King James Bible

New Living Translation

1O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

1Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.

2This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

2Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.

3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

3How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

4Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

4Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

5He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

5I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

6Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

6In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

7Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

7The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

8What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”

9So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

9So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

10But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”

11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

11So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

12This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”

13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

13But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

14Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. The Law and God’s Promise

15Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

15Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.

16Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

16God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children, ” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.

17And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

17This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.

18For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

18For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.

19Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

19Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people.

20Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

20Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.

21Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

21Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.

22But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

22But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. God’s Children through Faith

23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

23Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.

24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

24Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.

25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

25And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

26For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

26For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

27For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

27And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

29And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.