⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

Job and His Family

1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.^{(A) 2} There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.^{(B) 3} He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.^{(C) 4} His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.^(D)

Attack on Job’s Character

⁶ One day the heavenly beings^[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and the accuser^[b] also came among them.^{(E) 7} The Lord said to the accuser,^[c] “Where have you come from?” The accuser^[d] answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.”^{(F) 8} The Lord said to the accuser,^[e] “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.”^{(G) 9} Then the accuser^[f] answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?^{(H) 10} Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.^{(I) 11} But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”^{(J) 12} The Lord said to the accuser,^[g] “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So the accuser^[h] went out from the presence of the Lord.

Job Loses Property and Children

¹³ One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.”^(K)

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)

The Promise to Abraham

¹⁵ Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person’s will^[d] has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it.^{(L) 16} Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring;^[e] it does not say, “And to offsprings,”^[f] as of many, but it says, “And to your offspring,”^[g] that is, to one person, who is Christ.^{(M) 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.^{(N) 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.^(O)

The Purpose of the Law

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring^[h] would come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.^{(P) 20} Now a mediator involves more than one party, but God is one.^(Q)

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 the faith of Jesus Christ^[i] might be given to those who believe.^(R)

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 reckoned as righteous^[j] by faith.^{(S) 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.^{(T) 27} As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.^{(U) 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.^{(V) 29} And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,^[k] heirs according to the promise.^(W)

4 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than those who are enslaved, though they are the owners of all the property, ² but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. ³ So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental principles^[l] of the world.^{(X) 4} But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,^{(Y) 5} in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.^{(Z) 6} And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our^[m] hearts, crying, “Abba!^[n] Father!”^{(AA) 7} So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God.^[o]

Paul Reproves the Galatians

⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods.^{(AB) 9} Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental principles?^[p] How can you want to be enslaved to them again?^{(AC) 10} You are observing special days and months and seasons and years. ¹¹ I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.

¹² Brothers and sisters, I beg you: become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong. ¹³ You know that it was because of a physical infirmity that I first announced the gospel to you; ¹⁴ though my condition put you to the test, you did not scorn or despise me but welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ What has become of the goodwill you felt? For I testify that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? ¹⁷ They make much of you but for no good purpose; they want to exclude you, so that you may make much of them. ¹⁸ It is good to be made much of for a good purpose at all times and not only when I am present with you. ¹⁹ My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,^{(AD) 20} I wish I were present with you now and could change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

The Allegory of Hagar and Sarah

²¹ Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by an enslaved woman and the other by a free woman.^{(AE) 23} One, the child of the enslaved woman, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise.^{(AF) 24} Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. ²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia^[q] and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother.^{(AG) 27} For it is written,

²⁸ Now you,^[r] my brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, like Isaac. ²⁹ But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.^{(AI) 30} But what does the scripture say? “Drive out the enslaved woman and her child, for the child of the enslaved woman will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.”^{(AJ) 31} So then, brothers and sisters, we are children, not of an enslaved woman but of the free woman.