1 For freedom Christ has set us ^tfree; ^ustand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a ^vyoke of ^wslavery.

2 ^xLook: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to ^yevery man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified¹ by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by ^zfaith, we ourselves eagerly ^await for the ^bhope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus ^cneither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

7 You were ^drunning well. ^eWho hindered you from obeying the ^ftruth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 ^gA little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 ^hI have confidence in the Lord that ⁱyou will take no other view, and the one who is ^jtroubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers,² still preach³ circumcision, ^kwhy am I still being persecuted? In that case the ^loffense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would ^memasculate themselves!

13 For you were called to ⁿfreedom, brothers. ^oOnly do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love ^pserve one another. 14 For ^qthe whole law is fulfilled in one word: ^r“You shall ^slove your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.