Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn ^kat Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” 2 And the people came to ^lBethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 And they said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” 4 And the next day the people rose early and ^mbuilt there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” ⁿFor they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6 And the people of Israel ^ohad compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7 ^pWhat shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”

8 And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from ^qJabesh-gilead, to the assembly. 9 For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of ^qJabesh-gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, ^r“Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. 11 This is what you shall do: ^severy male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at ^tShiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the ^urock of Rimmon and ^vproclaimed peace to them. 14 And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. 15 And the people ^whad compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, ^x“What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. 18 Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” ^yFor the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” 19 So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of ^zthe highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20 And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards 21 and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to ^adance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” 23 And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance ^band rebuilt the towns and lived in them. 24 And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

25 ^cIn those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Greeting

1 Paul, an ^aapostle—^bnot from men nor through man, but ^cthrough Jesus Christ and God the Father, ^dwho raised him from the dead— 2 and all ^ethe brothers¹ who are with me,

To ^fthe churches of Galatia:

3 ^gGrace to you and peace ^hfrom God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 ⁱwho gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present ^jevil age, according to the will of ^kour God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

6 I am astonished that you are ^lso quickly deserting ^mhim who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to ⁿa different gospel— 7 ^onot that there is another one, but ^pthere are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or ^qan angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ^rlet him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, ^rlet him be accursed.

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying ^sto please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a ^tservant² of Christ.

Paul Called by God

11 For ^uI would have you know, brothers, that ^vthe gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.³ 12 ^wFor I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it ^xthrough a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of ^ymy former life in Judaism, how ^zI persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely ^azealous was I for ^bthe traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he ^cwho had set me apart ^dbefore I was born,⁴ and who ^ecalled me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to⁵ me, in order ^fthat I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;⁶ 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

18 Then ^gafter three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James ^hthe Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, ⁱbefore God, I do not lie!) 21 ^jThen I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to ^kthe churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those ^lwho seemed influential) the gospel that ^mI proclaim among the Gentiles, ⁿin order to make sure I was not running or had not ^orun in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, ^pwas not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 ^qYet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who ^rslipped in to spy out ^sour freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, ^tso that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that ^uthe truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those ^vwho seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; ^wGod shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential ^xadded nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been ^yentrusted with ^zthe gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, ^vwho seemed to be ^apillars, perceived the ^bgrace that was given to me, they ^cgave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, ^dthe very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

11 But ^ewhen Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him ^fto his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, ^ghe was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing ^hthe circumcision party.⁷ 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their ⁱconduct was not in step with ^jthe truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ^kbefore them all, “If you, though a Jew, ^llive like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not ^mGentile sinners; 16 yet we know that ⁿa person is not justified⁸ by works of the law ^obut through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, ^pbecause by works of the law no one will be justified.

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found ^qto be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I ^rdied to the law, so that I might ^slive to God. 20 I have been ^tcrucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives ^uin me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, ^vwho loved me and ^wgave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for ^xif righteousness⁹ were through the law, ^ythen Christ died for no purpose.

By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? ^zIt was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly ^aportrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: ^bDid you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by ^chearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? ^dHaving begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by¹⁰ the flesh? 4 ^eDid you suffer¹¹ so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and ^fworks miracles among you do so ^gby works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as ^hAbraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then that it is ⁱthose of faith who are ^jthe sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that ^kGod would justify¹² the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ^l“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

10 For all who rely on works of the law are ^munder a curse; for it is written, ⁿ“Cursed be everyone who does not ^oabide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that ^pno one is justified before God by the law, for ^q“The righteous shall live by faith.”¹³ 12 But the law is not of faith, rather ^r“The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ ^sredeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ^t“Cursed is everyone who is hanged ^uon a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ^vcome to the Gentiles, so that ^wwe might receive ^xthe promised Spirit¹⁴ through faith.

The Law and the Promise

15 ^yTo give a human example, brothers:^{15 z}even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now ^athe promises were made ^bto Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, ^c“And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came ^d430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as ^eto make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but ^fGod gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? ^gIt was added because of transgressions, ^huntil the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ⁱput in place through angels ^jby an intermediary. 20 Now ^kan intermediary implies more than one, but ^lGod is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For ^mif a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture ⁿimprisoned everything under sin, so that ^othe promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given ^pto those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, ^qimprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, ^rthe law was our ^sguardian until Christ came, ^tin order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus ^uyou are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as ^vwere baptized ^winto Christ have ^xput on Christ. 28 ^yThere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave¹⁶ nor free, ^zthere is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And ^aif you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, ^bheirs according to promise.