Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageTherefore, my beloved, just as you have always been obedient—not only when I was with you, but all the more now that I am gone—work out your salvation with reverent awe;
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GTherefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed—not only as in my presence, but now much more in my absence—work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
KJV
King James VersionWherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleTherefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Footnotes
μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου—"with fear and trembling"—is a set OT phrase (Psalm 2:11; Isaiah 19:16) expressing the trembling attentiveness of one standing before the living God—not anxiety about losing salvation but holy, wide-eyed seriousness about acting in His presence. κατεργάζεσθε—"work out"—means to bring something fully to completion or realisation, never "work for." F.O.G preserves the raw idiom intact; F.O.G Message renders it as "reverent awe" to draw out the posture of holy attention rather than foregrounding emotional terror.
