| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 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. | 1You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified! |
| 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. | 2The 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? |
| 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? | 3Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? |
| 4Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? | 4Have you suffered so many things for nothing?--if indeed it was for nothing. |
| 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. | 5Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard? |
| 6In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” | 6Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, |
| 7The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. | 7so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. |
| 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.” | 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying, "All the nations will be blessed in you." |
| 9So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. | 9So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer. |
| 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.” | 10For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law." |
| 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.” | 11Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. |
| 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.” | 12But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them. |
| 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.” | 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree") |
| 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 | 14in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith. |
| 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. | 15Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it. |
| 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. | 16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, "and to the descendants," referring to many, but "and to your descendant," referring to one, who is Christ. |
| 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. | 17What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the 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. | 18For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise. |
| 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. | 19Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the descendant to whom the promise had been made. It was administered through angels by an intermediary. |
| 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. | 20Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one. |
| 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. | 21Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. |
| 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 | 22But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given--because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ--to those who believe. |
| 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. | 23Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed. |
| 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. | 24Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith. |
| 25And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. | 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. |
| 26For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. | 26For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. |
| 27And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. | 27For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. |
| 28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. | 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female--for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. |
| 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. | 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise. |
|
