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;¹ 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,² 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.

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 justified³ 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,⁴ still preach⁵ 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.

16 But I say, ^twalk by the Spirit, and you will ^unot gratify the ^vdesires of the flesh. 17 For ^wthe desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, ^xto keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are ^yled by the ^zSpirit, you are ^anot under the law. 19 Now ^bthe works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,⁶ drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that ^cthose who do⁷ such things ^dwill not ^einherit the kingdom of God. 22 But ^fthe fruit of the Spirit is ^glove, ^hjoy, ⁱpeace, ^jpatience, ^kkindness, ^lgoodness, ^mfaithfulness, 23 ⁿgentleness, ^oself-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And ^pthose who ^qbelong to Christ Jesus have ^rcrucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become ^sconceited, provoking one another, envying one another.