Galatians 5

1 Christ has set us free in freedom; stand fast therefore, and be not held again in a yoke of bondage.

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

2 Behold, I, Paul, say to you, that if ye are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.

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

3 And I witness again to every man [who is] circumcised, that he is debtor to do the whole law.

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

4 Ye are deprived of all profit from the Christ as separated [from him], as many as are justified by law; ye have fallen from grace.

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

5 For we, by [the] Spirit, on the principle of faith, await the hope of righteousness.

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

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any force, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.

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

7 Ye ran well; who has stopped you that ye should not obey the truth?

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

8 The persuasibleness [is] not of him that calls you.

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

9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

A little yeast leavens all the dough.

10 I have confidence as to you in [the] Lord, that ye will have no other mind; and he that is troubling you shall bear the guilt [of it], whosoever he may be.

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.

11 But I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why am I yet persecuted? Then the scandal of the cross has been done away.

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

12 I would that they would even cut themselves off who throw you into confusion.

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

13 For ye have been called to liberty, brethren; only [do] not [turn] liberty into an opportunity to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

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.

14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;

Indeed, the whole Law has been summed up in this one precept – “You must love your neighbour as you love yourself.”

15 but if ye bite and devour one another, see that ye are not consumed one of another.

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

16 But I say, Walk in [the] Spirit, and ye shall no way fulfil flesh's lust.

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.

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these things are opposed one to the other, that ye should not do those things which ye desire;

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.

18 but if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under law.

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

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness,

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

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strifes, jealousies, angers, contentions, disputes, schools of opinion,

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

21 envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revels, and things like these; as to which I tell you beforehand, even as I also have said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit God's kingdom.

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.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity,

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

23 meekness, self-control: against such things there is no law.

Against such things there is no law!

24 But they that [are] of the Christ have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts.

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

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us walk also by the Spirit.

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

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

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