¹Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is not troublesome for me to write the same things to you, and for you it is a safeguard. ²Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the scission, ³for we are the circumcision, those who serve by the spirit of God, and who exult in Christ Jesus, and who do not trust in the flesh, ⁴although I have grounds for trust in the flesh too. If anyone else thinks he can trust in the flesh, I can do so more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, ⁶zealously persecuting the church, while being blameless as regards the righteousness which is in the sphere of the law, ⁷but whatever things were gains to me, those I consider a loss because of Christ – ⁸and indeed I even count everything to be a loss by reason of the pre-eminence of knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of everything, and I count them dung in order that I may gain Christ, ⁹and that I may be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith, ¹⁰so as to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, ¹¹if somehow I can attain to the out-resurrection of the dead. ¹²Not that I have already reached it, or have already reached perfection, but I pursue it aspiring to take hold of that for which I have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold, but one thing I do, forgetting the things that are behind, and forging ahead towards the things that are in front: ¹⁴I press on expressly towards the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let us therefore, inasmuch as we are perfect, have this frame of mind. However, if you take a different view of anything, God will reveal this to you too. ¹⁶But whatever stage we have reached, let us keep to the same line and hold to the same frame of mind. ¹⁷Be imitators together of me, brothers, and look to those who walk this way, as you have us as an example. ¹⁸For many walk, about whom I have often told you, and now tell you weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, ¹⁹whose end is loss, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who have in mind earthly things, ²⁰for our citizenship is in the heavens, from where we also await a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who will transform our lowly body, so that it becomes conformant to his glorious body according to the force by which he is also able to subdue everything to himself.