Law or Faith

3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified!^{(A) 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?^{(B) 3} Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?^{(C) 4} Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing.^{(D) 5} Well then, does God^[a] 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,”^{(E) 7} so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. ⁸ And the scripture, foreseeing that God would reckon as righteous the gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the gentiles shall be blessed in you.”^{(F) 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.”^{(G) 11} Now it is evident that no one is reckoned as righteous before God by the law, for “the one who is righteous will live by faith.”^{[b](H) 12} But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law^[c] will live by them.”^{(I) 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”^(J)— 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.^(K)

Feeding the Five Thousand

³⁰ The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.^{(A) 32} And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.^{(B) 33} Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. ³⁴ As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.^{(C) 35} When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; ³⁶ send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”^{(D) 38} And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”^{(E) 39} Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and he divided the two fish among them all.^{(F) 42} And all ate and were filled, ⁴³ and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.^{(G) 46} After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.