| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. | 1So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. |
| 2Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. | 2Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. |
| 3And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. | 3I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. |
| 4You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. | 4For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. |
| 5For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. | 5But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. |
| 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. | 6For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. |
| 7You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? | 7You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? |
| 8This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. | 8It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. |
| 9A little leaven leavens the whole lump. | 9This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! |
| 10I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. | 10I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. |
| 11And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. | 11Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. |
| 12I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! | 12I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves. |
| 13For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. | 13For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. |
| 14For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” | 14For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| 15But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! | 15But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Living by the Spirit’s Power |
| 16I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. | 16So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. |
| 17For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. | 17The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. |
| 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. | 18But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. |
| 19Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, | 19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, |
| 20idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, | 20idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, |
| 21envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. | 21envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. |
| 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, | 22But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, |
| 23gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. | 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! |
| 24And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. | 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. |
| 25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. | 25Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. |
| 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. | 26Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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. |
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