| 1 | You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! |
| 2 | The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? |
| 3 | Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? |
| 4 | Did you experience so much for nothing? — if it really was for nothing. |
| 5 | Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? |
| 6 | Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” |
| 7 | so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. |
| 8 | And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” |
| 9 | For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed. |
| 10 | For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” |
| 11 | Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” |
| 12 | But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.” |
| 13 | Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” — |
| 14 | in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. |
| 15 | Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person’s will has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it. |
| 16 | Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, “And to offsprings,” as of many; but it says, “And to your offspring,” that is, to one person, who is Christ. |
| 17 | My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. |
| 18 | For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise. |
| 19 | Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. |
| 20 | Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one. |
| 21 | Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. |
| 22 | But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. |
| 23 | Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. |
| 24 | Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. |
| 25 | But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, |
| 26 | for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. |
| 27 | As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. |
| 28 | There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. |
| 29 | And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. |