1 O foolish Galatians! ^uWho has bewitched you? It was ^vbefore your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you ^wreceive the Spirit by works of the law or by ^xhearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? ^yHaving begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by¹ the flesh? 4 Did you suffer² so many things ^zin vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and ^aworks ^bmiracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham ^c“believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then that ^dit is ^ethose of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that ^fGod would justify³ the Gentiles by faith, ^gpreached the gospel ^hbeforehand to Abraham, saying, ⁱ“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.

10 For all who rely on works of the law are ^junder a curse; for it is written, ^k“Cursed be everyone who does not abide by ^lall things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that ^mno one is justified before God by the law, for ⁿ“The righteous shall live by faith.”⁴ 12 But the law is not of faith, rather ^o“The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ ^predeemed us from the curse of the law by ^qbecoming a curse for us—for it is written, ^r“Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a ^stree”— 14 ^tso that in Christ Jesus the ^ublessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive ^vthe promised Spirit⁵ through faith.

15 ^wTo give a human example, brothers:⁶ even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now ^xthe promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, ^y“And to your offspring,” ^zwho is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: ^athe law, which came ^b430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the ^cinheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? ^dIt was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ^eput in place through angels ^fby an ^gintermediary. 20 Now an ^hintermediary implies more than one, but ⁱGod is one.

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

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive ^munder the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian ⁿuntil Christ came, in order that we might be ^ojustified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were ^pbaptized into Christ have ^qput on Christ. 28 There is ^rneither Jew nor Greek, there is ^sneither slave⁷ nor free, there is ^tno male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And ^uif you are ^vChrist’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,⁸ though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is ^wunder guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were ^xenslaved to the ^yelementary principles⁹ of the world. 4 But when the ^zfullness of time had come, God ^asent forth his Son, ^bborn ^cof woman, born ^dunder the law, 5 to ^eredeem those who were ^funder the law, so that we might receive ^gadoption as sons. 6 And ^hbecause you are sons, God has sent the ⁱSpirit of his Son ^jinto our hearts, crying, ^k“Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and ^lif a son, then an ^mheir through God.

8 ⁿFormerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are ^onot gods. 9 ^pBut now that you have come to ^qknow God, or rather to be ^rknown by God, how can you turn back again to the ^sweak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 ^tYou observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you ^uin vain.

12 Brothers,¹⁰ I entreat you, ^vbecome as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was because of a ^wbodily ailment that ^xI preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, ^yas Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your ^zeyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the ^atruth?¹¹ 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, 19 my little children, ^bfor whom I am again ^cin the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed ^din you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, ^eone by a slave woman and ^fone by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while ^gthe son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted ^hallegorically: these women are ⁱtwo covenants. ^jOne is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for ^kslavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;¹² she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But ^lthe Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

28 Now you,¹³ brothers, like Isaac, are ⁿchildren of promise. 29 But just as at that time ^ohe who was born according to the flesh ^ppersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^qso also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? ^r“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but ^sof the free woman.