Galatians 5

1 It is for freedom that Christ set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not again be held under the yoke of slavery.

Christ has truly made us free: then keep your free condition and let no man put a yoke on you again.

2 Understand that I, Paul, myself tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will avail you nothing.

See, I Paul say to you, that if you undergo circumcision, Christ will be of no use to you.

3 I again declare to everyone who receives circumcision, that he binds himself to obey the whole Law.

Yes, I give witness again to every man who undergoes circumcision, that he will have to keep all the law.

4 You have severed yourselves from Christ – you who are seeking to be pronounced righteous through Law; you have fallen away from love.

You are cut off from Christ, you who would have righteousness by the law; you are turned away from grace.

5 For we, by the help of the Spirit, are eagerly waiting for the fulfillment of our hope – that we may be pronounced righteous as the result of faith.

For we through the Spirit by faith are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

6 If we are in union with Christ Jesus, neither is circumcision nor the omission of it anything, but faith, working through love, is everything.

Because in Christ Jesus, having circumcision or not having circumcision are equally of no profit; but only faith working through love.

7 You were once making good progress! Who has hindered you from obeying the truth?

You were going on well; who was the cause of your not giving ear to what is true?

8 The persuasion brought to bear on you does not come from him who calls you.

This ready belief did not come from him who had made you his.

9 A little yeast leavens all the dough.

A little leaven makes a change in all the mass.

10 I, through my union with the Lord, am persuaded that you will learn to think with me. But the man who is disturbing your minds will have to bear his punishment, whoever he may be.

I am certain about you in the Lord, that you will be of no other mind; but he who is troubling you will have his punishment, whoever he is.

11 If I, friends, am still proclaiming circumcision, why am I still persecuted? It seems that the cross has ceased to be an obstacle!

But I, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still attacked? then has the shame of the cross been taken away.

12 I could even wish that the people who are unsettling you would go further still and mutilate themselves.

My desire is that they who give you trouble might even be cut off themselves.

13 Remember, friends, to you the call came to give you freedom. Only, do not make your freedom an opportunity for self-indulgence but serve one another in a loving spirit.

Because you, brothers, were marked out to be free; only do not make use of your free condition to give the flesh its chance, but through love be servants one to another.

14 Indeed, the whole Law has been summed up in this one precept – ‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.’

For all the law is made complete in one word, even in this, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself.

15 But, if you are continually wounding and preying on one another, take care that you are not destroyed by one another.

But if you are given to fighting with one another, take care that you are not the cause of destruction one to another.

16 This is what I have to say – Let your steps be guided by the Spirit, and then you will never gratify the cravings of your earthly nature.

But I say, Go on in the Spirit, and you will not come under the rule of the evil desires of the flesh.

17 For these cravings of our earthly nature conflict with the Spirit, and the Spirit with our earthly nature – they are two contrary principles – so that you cannot do what you wish.

For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; because these are opposite the one to the other; so that you may not do the things which you have a mind to do.

18 But, if you follow the guidance of the Spirit, you are not subject to Law.

But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The sins of our earthly nature are unmistakable. They are sins like these – sexual immorality, impurity, indecency,

Now the works of the flesh are clear, which are these: evil desire, unclean things, wrong use of the senses,

20 idolatry, sorcery, quarrels, strife, jealousy, outbursts of passion, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

Worship of images, use of strange powers, hates, fighting, desire for what another has, angry feelings, attempts to get the better of others, divisions, false teachings,

21 feelings of envy, drunkenness, revelry, and the like. And I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who indulge in such things will have no place in the kingdom of God.

Envy, uncontrolled drinking and feasting, and such things: of which I give you word clearly, even as I did in the past, that they who do such things will have no part in the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit produced by the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindliness, generosity, trustfulness, gentleness, self-control.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith,

23 Against such things there is no law!

Gentle behaviour, control over desires: against such there is no law.

24 And those who belong to Jesus, the Christ, have already crucified their earthly nature, with its passions and its cravings.

And those who are Christ's have put to death on the cross the flesh with its passions and its evil desires.

25 Since our life is due to the Spirit, let us rule our conduct also by the Spirit.

If we are living by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us be guided.

26 Do not let us grow vain, and provoke or envy one another.

Let us not be full of self-glory, making one another angry, having envy of one another.