Galatians 5

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

In the freedom, then, with which Christ did make you free — stand ye, and be not held fast again by a yoke of servitude;

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

lo, I Paul do say to you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing;

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

and I testify again to every man circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law;

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

ye were freed from the Christ, ye who in law are declared righteous; from the grace ye fell away;

5 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.

for we by the Spirit, by faith, a hope of righteousness do wait for,

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

for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith through love working.

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

Ye were running well; who did hinder you — not to obey the truth?

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

the obedience [is] not of him who is calling you!

9 A little yeast leavens all the dough.

a little leaven the whole lump doth leaven;

10 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.

I have confidence in regard to you in the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded; and he who is troubling you shall bear the judgment, whoever he may be.

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

And I, brethren, if uncircumcision I yet preach, why yet am I persecuted? then hath the stumbling-block of the cross been done away;

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

O that even they would cut themselves off who are unsettling you!

13 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.

For ye — to freedom ye were called, brethren, only not the freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through the love serve ye one another,

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

for all the law in one word is fulfilled — in this: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;'

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

and if one another ye do bite and devour, see — that ye may not by one another be consumed.

16 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.

And I say: In the Spirit walk ye, and the desire of the flesh ye may not complete;

17 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.

for the flesh doth desire contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit contrary to the flesh, and these are opposed one to another, that the things that ye may will — these ye may not do;

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

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

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

And manifest also are the works of the flesh, which are: Adultery, whoredom, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

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

idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strifes, emulations, wraths, rivalries, dissensions, sects,

21 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.

envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revellings, and such like, of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that those doing such things the reign of God shall not inherit.

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

And the fruit of the Spirit is: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith,

23 Against such things there is no law!

meekness, temperance: against such there is no law;

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

and those who are Christ's, the flesh did crucify with the affections, and the desires;

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

if we may live in the Spirit, in the Spirit also we may walk;

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

let us not become vain-glorious — one another provoking, one another envying!