Galatas 3

1 O insensati Galatæ, quis vos fascinavit non obedire veritati, ante quorum oculos Jesus Christus præscriptus est, in vobis crucifixus?

Foolish Galatians! Who has been enchanting you – you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was depicted on the cross?

2 Hoc solum a vobis volo discere: ex operibus legis Spiritum accepistis, an ex auditu fidei?

Here is the one thing that I want to find out from you – Did you receive the Spirit as the result of obedience to Law, or of your having listened with faith?

3 sic stulti estis, ut cum Spiritu cœperitis, nunc carne consummemini?

Can you be so foolish? After beginning with what is spiritual, do you now end with what is external?

4 tanta passi estis sine causa? si tamen sine causa.

Did you go through so much to no purpose? – if indeed it really was to no purpose!

5 Qui ergo tribuit vobis Spiritum, et operatur virtutes in vobis: ex operibus legis, an ex auditu fidei?

He who supplies you abundantly with his Spirit and endows you with such powers – does he do this as the result of obedience to Law? Or as the result of your having listened with faith?

6 Sicut scriptum est: Abraham credidit Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam:

It is just as it was with Abraham – he had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.

7 cognoscite ergo quia qui ex fide sunt, ii sunt filii Abrahæ.

You see, then, that those whose lives are based on faith are the sons of Abraham.

8 Providens autem Scriptura quia ex fide justificat gentes Deus, prænuntiavit Abrahæ: Quia benedicentur in te omnes gentes.

And scripture, foreseeing that God would pronounce the Gentiles righteous as the result of faith, foretold the good news to Abraham in the words – “Through you all the Gentiles will be blessed.”

9 Igitur qui ex fide sunt, benedicentur cum fideli Abraham.

And, therefore, those whose lives are based on faith share the blessings bestowed on the faith of Abraham.

10 Quicumque enim ex operibus legis sunt, sub maledicto sunt. Scriptum est enim: Maledictus omnis qui non permanserit in omnibus quæ scripta sunt in libro legis ut faciat ea.

All who rely on obedience to Law are under a curse, for scripture says – “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all that is written in the book of the Law, and do it.”

11 Quoniam autem in lege nemo justificatur apud Deum, manifestum est: quia justus ex fide vivit.

Again, it is evident that no one is pronounced righteous before God through Law, for we read – “Through faith the righteous will find life.”

12 Lex autem non est ex fide, sed: Qui fecerit ea, vivet in illis.

But the Law is not based on faith; no, its words are – “Those who practice these precepts will find life through them.”

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

Christ ransomed us from the curse pronounced in the Law, by taking the curse on himself for us, for scripture says – “Cursed is anyone who is hanged on a tree.”

14 ut in gentibus benedictio Abrahæ fieret in Christo Jesu, ut pollicitationem Spiritus accipiamus per fidem.

And this he did that the blessing given to Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through their union with Jesus Christ; that so, through our faith, we also might receive the promised gift of the Spirit.

15 Fratres (secundum hominem dico) tamen hominis confirmatum testamentum nemo spernit, aut superordinat.

To take an illustration, friends, from daily life – No one sets aside even an agreement between two people, when once it has been confirmed, nor do they add conditions to it.

16 Abrahæ dictæ sunt promissiones, et semini ejus. Non dicit: Et seminibus, quasi in multis: sed quasi in uno: Et semini tuo, qui est Christus.

Now it was to Abraham that the promises were made, “and to his offspring.” It was not said “to his offsprings,” as if many persons were meant, but the words were “to your offspring,” showing that one person was meant – and that was Christ.

17 Hoc autem dico, testamentum confirmatum a Deo: quæ post quadringentos et triginta annos facta est lex, non irritum facit ad evacuandam promissionem.

My point is this – An agreement already confirmed by God cannot be canceled by the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, so as to cause the promise to be set aside.

18 Nam si ex lege hæreditas, jam non ex promissione. Abrahæ autem per repromissionem donavit Deus.

If our heritage is the result of Law, then it has ceased to be the result of a promise. Yet God conferred it on Abraham by a promise.

19 Quid igitur lex? Propter transgressiones posita est donec veniret semen, cui promiserat, ordinata per angelos in manu mediatoris.

What, then, you ask, was the use of the Law? It was a later addition, to make people conscious of their wrongdoings, and intended to last only until the coming of that offspring to whom the promise had been made; and it was delivered through angels by a mediator.

20 Mediator autem unius non est: Deus autem unus est.

Now mediation implies more than one person, but God is one only.

21 Lex ergo adversus promissa Dei? Absit. Si enim data esset lex, quæ posset vivificare, vere ex lege esset justitia.

Does that set the Law in opposition to God’s promises? Heaven forbid! For, if a Law had been given capable of bestowing life, then righteousness would have actually owed its existence to Law.

22 Sed conclusit Scriptura omnia sub peccato, ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus.

But the words of scripture represent the whole world as being in bondage to sin, so that the promised blessing, dependent, as it is, on faith in Jesus Christ, may be given to those who have faith in him.

23 Prius autem quam veniret fides, sub lege custodiebamur conclusi in eam fidem quæ revelanda erat.

Before the coming of faith, we were kept under the guard of the Law, in bondage, awaiting the faith that was destined to be revealed.

24 Itaque lex pædagogus noster fuit in Christo, ut ex fide justificemur.

Thus the Law has proved a guide to lead us to Christ, in order that we may be pronounced righteous as the result of faith.

25 At ubi venit fides, jam non sumus sub pædagogo.

But now that faith has come we no longer need a guide.

26 Omnes enim filii Dei estis per fidem, quæ est in Christo Jesu.

For you are all sons of God, through your faith in Christ Jesus.

27 Quicumque enim in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis.

For all of you who were baptized into union with Christ clothed yourselves with Christ.

28 Non est Judæus, neque Græcus: non est servus, neque liber: non est masculus, neque femina. Omnes enim vos unum estis in Christo Jesu.

All distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, have vanished; for in union with Christ Jesus you are all one.

29 Si autem vos Christi, ergo semen Abrahæ estis, secundum promissionem hæredes.

And, since you belong to Christ, it follows that you are Abraham’s offspring and, under the promise, sharers in the inheritance.