Galatas 3

1 o insensati Galatae quis vos fascinavit ante quorum oculos Iesus Christus proscriptus est crucifixus

You [fellow believers who live in] Galatia are very foolish! (Someone must have put an evil spell on you!/Did someone put an evil spell on you?) [RHQ] I clearly explained to you [SYN] [what] Jesus Christ [accomplished when] he was crucified {he died on the cross}.

2 hoc solum volo a vobis discere ex operibus legis Spiritum accepistis an ex auditu fidei

[So], I want you to tell me one thing: [Do you think that] it was because you obeyed the laws God gave Moses that you received the [Holy] Spirit? [Do you not know that] [RHQ] it was because [when you] heard [the good message concerning Christ, you] trusted in him?

3 sic stulti estis cum Spiritu coeperitis nunc carne consummamini

(You are acting so foolishly/Why are you being so foolish?) [RHQ]! You first [became Christians] as a result of God’s Spirit [enabling you]. So, (you should not now think that it is by what you yourselves do that you will continue [to grow spiritually]/do you now think it is by your own human efforts that you will continue [to grow spiritually?]!) [RHQ]

4 tanta passi estis sine causa si tamen sine causa

Keep in mind that [if what God has done for you was because of your obeying the laws that God gave to Moses and] not because of trusting in Christ, when others caused you to suffer, you suffered many things needlessly! [RHQ] [I certainly hope that you did not suffer like that] needlessly.

5 qui ergo tribuit vobis Spiritum et operatur virtutes in vobis ex operibus legis an ex auditu fidei

[When God now] generously gives to you his Spirit and performs miracles among you, [do you think that it is] [RHQ] because you obey the laws [that God gave to Moses? Surely you know that] it is because when you heard [the good message about Christ], you trusted in him [RHQ]!

6 sicut Abraham credidit Deo et reputatum est ei ad iustitiam

[What you have experienced is] as [Moses wrote in the Scriptures about] Abraham. [He wrote that Abraham] trusted God, and as a result, he was considered as being righteous {[God] erased the record of his sins}.

7 cognoscitis ergo quia qui ex fide sunt hii sunt filii Abrahae

You must realize, therefore, that it is those who trust [in what Christ has done who] are [like] Abraham’s descendants [MET] [because they trust in God as Abraham did].

8 providens autem scriptura quia ex fide iustificat gentes Deus praenuntiavit Abrahae quia benedicentur in te omnes gentes

Furthermore, God planned beforehand that it was [when] non-Jews trusted [him] that he would erase the record of their sins. [Moses wrote in] the Scriptures [PRS] this good message that God told Abraham: “Because of [what] you [did], I will bless [people in] [MTY] all nations.”

9 igitur qui ex fide sunt benedicentur cum fideli Abraham

So, [we can conclude that] it is those who trust [in what Christ has done] whom [God] blesses. That includes [all non-Jews and Jews who trust him], along with Abraham, the one who trusted him [long ago].

10 quicumque enim ex operibus legis sunt sub maledicto sunt scriptum est enim maledictus omnis qui non permanserit in omnibus quae scripta sunt in libro legis ut faciat ea

That is, God will eternally punish all those who [mistakenly] think [that God will erase the record of their sins] as a result of their [obeying] the laws [that God gave to Moses]. What is written in the Scriptures is that [God] will eternally punish everyone who does not continuously and completely obey all the laws [that Moses wrote].

11 quoniam autem in lege nemo iustificatur apud Deum manifestum est quia iustus ex fide vivit

But God has declared that if he erases the record of anyone’s sins, it will not be as a result of their obeying the laws God gave Moses. [This is evident because the Scriptures say], “Every person whose record of sins God erases because that person trusts God will live [spiritually].”

12 lex autem non est ex fide sed qui fecerit ea vivet in illis

But [when God gave] his laws [to the Jews, he did] not [say that a person must] trust [him]. Instead, [God said that] it is those who obey [all God’s laws, continuously and completely], who will live.

13 Christus nos redemit de maledicto legis factus pro nobis maledictum quia scriptum est maledictus omnis qui pendet in ligno

Even though we humans have not continuously and completely obeyed God’s laws, Christ rescued us from [God] punishing us eternally. Christ rescued us by his being [the one God condemned] instead of God condemning us. What is written {[someone/Moses] wrote} [in the Scriptures] shows that this is true. It is written {[He] wrote}, “[God] has cursed anyone [whom people have executed for his crimes and whose body they] have hung on a tree.”

14 ut in gentibus benedictio Abrahae fieret in Christo Iesu ut pollicitationem Spiritus accipiamus per fidem

Jesus Christ rescued us in order that as a result of what he [has done, God might bless the non-Jews, in a way similar to the way] God blessed Abraham. He also desired that as a result of our trusting [Christ], we [all] might receive the Spirit [whom God] promised to [give to] us.

15 fratres secundum hominem dico tamen hominis confirmatum testamentum nemo spernit aut superordinat

My fellow believers, I will now [illustrate] by referring to human [relationships. After an agreement is confirmed by two people] {[two people have signed] an agreement}, no one can reject it or add to it.

16 Abrahae dictae sunt promissiones et semini eius non dicit et seminibus quasi in multis sed quasi in uno et semini tuo qui est Christus

[God] declared to Abraham and his descendant that he was promising [to give blessings to Abraham]. [The words that God spoke were not “and your] descendants.” [He was not] referring to many persons. Instead, he was referring to one person, who is Christ, [because the words that God spoke were], “and your descendant.”

17 hoc autem dico testamentum confirmatum a Deo quae post quadringentos et triginta annos facta est lex non irritam facit ad evacuandam promissionem

This is what I am saying: [Since God] gave the laws [to the Jews] 430 years after [he declared to Abraham what he was promising to do for Abraham], those laws do not cancel that agreement [with] Abraham that God himself had previously agreed about [PRS].

18 nam si ex lege hereditas iam non ex repromissione Abrahae autem per promissionem donavit Deus

Remember that if it is because [we obey God’s] laws [that he gives to us] what [he has] promised [to give to us], then it is not [just] because he [has] promised [that he would give those things to us]. God freely gave to Abraham [what he had promised to give to him, just] because [God had] promised [that he would give it to him. Similarly, it is not because we obey God’s laws that God gives to us what he has promised to give to us].

19 quid igitur lex propter transgressiones posita est donec veniret semen cui promiserat ordinata per angelos in manu mediatoris

So, [if someone should ask], “Why [did God later give] his laws [to Moses?” I would reply that] it was in order that [people might realize] how sinful they were. [Those laws were valid] until [Jesus came. He was] the descendant that God [was referring to when he made] the promises to Abraham. [The laws] were given {[God] gave [his laws]} [to Moses] by God’s causing angels to [speak to him. Moses was the] mediator, [the one who told the laws to the people].

20 mediator autem unius non est Deus autem unus est

Now, [when] a mediator [functions], one [person] is not [speaking with another] directly; but God himself [made his promises directly to Abraham].

21 lex ergo adversus promissa Dei absit si enim data esset lex quae posset vivificare vere ex lege esset iustitia

[If someone should ask, “When God gave his] laws [to Moses] long [after he told Abraham] what he was promising [to give to him, was he] changing his mind?” [I would reply that God] certainly did not [change his mind when he did that]! If God had given a law that could enable people to live [eternally], then it actually would be because of people [obeying that] law that God would erase the record of their sins.

22 sed conclusit scriptura omnia sub peccato ut promissio ex fide Iesu Christi daretur credentibus

But instead, [what we read in] the Scriptures [PRS] is that God [caused all people to be unable to escape being punished for] their [sins] [MET], just like [people] in prison [are unable to escape] [PRS, MET]. [God did that in order that he might give what he promised to those who trust Jesus Christ, just] because they trust him.

23 prius autem quam veniret fides sub lege custodiebamur conclusi in eam fidem quae revelanda erat

Before [God revealed the good message about] trusting [in Christ], the laws [PRS] that God gave to Moses were [confining/imprisoning us Jews] [MET], [as] a prisoner [in jail is] confined. [We] were unable to escape [obeying those] [MET] [laws]. This happened in order that [we might believe] the good message [concerning Christ, the message that God would] reveal [later].

24 itaque lex pedagogus noster fuit in Christo ut ex fide iustificemur

[Like a father supervises his immature son by appointing a] servant to take care of him [MET], [God] was supervising us [by] his laws [MET, PRS] until Christ came. [He did this] in order that he might erase the record of our sins [only] because we trust [Christ].

25 at ubi venit fides iam non sumus sub pedagogo

But [now that God] has revealed the message [about trusting in Christ], the laws [that God gave to Moses] are no longer supervising us [Jews] [PRS, MET].

26 omnes enim filii Dei estis per fidem in Christo Iesu

Now all of you [Jews and] non-Jews are [as though you are] God’s children because you trusted Christ Jesus.

27 quicumque enim in Christo baptizati estis Christum induistis

That is, you who [began a relationship] with Christ when you were baptized identified yourselves [MET] with Christ.

28 non est Iudaeus neque Graecus non est servus neque liber non est masculus neque femina omnes enim vos unum estis in Christo Iesu

[If you are believers, it does] not [matter to God if you are] Jews or non-Jews; slaves or ones [who are] not slaves; males or females, because all of you are [as] one [sort of person because of your relationship] with Christ Jesus.

29 si autem vos Christi ergo Abrahae semen estis secundum promissionem heredes

Furthermore, since you belong to Christ, you are [like] Abraham’s descendants [because you trust God as Abraham did], and you will possess/receive all that God has promised [MET].