Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

3 O you Galatians, have you no sense at all? Who has fooled you? You knew, just as if you had seen him with your own eyes, that Jesus Christ was killed on a cross.

² Here is one thing I want to ask you. You received the Holy Spirit. Was that because you obeyed the law [given to the Jews by Moses]? No, it was because you heard God's word and believed it.

³ Have you no sense at all? You began living your new life by the power of the Spirit. And are you now trying to finish living it by your own power [to keep the law]?

⁴ So many things happened to you. Was it all for nothing? Surely it was not for nothing.

⁵ God gives you the Spirit. He does wonderful works among you. Does he do this because you obey the law? No, he does it because you heard the word of God and believed it.

⁶ So it was with Abraham. The holy writings say `He believed God, and that was why God called him a good man.'

⁷ You see then, the people who believe God are children of Abraham.

⁸ The holy writings say that he will put people right with himself if they believe him, even those who are not Jews. It was written down before God did it. The holy writings told the good news to Abraham ahead of time. It said, `God will make you a blessing to all nations and people.'

⁹ Abraham believed God and was blessed. And so those who believe God are blessed too, along with him.