Joshua's Charge to Israel's Leaders

23 A long time afterward, when the Lord had given ^(A)rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua ^(B)was old and well advanced in years, ² Joshua ^(C)summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. ³ And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, ^(D)for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. ⁴ Behold, ^(E)I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. ⁵ The Lord your God ^(F)will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, ^(G)just as the Lord your God promised you. ⁶ Therefore, ^(H)be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, ^(I)turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, ^7 (J)that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you ^(K)or make mention of the names of their gods ^(L)or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, ^8 (M)but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. ^9 (N)For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, ^(O)no man has been able to stand before you to this day. ^10 (P)One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God ^(Q)who fights for you, just as he promised you. ^11 (R)Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. ¹² For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you ^(S)and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, ¹³ know for certain that ^(T)the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, ^(U)but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “And now ^(V)I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that ^(W)not one word has failed of all the good things^[a] that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. ¹⁵ But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you ^(X)all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you, ¹⁶ if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel ^(Y)to Shechem and ^(Z)summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And ^(AA)they presented themselves before God. ² And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, ^(AB)your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,^[b] Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and ^(AC)they served other gods. ^3 (AD)Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River^[c] and ^(AE)led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. ^(AF)I gave him Isaac. ⁴ And to Isaac I gave ^(AG)Jacob and Esau. ^(AH)And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, ^(AI)but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. ^5 (AJ)And I sent Moses and Aaron, ^(AK)and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and ^(AL)afterward I brought you out.

⁶ “‘Then ^(AM)I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and ^(AN)you came to the sea. ^(AO)And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. ^7 (AP)And when they cried to the Lord, ^(AQ)he put darkness between you and the Egyptians ^(AR)and made the sea come upon them and cover them; ^(AS)and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. ^(AT)And you lived in the wilderness a long time. ⁸ Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. ^(AU)They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. ^9 (AV)Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. ^(AW)And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, ^10 (AX)but I would not listen to Balaam. ^(AY)Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. ^11 (AZ)And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, ^(BA)and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also ^(BB)the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. ¹² And I sent ^(BC)the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was ^(BD)not by your sword or by your bow. ¹³ I gave you a land on which you had not labored ^(BE)and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

Greeting

1 Paul, an ^(A)apostle—^(B)not from men nor through man, but ^(C)through Jesus Christ and God the Father, ^(D)who raised him from the dead— ² and all ^(E)the brothers^[a] who are with me,

To ^(F)the churches of Galatia:

^3 (G)Grace to you and peace ^(H)from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ^4 (I)who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present ^(J)evil age, according to the will of ^(K)our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

⁶ I am astonished that you are ^(L)so quickly deserting ^(M)him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to ^(N)a different gospel— ^7 (O)not that there is another one, but ^(P)there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or ^(Q)an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ^(R)let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, ^(S)let him be accursed.

¹⁰ For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying ^(T)to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a ^(U)servant^[b] of Christ.

Paul Called by God

¹¹ For ^(V)I would have you know, brothers, that ^(W)the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.^{[c] 12 (X)}For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it ^(Y)through a revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹³ For you have heard of ^(Z)my former life in Judaism, how ^(AA)I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely ^(AB)zealous was I for ^(AC)the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵ But when he ^(AD)who had set me apart ^(AE)before I was born,^[d] and who ^(AF)called me by his grace, ¹⁶ was pleased to reveal his Son to^[e] me, in order ^(AG)that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;^{[f] 17} nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then ^(AH)after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I saw none of the other apostles except James ^(AI)the Lord's brother. ²⁰ (In what I am writing to you, ^(AJ)before God, I do not lie!) ^21 (AK)Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was still unknown in person to ^(AL)the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they glorified God because of me.

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ² I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those ^(AM)who seemed influential) the gospel that ^(AN)I proclaim among the Gentiles, ^(AO)in order to make sure I was not running or had not ^(AP)run in vain. ³ But even Titus, who was with me, ^(AQ)was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. ^4 (AR)Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who ^(AS)slipped in to spy out ^(AT)our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, ^(AU)so that they might bring us into slavery— ⁵ to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that ^(AV)the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. ⁶ And from those ^(AW)who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; ^(AX)God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential ^(AY)added nothing to me. ⁷ On the contrary, when they saw that I had been ^(AZ)entrusted with ^(BA)the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised ⁸ (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), ⁹ and when James and Cephas and John, ^(BB)who seemed to be ^(BC)pillars, perceived the ^(BD)grace that was given to me, they ^(BE)gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ Only, they asked us to remember the poor, ^(BF)the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

¹¹ But ^(BG)when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him ^(BH)to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, ^(BI)he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing ^(BJ)the circumcision party.^{[g] 13} And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that their ^(BK)conduct was not in step with ^(BL)the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ^(BM)before them all, “If you, though a Jew, ^(BN)live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not ^(BO)Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that ^(BP)a person is not justified^[h] by works of the law ^(BQ)but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, ^(BR)because by works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found ^(BS)to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I ^(BT)died to the law, so that I might ^(BU)live to God. ²⁰ I have been ^(BV)crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives ^(BW)in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, ^(BX)who loved me and ^(BY)gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for ^(BZ)if righteousness^[i] were through the law, ^(CA)then Christ died for no purpose.

By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? ^(CB)It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly ^(CC)portrayed as crucified. ² Let me ask you only this: ^(CD)Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by ^(CE)hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? ^(CF)Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by^[j] the flesh? ^4 (CG)Did you suffer^[k] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and ^(CH)works miracles among you do so ^(CI)by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ⁶ just as ^(CJ)Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

⁷ Know then that it is ^(CK)those of faith who are ^(CL)the sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that ^(CM)God would justify^[l] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ^(CN)“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁰ For all who rely on works of the law are ^(CO)under a curse; for it is written, ^(CP)“Cursed be everyone who does not ^(CQ)abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” ¹¹ Now it is evident that ^(CR)no one is justified before God by the law, for ^(CS)“The righteous shall live by faith.”^{[m] 12} But the law is not of faith, rather ^(CT)“The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³ Christ ^(CU)redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ^(CV)“Cursed is everyone who is hanged ^(CW)on a tree”— ¹⁴ so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ^(CX)come to the Gentiles, so that ^(CY)we might receive ^(CZ)the promised Spirit^[n] through faith.

The Law and the Promise

^15 (DA)To give a human example, brothers:^{[o] (DB)}even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. ¹⁶ Now ^(DC)the promises were made ^(DD)to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, ^(DE)“And to your offspring,” who is Christ. ¹⁷ This is what I mean: the law, which came ^(DF)430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as ^(DG)to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but ^(DH)God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹ Why then the law? ^(DI)It was added because of transgressions, ^(DJ)until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ^(DK)put in place through angels ^(DL)by an intermediary. ²⁰ Now ^(DM)an intermediary implies more than one, but ^(DN)God is one.

²¹ Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For ^(DO)if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²² But the Scripture ^(DP)imprisoned everything under sin, so that ^(DQ)the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given ^(DR)to those who believe.

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, ^(DS)imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, ^(DT)the law was our ^(DU)guardian until Christ came, ^(DV)in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus ^(DW)you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as ^(DX)were baptized ^(DY)into Christ have ^(DZ)put on Christ. ^28 (EA)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave^[p] nor free, ^(EB)there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And ^(EC)if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, ^(ED)heirs according to promise.