1 ¶ Resta, hermanos, que os gocéis en el Señor. A mí, a la verdad, no me es molesto el escribiros las mismas cosas, y para vosotros es seguro.

So now, my Christian brothers, be happy because you belong to Christ. It is not hard for me to write the same things to you. It is good for you.

2 G uardaos de los perros, guardaos de los malos obreros, guardaos del cortamiento.

Watch out for false teachers. Watch out for sinful men. They want you to depend on the religious act of becoming a Jew for your hope.

3 P orque nosotros somos la circuncisión, los que servimos en espíritu a Dios, y nos gloriamos en el Cristo Jesús, no teniendo confianza en la carne.

The act of becoming a Jew has nothing to do with us becoming Christians. We worship God through His Spirit and are proud of Jesus Christ. We have no faith in what we ourselves can do.

4 ¶ Aunque yo tengo también de qué confiar en la carne. Si alguno parece que tiene de qué confiar en la carne, yo más que nadie.

I could have reason to trust in the flesh. If anyone could feel that the flesh could do something for him, I could.

5 C ircuncidado al octavo día, del linaje de Israel, de la tribu de Benjamín, hebreo de hebreos; en cuanto a la ley, fariseo;

I went through the religious act of becoming a Jew when I was eight days old. I was born a Jew and came from the family group of Benjamin. I was a Jewish son of Jewish parents. I belonged to the group of the proud religious law-keepers.

6 e n cuanto a celo, perseguidor de la Iglesia; en cuanto a la justicia que es en la ley, irreprensible.

I followed my religion with all my heart and did everything I could to make it hard for the church. No one could say anything against the way I obeyed the Law. Christ Must Be Lord of Our Lives

7 P ero las cosas que para mí eran ganancias, las he apreciado pérdidas por Cristo.

But I gave up those things that were so important to me for Christ.

8 Y ciertamente, aun aprecio todas las cosas como pérdida por el eminente conocimiento de Cristo Jesús, mi Señor, por quien lo he perdido todo, y lo tengo por estiércol, para ganar a Cristo,

Even more than that, I think of everything as worth nothing. It is so much better to know Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for Him. And I think of these things as worth nothing so that I can have Christ.

9 ¶ y por ser hallado en él, no teniendo mi justicia, que es por la ley, sino la que es por la fe de Cristo, la justicia que es de Dios por la fe;

I want to be as one with Him. I could not be right with God by what the Law said I must do. I was made right with God by faith in Christ.

10 p or conocerle, y el poder de su resurrección, y la participación de sus padecimientos, en conformidad a su muerte,

I want to know Him. I want to have the same power in my life that raised Jesus from the dead. I want to understand and have a share in His sufferings and be like Christ in His death.

11 s i en alguna manera llegara a la resurrección de los muertos.

Then I may be raised up from among the dead.

12 N o que ya lo haya alcanzado, ni que ya sea perfecto; mas sigo para asirme de aquello como también soy asido del Cristo Jesús.

I do not say that I have received this or have already become perfect. But I keep going on to make that life my own as Christ Jesus made me His own.

13 H ermanos, yo mismo no hago cuenta de haberlo ya alcanzado; pero una cosa hago: olvidando ciertamente lo que queda atrás, y extendiéndome a lo que está delante,

No, Christian brothers, I do not have that life yet. But I do one thing. I forget everything that is behind me and look forward to that which is ahead of me.

14 p rosigo al blanco, al premio del soberano llamamiento de Dios en Cristo Jesús.

My eyes are on the crown. I want to win the race and get the crown of God’s call from heaven through Christ Jesus.

15 ¶ Así que, todos los que somos perfectos, esto mismo sintamos; y si otra cosa sentís, esto también os lo revelará Dios.

All of us who are full-grown Christians should think this way. If you do not think this way, God will show it to you.

16 P ero en aquello a que hemos llegado, vamos por la misma regla, sintamos una misma cosa.

So let us keep on obeying the same truth we have already been following.

17 ¶ Hermanos, sed imitadores de mí, y mirad los que así anduvieren como nos tenéis por ejemplo.

Christian brothers, live your lives as I have lived mine. Watch those who live as I have taught you to live.

18 P orque muchos andan, de los cuales os dije muchas veces, y aun ahora lo digo llorando, que son enemigos del madero del Cristo,

There are many whose lives show they hate the cross of Christ. I have told you this before. Now I tell you again with tears in my eyes.

19 c uyo fin será la perdición, cuyo dios es el vientre, y su gloria está en su vergüenza; que sienten lo terrenal.

Their god is their stomach. They take pride in things they should be ashamed of. All they think about are the things of this world. In the end they will be destroyed.

20 M as nuestra vivienda está en los cielos; de donde también esperamos el Salvador, al Señor Jesús el Cristo;

But we are citizens of heaven. Christ, the One Who saves from the punishment of sin, will be coming down from heaven again. We are waiting for Him to return.

21 e l cual transformará el cuerpo de nuestra bajeza, para ser semejante al cuerpo de su gloria, por la operación con la cual puede también sujetar a sí todas las cosas.

He will change these bodies of ours of the earth and make them new. He will make them like His body of shining-greatness. He has the power to do this because He can make all things obey Him.