Galatians 5

1 In the freedom, then, with which Christ made you free—stand, and do not be held fast again by a yoke of servitude.

Christ having made us gloriously free--stand fast and do not again be hampered with the yoke of slavery.

2 Behold! I, Paul, say to you, that if you are [to be] circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing;

Remember that it is I Paul who tell you that if you receive circumcision Christ will avail you nothing.

3 and I testify again to every man circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law;

I once more protest to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to obey the whole Law of Moses.

4 you were voided from the Christ, you who are declared righteous in law; you fell away from grace;

Christ has become nothing to any of you who are seeking acceptance with God through the Law: you have fallen away from grace.

5 for we by the Spirit, by faith, wait for a hope of righteousness,

We have not, for through the Spirit we wait with longing hope for an acceptance with God which is to come through faith.

6 for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any importance; but only faith working through love.

7 You were running well; who hindered you [so as] not to obey the truth?

You were running the race nobly! Who has interfered and caused you to swerve from the truth?

8 The persuasion [is] not of Him who is calling you!

No such teaching ever proceeded from Him who is calling you.

9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump;

A little yeast corrupts the whole of the dough.

10 I have confidence in regard to you in the LORD that you will not be otherwise minded; and he who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be.

For my part I have strong confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt my view of the matter. But the man--be he who he may--who is troubling you, will have to bear the full weight of the judgement to be pronounced on him.

11 And I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling-block of the Cross has been done away [with];

As for me, brethren, if I am still a preacher of circumcision, how is it that I am still suffering persecution? In that case the Cross has ceased to be a stumbling-block!

12 O that even they would cut themselves off who are unsettling you!

Would to God that those who are unsettling your faith would even mutilate themselves.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers, only the freedom [is] not for an occasion to the flesh, but serve one another through the love,

You however, brethren, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an excuse for giving way to your lower natures; but become bondservants to one another in a spirit of love.

14 for all the Law is fulfilled in one word—in this: “You will love your neighbor as yourself”;

For the entire Law has been obeyed when you have kept the single precept, which says, "You are to love your fellow man equally with yourself."

15 and if you bite and devour one another, see that you may not be consumed by one another.

But if you are perpetually snarling and snapping at one another, beware lest you are destroyed by one another.

16 And I say, walk in the Spirit, and you may not fulfill the desire of the flesh;

This then is what I mean. Let your lives be guided by the Spirit, and then you will certainly not indulge the cravings of your lower natures.

17 for the flesh desires contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit contrary to the flesh, and these are opposed to one another, that the things that you may will—these you may not do;

For the cravings of the lower nature are opposed to those of the Spirit, and the cravings of the Spirit are opposed to those of the lower nature; because these are antagonistic to each other, so that you cannot do everything to which you are inclined.

18 and if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not subject to Law.

19 And the works of the flesh are also evident, which are: adultery, whoredom, uncleanness, licentiousness,

Now you know full well the doings of our lower natures. Fornication, impurity, indecency, idol-worship, sorcery;

20 idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, strife, jealousy, wraths, rivalries, dissensions, sects,

enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of passion, intrigues, dissensions, factions, envyings;

21 envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like, of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that those doing such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

hard drinking, riotous feasting, and the like. And as to these I forewarn you, as I have already forewarned you, that those who are guilty of such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God.

22 And the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith,

The Spirit, on the other hand, brings a harvest of love, joy, peace; patience towards others, kindness, benevolence;

23 meekness, [and] self-control. Against such there is no law;

good faith, meekness, self-restraint.

24 and those who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the affections and the desires;

Against such things as these there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their lower nature with its passions and appetites.

25 if we may live in the Spirit, we may also walk in the Spirit;

If we are living by the Spirit's power, let our conduct also be governed by the Spirit's power.

26 let us not become vainglorious—provoking one another, envying one another!

Let us not become vain-glorious, challenging one another, envying one another.