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!

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

2 See! I, Paul, say unto you—if ye be getting circumcised, Christ will profit you, nothing.

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

3 Yea, I bear solemn witness again, unto every man getting circumcised, —that he is, a 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 have been set aside from Christ, ye who, by law, are to be declared righteous, —out of his favour, ye have fallen;

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, in Spirit, by faith, for a hope of righteousness, are ardently waiting, —

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, availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, through love, energising.

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 were running well: —who hath hindered you, that, by truth, ye are not to be persuaded?

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

8 The persuasion, [is] not of him that calleth you: —

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

9 A little leaven, leaveneth, the whole lump.

A little yeast leavens all the 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, 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 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.

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

12 Oh! that they would even leave off in dismay, who are unsettling you!

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

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, in one word, is summed up—[namely] in this, —Thou shall 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 If, however, one another, ye bite and devour, take heed lest, by one another, ye be consumed!

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

16 I say, moreover—by Spirit, be walking, and, fleshly coveting, ye will in nowise fulfil;

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, 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 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 And, if, by Spirit, ye are being led, ye are not under law.

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

19 Manifest, however, are the works of the flesh, which, indeed, are—fornication, impurity, wantonness,

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

20 idolatry, enchantment, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, factions, divisions, parties,

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

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.

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, graciousness, goodness, faithfulness,

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 as these, there is no law.

Against such things there is no law!

24 And, they who are of Christ Jesus, have crucified, the flesh, with its susceptibilities and covetings.

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 Spirit, by Spirit, let us also walk.

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

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

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