1 O stupid [2] Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? [AA]
2 I want to learn only this from you: [AB] did you receive the Spirit from works of the law, or from faith in what you heard? [3]
3 Are you so stupid? [AC] After beginning with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? [4]
4 Did you experience so many things [5] in vain?—if indeed it was in vain.
5 Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you and works mighty deeds among you do so from works of the law or from faith in what you heard? [AD]
6 Thus Abraham "believed God, [AE] and it was credited to him as righteousness." [6]
7 [7] Realize then that it is those who have faith who are children of Abraham. [AF]
8 Scripture, which saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, foretold the good news to Abraham, saying, "Through you shall all the nations be blessed." [AG]
9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham who had faith. [AH]
Redeemed from the Curse of the Law
10 [8] For all who depend on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in doing all the things written in the book of the law." [AI]
11 And that no one is justified before God by the law is clear, for "the one who is righteous by faith will live." [AJ]
12 But the law does not depend on faith; rather, "the one who does these things will live by them." [AK]
13 Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree," [AL]
14 that the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. [AM]
The Covenant Is not Nullified by the Law
15 [9] Brothers, in human terms I say that no one can annul or amend even a human will once ratified. [AN]
16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. [10] It does not say, "And to descendants," as referring to many, but as referring to one, "And to your descendant," who is Christ. [AO]
17 This is what I mean: the law, which came four hundred and thirty years afterward, [11] does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise. [AP]
18 For if the inheritance comes from the law, [AQ] it is no longer from a promise; but God bestowed it on Abraham through a promise. [12]
The Law Brings Us to Faith in Christ
19 [13] Why, then, the law? It was added for transgressions, until the descendant [14] came to whom the promise had been made; it was promulgated by angels at the hand of a mediator. [AR]
20 Now there is no mediator when only one party is involved, and God is one. [AS]
21 Is the law then opposed to the promises [of God]? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could bring life, then righteousness would in reality come from the law. [AT]
22 But scripture confined all things under the power of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe. [AU]
Believers Are Free from the Bondage of the Law
23 [15]Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed. [AV]
24 Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian [16] for Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [AW]
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian. [AX]
26 For through faith you are all children of God [17] in Christ Jesus. [AY]
27 [18] For all of you who were baptized into Christ [AZ] have clothed yourselves with Christ. [19]
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [BA]
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendant, heirs according to the promise. [BB]