Galatians 5
1 Christ having made us gloriously free--stand fast and do not again be hampered with the yoke of slavery.
With her freedom, Christ hath made you, free. Stand fast, therefore, and do not, again, with a yoke of servitude, be held fast!
2 Remember that it is I Paul who tell you that if you receive circumcision Christ will avail you nothing.
See! I, Paul, say unto you—if ye be getting circumcised, Christ will profit you, nothing.
3 I once more protest to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to obey the whole Law of Moses.
Yea, I bear solemn witness again, unto every man getting circumcised, —that he is, a debtor, to do, the whole law.
4 Christ has become nothing to any of you who are seeking acceptance with God through the Law: you have fallen away from grace.
Ye have been set aside from Christ, ye who, by law, are to be declared righteous, —out of his favour, ye have fallen;
5 We have not, for through the Spirit we wait with longing hope for an acceptance with God which is to come through faith.
For, we, in Spirit, by faith, for a hope of righteousness, are ardently waiting, —
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any importance; but only faith working through love.
For, in Christ [Jesus], neither, circumcision, availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, through love, energising.
7 You were running the race nobly! Who has interfered and caused you to swerve from the truth?
Ye were running well: —who hath hindered you, that, by truth, ye are not to be persuaded?
8 No such teaching ever proceeded from Him who is calling you.
The persuasion, [is] not of him that calleth you: —
9 A little yeast corrupts the whole of the dough.
A little leaven, leaveneth, the whole lump.
10 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.
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.
11 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!
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.
12 Would to God that those who are unsettling your faith would even mutilate themselves.
Oh! that they would even leave off in dismay, who are unsettling you!
13 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.
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;
14 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."
For, the whole law, in one word, is summed up—[namely] in this, —Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself.
15 But if you are perpetually snarling and snapping at one another, beware lest you are destroyed by one another.
If, however, one another, ye bite and devour, take heed lest, by one another, ye be consumed!
16 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.
I say, moreover—by Spirit, be walking, and, fleshly coveting, ye will in nowise fulfil;
17 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.
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!
18 But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not subject to Law.
And, if, by Spirit, ye are being led, ye are not under law.
19 Now you know full well the doings of our lower natures. Fornication, impurity, indecency, idol-worship, sorcery;
Manifest, however, are the works of the flesh, which, indeed, are—fornication, impurity, wantonness,
20 enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of passion, intrigues, dissensions, factions, envyings;
idolatry, enchantment, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, factions, divisions, parties,
21 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.
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.
22 The Spirit, on the other hand, brings a harvest of love, joy, peace; patience towards others, kindness, benevolence;
But, the fruit of the Spirit, is—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, graciousness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 good faith, meekness, self-restraint.
meekness, self-control; —against such things as these, there is no law.
24 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.
And, they who are of Christ Jesus, have crucified, the flesh, with its susceptibilities and covetings.
25 If we are living by the Spirit's power, let our conduct also be governed by the Spirit's power.
If we live by Spirit, by Spirit, let us also walk.
26 Let us not become vain-glorious, challenging one another, envying one another.
Let us not become vain-glorious, —one another, challenging, one another, envying.
