Galatians 5
Complete Jewish Bible
5 What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words — I, Sha’ul, tell you that if you undergo b’rit-milah the Messiah will be of no advantage to you at all! 3 Again, I warn you: any man who undergoes b’rit-milah is obligated to observe the entire Torah! 4 You who are trying to be declared righteous by God through legalism have severed yourselves from the Messiah! You have fallen away from God’s grace! 5 For it is by the power of the Spirit, who works in us because we trust and are faithful, that we confidently expect our hope of attaining righteousness to be fulfilled. 6 When we are united with the Messiah Yeshua, neither being circumcised nor being uncircumcised matters; what matters is trusting faithfulness expressing itself through love.
7 You were running the race well; who has stopped you from following the truth? 8 Whatever means of persuasion he used was not from the One who calls you. 9 “It takes only a little hametz to leaven the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident that since you are united with the Lord, you will take no other view; and I am confident that the one who has been disturbing you, whoever he may be, will have to bear his punishment.
11 And as for me, brothers, if I am still preaching that circumcision is necessary, why am I still being persecuted? If that were the case, my preaching about the execution-stake would cause no offense whatever. 12 I wish the people who are bothering you would go the whole way and castrate themselves!
13 For, brothers, you were called to be free. Only do not let that freedom become an excuse for allowing your old nature to have its way. Instead, serve one another in love. 14 For the whole of the Torah is summed up in this one sentence: “Love your neighbor as yourself”;[a] 15 but if you go on snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other!
16 What I am saying is this: run your lives by the Spirit. Then you will not do what your old nature wants. 17 For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism.
19 And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; 20 involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue 21 and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God!
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things.
24 Moreover, those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have put their old nature to death on the stake, along with its passions and desires. 25 Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Footnotes
- Galatians 5:14 Leviticus 19:18
Galatians 5
Expanded Bible
Keep Your Freedom
5 Christ set us free ·so that we could live in freedom [to a place of freedom; or by means of freedom; 4:31]. So stand strong. Do not ·change and go back into the slavery of the law [L submit/be fastened to a yoke of slavery]. 2 Listen, I Paul tell you that if you ·go back to the law by being [L let yourself be] circumcised, Christ does you no good. 3 Again, I warn every man: If you allow yourselves to be circumcised, you ·must follow [are obligated to obey] all the law. 4 If you try to be ·made right with God [justified] through the law, ·your life with Christ is over [L you are alienated/separated/severed from Christ]—you have ·left [fallen away from] God’s grace. 5 For by the Spirit and through faith we wait eagerly for ·a right relationship with God [L righteousness]—the object of our hope. 6 ·When we are [L For] in Christ Jesus, ·it is not important if we are circumcised or not [L neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything]. The important thing is faith—the kind of faith that works through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who ·stopped [hindered] you from ·following [or obeying; or your conviction about] the ·true way [truth]? 8 This ·change [persuasion; enticement] did not come from the One who ·chose [called] you. 9 Be careful! “Just a little ·yeast [leaven; 1 Cor. 5:6–7] makes the whole batch of dough rise [C a little error will spread through the whole community].” 10 But I ·trust [L have confidence/am persuaded about you] in the Lord that you will ·not believe those different ideas [take no different view]. Whoever is ·confusing [troubling] you with such ideas will ·be punished [pay the penalty; L bear the condemnation], ·no matter who he is [L whoever he may be].
11 My brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching ·that a man must be circumcised [L circumcision; C some were evidently accusing Paul of this], why am I still being ·attacked [persecuted]? If I still taught circumcision, ·my preaching about the cross would not be a problem [the scandal/offense of the cross has been removed/abolished]. 12 I wish the people who are bothering you would ·castrate themselves [make themselves eunuchs; L cut it off]! [C Paul sarcastically says that if circumcision is so helpful, why not go even further?]
13 My brothers and sisters, God called you to ·be free [L freedom], but do not use your freedom as an ·excuse to do what pleases [opportunity/occasion for] your ·sinful self [sinful nature; flesh]. [L But; Rather] Serve each other with love. 14 [L For] The whole law is ·made complete [summed up; fulfilled] in this one command: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].” 15 [L But] If you go on ·hurting each other and tearing each other apart [L biting and devouring one another], be careful, or you will completely ·destroy [or consume] each other.
The Spirit and Human Nature
16 So I tell you: ·Live [Walk] ·by following [guided by; in the power of; L by] the Spirit. Then you will not do what your ·sinful self [sinful nature; T flesh] ·wants [desires; craves]. 17 Our ·sinful self [sinful nature; T flesh] ·wants [desires] what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit ·wants [desires] what is against our ·sinful self [sinful nature; T flesh]. [L For] The two are ·against [opposed to; or hostile toward] each other, so you cannot do just what you ·please [want]. 18 But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not under the law.
19 The ·wrong things the sinful self does [works of the flesh/sinful nature] are ·clear [evident; obvious]: ·being sexually unfaithful [sexual immorality], ·not being pure [impurity], ·taking part in sexual sins [depravity; promiscuity], 20 ·worshiping gods [idolatry], ·doing witchcraft [sorcery], ·hating [hostility; antagonism], ·making trouble [discord; strife], being jealous, ·being angry [rage], ·being selfish [rivalries], ·making people angry with each other [dissensions], ·causing divisions among people [factions], 21 feeling envy, being drunk, ·having wild and wasteful parties [carousings; orgies], and doing other things like these. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not inherit God’s kingdom. 22 But the ·Spirit produces the fruit of [L fruit of the Spirit is] love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, ·faithfulness [or faith], 23 gentleness, self-control. ·There is no law that says these things are wrong [or No law can oppose such things]. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified ·their own sinful selves [the sinful nature; the flesh]. They have given up ·their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do [L its passions and desires]. 25 ·We [L If/Since we…] ·get our new life from the Spirit [live by the Spirit], so we should ·follow [be guided by; walk in step with] the Spirit. 26 We must not be ·proud [conceited] or ·make trouble with [provoke] each other or be ·jealous [envious] of each other.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.