Philippians 3:17

3:17 Be imitators of me, ¹  brothers and sisters, ²  and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example.

Philippians 3:2

3:2 Beware of the dogs, ³  beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! ⁴ 

Philippians 3:14-15

3:14 with this goal in mind, ⁵  I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God ⁶  in Christ Jesus. 3:15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. ⁷  If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. ⁸ 

¹ tn Or “become fellow imitators with me [of Christ].”

² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

³ sn Dogs is a figurative reference to false teachers whom Paul regards as just as filthy as dogs.

⁴ tn Grk “beware of the mutilation.”

⁵ tn Grk “according to the goal.”

⁶ tn Grk “prize, namely, the heavenly calling of God.”

⁷ tn Grk “those of us who are ‘perfect’ should think this,” or possibly “those of us who are mature should think this.”

⁸ tn Grk “reveal this to you.” The referent of the pronoun “this” is the fact that the person is thinking differently than Paul does. This has been specified in the translation with the phrase “the error of your ways”; Paul is stating that God will make it known to these believers when they are not in agreement with Paul.