Galatians 3

CHAPTER 3

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹O foolish ^aGalatians, who bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ ^bwas publicly portrayed as crucified?

²This is the only thing I want to learn from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of ¹the Law, or by ^2ahearing with faith?

³Are you so foolish? Having begun ¹by the Spirit, are you now ²being perfected by the flesh?

⁴Did you ¹suffer so many things for nothing—^aif indeed it was for nothing?

⁵So then, does He who ^aprovides you with the Spirit and ^bworks ¹miracles among you, do it by the works of ²the Law, or by ^3chearing with faith?

⁶Just as ^aAbraham ^bbelieved God and it was counted to him as righteousness,

⁷so know that ^athose who are of faith, those are ^bsons of Abraham.

⁸And the Scripture, foreseeing that God ¹would justify the ²Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “^aAll the nations will be blessed in you.”

⁹So then ^athose who are of faith are blessed with ¹Abraham, the believer.

¹⁰For as many as are of the works of ¹the Law are under a curse, for it is written, “^aCursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to do them.”

¹¹Now that ^ano one is justified ¹by ²the Law before God is evident, ³for ^bThe righteous shall live by faith.”

¹²¹However, the Law is not ²of faith; rather, “^aHe who does them shall live ³by them.”

¹³Christ ^aredeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “^bCursed is everyone who hangs on ^ca ¹tree”—

¹⁴in order that ^ain Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ¹come to the Gentiles, so that we ^bwould receive ^cthe promise of the Spirit through faith.

The Promise by Faith

^15aBrothers, ^bI speak ¹in human terms: ^ceven though it is only a man’s ²covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds ³conditions to it.

¹⁶Now the promises were spoken ^ato Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And ^bto your seed,” that is, Christ.

¹⁷And what I am saying is this: the Law, which came ^a430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to abolish the promise.

¹⁸For ^aif the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise, but ^bGod has granted it to Abraham through promise.

^19aWhy the Law then? It was added ¹because of trespasses, having been ^bordained through angels ^cby the hand of a mediator, until ^dthe seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

²⁰Now ^aa mediator is not ¹for one person only, whereas God is one.

²¹Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? ^aMay it never be! For ^bif a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed be by law.

²²But the Scripture has ^ashut up ¹everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³But before faith came, we were held in custody under the Law, ^abeing shut up for the coming faith to be revealed.

²⁴Therefore the Law has become our ^atutor unto Christ, so that ^bwe may be justified by faith.

²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a ^1atutor.

²⁶For you are all ^asons of God through faith in ^bChrist Jesus.

²⁷For all of you who were ^abaptized into Christ have ^bclothed yourselves with Christ.

^28aThere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no ^bmale and female, for ^cyou are all one in ^dChrist Jesus.

²⁹And if ^ayou ¹belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s ²seed, heirs according to ^bpromise.