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call upon thy name.
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a {Greek: vessel of election.}chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel:
for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake.
And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and he arose and was baptized;
and he took food and was strengthened.And he was certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess.
And they, when they heard it, glorified God; and they said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many {Greek: myriads.}thousands there are among the Jews of them that have believed; and they are all zealous for the law:
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as ye all are this day:
And he said unto him, Teacher, all these things have I observed from my youth.
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
and I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it:
I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
and I advanced in the Jews' religion beyond many of mine own age {Greek: in my race. Compare 2 Corinthians 11:26.}among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
having knowledge of me from the first, if they be willing to testify, that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
And I was alive apart from {Or, law}the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;
though I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: howbeit I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief;
but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.
Wherefore? {Or, Because, doing it not by faith, but as it were by works, they stumbled}Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling;
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth.
For Moses writeth that {Leviticus 18:5}the man that doeth the righteousness which is of the law shall live thereby.