Galatians 5
1 With her freedom, Christ hath made you, free. Stand fast, therefore, and do not, again, with a yoke of servitude, be held fast!
Christ set us free so we could have real freedom. So stand firm and don't get burdened down again by a yoke of slavery.
2 See! I, Paul, say unto you—if ye be getting circumcised, Christ will profit you, nothing.
Let me, Paul, tell you bluntly: if you rely on the way of circumcision, Christ will be of absolutely no benefit to you.
3 Yea, I bear solemn witness again, unto every man getting circumcised, —that he is, a debtor, to do, the whole law.
Let me repeat: every man who is circumcised has to keep the whole of the law.
4 Ye have been set aside from Christ, ye who, by law, are to be declared righteous, —out of his favour, ye have fallen;
Those of you who think you can be made right by the law are cut off from Christ—you have abandoned grace.
5 For, we, in Spirit, by faith, for a hope of righteousness, are ardently waiting, —
For through the Spirit we trust and wait in hope to be made right.
6 For, in Christ [Jesus], neither, circumcision, availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, through love, energising.
For in Christ Jesus being circumcised or uncircumcised doesn't achieve anything; it's only trust working through love that matters.
7 Ye were running well: —who hath hindered you, that, by truth, ye are not to be persuaded?
You were doing so well! Who got in the way and prevented you from being convinced by the truth?
8 The persuasion, [is] not of him that calleth you: —
This “persuasion” certainly isn't from the one who calls you.
9 A little leaven, leaveneth, the whole lump.
You only need a little bit of yeast to raise the whole batch of dough.
10 I, am persuaded regarding you, in the Lord—that, for nothing else, ye will have any regard; but, he that is troubling you, shall bear the sentence, —whosoever he may be.
I'm confident in the Lord that you won't change the way you think, and that the one who is confusing you will face the consequences, whoever he is.
11 I, however, brethren—if, circumcision, I yet proclaim, why am I yet persecuted? After all, the stumbling-block of the cross hath been set aside.
As for me, brothers and sisters, if I were still advocating circumcision—why am I still persecuted? If that was true, it would remove the issue of the cross that offends people so much.
12 Oh! that they would even leave off in dismay, who are unsettling you!
If only those who are causing you trouble would go even further than circumcision and castrate themselves!
13 For, ye, on a footing of freedom, were called, brethren, —only, [turn] not your freedom into an occasion to the flesh, but, by means of your love, be serving one another;
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to freedom! Just don't use your freedom as an excuse to indulge your sinful human nature—instead serve one another in love.
14 For, the whole law, in one word, is summed up—[namely] in this, —Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself.
For the whole law is summed up in this one command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 If, however, one another, ye bite and devour, take heed lest, by one another, ye be consumed!
But if you attack and tear into one other, watch out that you don't completely destroy yourselves!
16 I say, moreover—by Spirit, be walking, and, fleshly coveting, ye will in nowise fulfil;
My advice is to walk by the Spirit. Don't satisfy the desires of your sinful human nature.
17 For, the flesh, coveted against the Spirit, but, the Spirit, against the flesh, —for, these, unto one another, are opposed, lest, whatsoever things ye chance to desire, these, ye should be doing!
For the desires of the sinful nature are opposed to the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are opposed to the sinful nature. They fight one another, so you don't do what you want to do.
18 And, if, by Spirit, ye are being led, ye are not under law.
But if the Spirit leads you, you're not under the law.
19 Manifest, however, are the works of the flesh, which, indeed, are—fornication, impurity, wantonness,
It's clear what the sinful human nature produces: sexual immorality, indecency, sensuality,
20 idolatry, enchantment, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, factions, divisions, parties,
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, anger, selfish ambition, dissension, heresy,
21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings; —and such things as these: as to which I forewarn you, even as I have forewarned you, —that, they who such things as these do practise, shall not inherit, God’s kingdom.
envy, drunkenness, feasting, and similar things. As I warned you before so I warn you again: nobody who behaves like this will inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But, the fruit of the Spirit, is—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, graciousness, goodness, faithfulness,
But the Spirit produces fruit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trust,
23 meekness, self-control; —against such things as these, there is no law.
gentleness, self-control—and there's no law against these kinds of things!
24 And, they who are of Christ Jesus, have crucified, the flesh, with its susceptibilities and covetings.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed to the cross their sinful human nature, together with all their sinful passions and desires.
25 If we live by Spirit, by Spirit, let us also walk.
If we live in the Spirit we should also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not become vain-glorious, —one another, challenging, one another, envying.
Let's not become boastful, or irritate and envy one another.
