Galatians 5
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition
5 1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
The Nature of Christian Freedom
2 Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. 4 You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working[a] through love.
7 You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth? 8 Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. 10 I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty. 11 But my friends,[b] why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offence of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters;[c] only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence,[d] but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
The Works of the Flesh
16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy,[e] drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Fruit of the Spirit
22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
Footnotes
- Galatians 5:6 Or made effective
- Galatians 5:11 Gk brothers
- Galatians 5:13 Gk brothers
- Galatians 5:13 Gk the flesh
- Galatians 5:21 Other ancient authorities add murder
Galatians 5
Worldwide English (New Testament)
5 Christ has made us really free. So, stay free! Do not let yourselves be made slaves again.
2 I, Paul, say to you again that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ is no help to you at all.
3 Again I say to every man who is circumcised, he must obey all the law.
4 Some of you are trying to obey the law, so that God will call you good. If you do this, you have been cut off from Christ. You have lost the blessing of God.
5 But we hope to be made right by believing in Christ. The Spirit helps us to do this.
6 So if a man belongs to Christ Jesus, it does not matter if he is circumcised or not. He must show by his love that he believes.
7 You were doing well. Who stopped you from doing what is right?
8 God calls you but he is not the one who made you change your minds.
9 Even a little yeast makes all the bread rise.
10 The Lord makes me sure that you will not think any other way. But the teacher who is troubling your minds will be punished. It does not matter who he is.
11 My brothers, am I still telling people to be circumcised? If I am, why are people still troubling me? If it were true, the cross of Christ, which they do not like, has lost its power.
12 These teachers are troubling your minds. How I wish they would cut themselves off!
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not take that to mean that you can do as you please. But work for each other because you love each other.
14 This one law is the whole law: `Love your neighbour as you love yourself.'
15 But if you bite and chew each other, be careful, or you will be killed by each other.
16 So I say, let the Spirit tell you what you should do. Then you will not do the wrong things you yourselves want to do.
17 People want to do wrong things that the Spirit does not want them to do. And the Spirit wants people to do things they do not want to do. The Spirit and the wrong things you want to do are against each other, so that you do not do what you yourself want to do.
18 If you do what the Spirit wants you to do, then you will be free from the law.
19 It is easy to see the wrong things people want to do. Both married people and those who are not married commit adultery. People make themselves unclean because of their wrong use of sex. They do things they should be ashamed of doing.
20 They worship idols. They use witch-power. They hate. They quarrel. They are jealous. They get angry. They want their own way. They do not agree together and they join different groups against each other.
21 They want what other people have. They even kill. They drink too much strong drink. They like to take part in loud drinking and dancing. They do other things like these. I have told you before and I tell you again. Those who do these things will not be in the kingdom of God. 22,
22 But these are the things which the Spirit wants you to show: love, joy, peace, patience, being kind, being good, being true, being gentle, and keeping the body under control. There is no law that says, `These things are wrong.'
23 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have stopped doing the wrong things they want to do. They have stopped them just as if they were killed on a cross. And they have even stopped wanting to do them.
24 The Spirit gives us life. And so we should do what the Spirit wants us to do.
25 We must not be proud of ourselves. We must not make one another angry. We must not want what other people have.
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