HOLY BIBLE: Philippians 3 (original) (raw)

1 Τὸ λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί μου, χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ. τὰ αὐτὰ γράφειν ὑμῖν ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐκ ὀκνηρόν, ὑμῖν δὲ ἀσφαλές. 2 βλέπετε τοὺς κύνας, βλέπετε τοὺς κακοὺς ἐργάτας, βλέπετε τὴν κατατομήν. 3 ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν ἡ περιτομή, οἱ πνεύματι θεοῦ λατρεύοντες καὶ καυχώμενοι ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐν σαρκὶ πεποιθότες, 4 καίπερ ἐγὼ ἔχων πεποίθησιν καὶ ἐν σαρκί. εἴ τις δοκεῖ ἄλλος πεποιθέναι ἐν σαρκί, ἐγὼ μᾶλλον: 5 περιτομῇ ὀκταήμερος, ἐκ γένους Ἰσραήλ, φυλῆς Βενιαμίν, Ἑβραῖος ἐξ Ἑβραίων, κατὰ νόμον Φαρισαῖος, 6 κατὰ ζῆλος διώκων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, κατὰ δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐν νόμῳ γενόμενος ἄμεμπτος. 7 ἀλλὰ ἅτινα ἦν μοι κέρδη, ταῦτα ἥγημαι διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ζημίαν. 8 ἀλλὰ μενοῦνγε καὶ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου μου, δι' ὃν τὰ πάντα ἐζημιώθην, καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσω 9 καὶ εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, μὴ ἔχων ἐμὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ νόμου ἀλλὰ τὴν διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ, τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει, 10 τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν κοινωνίαν τῶν παθημάτων αὐτοῦ, συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ, 11 εἴ πως καταντήσω εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν.

1 And now, brethren, joy to you in the Lord. I find no difficulty in always writing the same message to you, and it is your safeguard. 2 Beware of these prowling dogs, beware of their evil practices, of their disfigurement.[1] 3 As for circumcision, it is we who practise it, we who serve God with the spirit, and take pride in Christ Jesus, instead of putting our trust in outward observances. 4 Not that I have no outward claims to give me confidence; if others put their trust in outward claims, I can do so with better reason. 5 I was circumcised seven days after I was born; I come from the stock of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew-speaking as my parents were before me. Over the law, I was a Pharisee; 6 to prove my loyalty, I persecuted the Church of God; in observing what the law commands, I was beyond reproach. 7 And all this, which once stood to my credit, I now write down as loss, for the love of Christ. 8 For that matter, there is nothing I do not write down as loss compared with the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord; for love of him I have lost everything, treat everything else as refuse, if I may have Christ to my credit. 9 In him I would render my account,[2] not claiming any justification that is my own work, given me by the law, but the justification that comes from believing in Jesus Christ, God’s gift on condition of our faith. 10 Him I would learn to know, and the virtue of his resurrection, and what it means to share his sufferings, moulded into the pattern of his death, 11 in the hope of achieving resurrection from the dead.

1 De cetero, fratres mei, gaudete in Domino. Eadem vobis scribere, mihi quidem non pigrum, vobis autem necessarium. 2 Videte canes, videte malos operarios, videte concisionem. 3 Nos enim sumus circumcisio, qui spiritu servimus Deo, et gloriamur in Christo Jesu, et non in carne fiduciam habentes, 4 quamquam ego habeam confidentiam et in carne. Si quis alius videtur confidere in carne, ego magis, 5 circumcisus octavo die, ex genere Israël, de tribu Benjamin, Hebræus ex Hebræis, secundum legem pharisæus, 6 secundum æmulationem persequens Ecclesiam Dei, secundum justitiam, quæ in lege est, conversatus sine querela. 7 Sed quæ mihi fuerunt lucra, hæc arbitratus sum propter Christum detrimenta. 8 Verumtamen existimo omnia detrimentum esse propter eminentem scientiam Jesu Christi Domini mei: propter quem omnia detrimentum feci, et arbitror ut stercora, ut Christum lucrifaciam, 9 et inveniar in illo non habens meam justitiam, quæ ex lege est, sed illam, quæ ex fide est Christi Jesu: quæ ex Deo est justitia in fide, 10 ad cognoscendum illum, et virtutem resurrectionis ejus, et societatem passionum illius: configuratus morti ejus: 11 si quo modo occurram ad resurrectionem, quæ est ex mortuis:

12 Οὐχ ὅτι ἤδη ἔλαβον ἢ ἤδη τετελείωμαι, διώκω δὲ εἰ καὶ καταλάβω, ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ κατελήμφθην ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ. 13 ἀδελφοί, ἐγὼ ἐμαυτὸν οὐ λογίζομαι κατειληφέναι: ἓν δέ, τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω ἐπιλανθανόμενος τοῖς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος, 14 κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. 15 ὅσοι οὖν τέλειοι, τοῦτο φρονῶμεν: καὶ εἴ τι ἑτέρως φρονεῖτε, καὶ τοῦτο ὁ θεὸς ὑμῖν ἀποκαλύψει: 16 πλὴν εἰς ὃ ἐφθάσαμεν, τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν. 17 Συμμιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί, καὶ σκοπεῖτε τοὺς οὕτω περιπατοῦντας καθὼς ἔχετε τύπον ἡμᾶς. 18 πολλοὶ γὰρ περιπατοῦσιν οὓς πολλάκις ἔλεγον ὑμῖν, νῦν δὲ καὶ κλαίων λέγω, τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, 19 ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια, ὧν ὁ θεὸς ἡ κοιλία καὶ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν, οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες. 20 ἡμῶν γὰρ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει, ἐξ οὗ καὶ σωτῆρα ἀπεκδεχόμεθα κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, 21 ὃς μετασχηματίσει τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ δύνασθαι αὐτὸν καὶ ὑποτάξαι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα.

12 Not that I have already won the prize, already reached fulfilment. I only press on, in hope of winning the mastery, as Christ Jesus has won the mastery over me.[3] 13 No, brethren, I do not claim to have the mastery already, but this at least I do; forgetting what I have left behind, intent on what lies before me, 14 I press on with the goal in view, eager for the prize, God’s heavenly summons in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us who are fully grounded must be of this mind, and God will make it known to you, if you are of a different mind at present. 16 Meanwhile, let us all be of the same mind, all follow the same rule, according to the progress we have made.[4] 17 Be content, brethren, to follow my example, and mark well those who live by the pattern we have given them; 18 I have told you often, and now tell you again with tears, that there are many whose lives make them the enemies of Christ’s cross. 19 Perdition is the end that awaits them, their own hungry bellies are the god they worship, their own shameful doings are their pride; their minds are set on the things of earth; 20 whereas we find our true home in heaven. It is to heaven that we look expectantly for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to save us; 21 he will form this humbled body of ours anew, moulding it into the image of his glorified body, so effective is his power to make all things obey him.

12 non quod jam acceperim, aut jam perfectus sim: sequor autem, si quomodo comprehendam in quo et comprehensus sum a Christo Jesu. 13 Fratres, ego me non arbitror comprehendisse. Unum autem, quæ quidem retro sunt obliviscens, ad ea vero quæ sunt priora, extendens meipsum, 14 ad destinatum persequor, ad bravium supernæ vocationis Dei in Christo Jesu. 15 Quicumque ergo perfecti sumus, hoc sentiamus: et si quid aliter sapitis, et hoc vobis Deus revelabit. 16 Verumtamen ad quod pervenimus ut idem sapiamus, et in eadem permaneamus regula. 17 Imitatores mei estote, fratres, et observate eos qui ita ambulant, sicut habetis formam nostram. 18 Multi enim ambulant, quos sæpe dicebam vobis (nunc autem et flens dico) inimicos crucis Christi: 19 quorum finis interitus: quorum Deus venter est: et gloria in confusione ipsorum, qui terrena sapiunt. 20 Nostra autem conversatio in cælis est: unde etiam Salvatorem exspectamus Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, 21 qui reformabit corpus humilitatis nostræ, configuratum corpori claritatis suæ, secundum operationem, qua etiam possit subjicere sibi omnia.

[1] vv. 1, 2: The Apostle seems here to embark on a farewell salutation (cf. II Cor. 13.11), as if the remaining two chapters of the epistle were an afterthought. It seems to be implied here that he had written to the Philippians before, and in doing so had used the curious formula given in verse 2. This becomes more easily intelligible if we suppose that verse 2 was written in autograph (cf. I Cor. 16.21; Gal. 6.11). It warns the Philippians against those who were trying to impose the rite of circumcision on the Gentiles; circumcision, as being a merely outward ceremony, is contemptuously referred to under the name of ‘disfigurement’, a heathen usage forbidden by the Jewish law (Lev. 21.5).

[2] ‘I would render my account’; literally, ‘I would be discovered’, cf. I Cor. 4.2.

[3] ‘Has won the mastery over me’; this is generally understood as meaning ‘taken possession of me’, which seems to be the sense of the Latin. The Greek might also be translated ‘has overtaken me’, in the sense that our Lord has led the way in undergoing death and attaining resurrection.

[4] The words ‘all be of the same mind’ do not appear in the best Greek manuscripts.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd