Galatians 3–4

Chapter 3

Faith Brings Righteousness

¹¹You foolish ^aGalatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ ^bwas publicly portrayed as crucified?

²This is the only thing I want to find out 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 in vain—^aif indeed it was in vain?

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?

⁶¹Even so ^aAbraham ^bbelieved God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

⁷Therefore, ¹be sure that ^ait is those who are of faith who are ^bsons of Abraham.

⁸The Scripture, foreseeing that God ¹would justify the ²Gentiles by faith, preached 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 perform them.”

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

¹²¹However, the Law is not ²of faith; on the contrary, “^aHe who practices 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.

Intent of the Law

^15aBrethren, ^bI speak ¹in terms of human relations: ^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, “^bAnd to your seed,” that is, Christ.

¹⁷What I am saying is this: the Law, which came ^afour hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

¹⁸For ^aif the inheritance is ¹based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but ^bGod has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

^19aWhy the Law then? It was added ¹because of transgressions, having been ^bordained through angels ^cby the ²agency of a mediator, until ^dthe seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

²⁰Now ^aa mediator is not ¹for one party only; whereas God is only 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 ¹would indeed have been ²based on 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 kept in custody under the law, ^abeing shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

²⁴Therefore the Law has become our ^atutor to lead us to 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 ¹neither male nor female; for ^byou are all one in ^cChrist Jesus.

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

Chapter 4

Sonship in Christ

¹Now I say, as long as the heir is a ¹child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is ²owner of everything,

²but he is under guardians and ¹managers until the date set by the father.

³So also we, while we were children, were held ^ain bondage under the ^1belemental things of the world.

⁴But when ^athe fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, ^bborn of a woman, born ^cunder ¹the Law,

⁵so that He might redeem those who were under ¹the Law, that we might receive the adoption as ^asons.

⁶Because you are sons, ^aGod has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “^bAbba! Father!”

⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and ^aif a son, then an heir ¹through God.

⁸However at that time, ^awhen you did not know God, you were ^bslaves to ^cthose which by nature are no gods.

⁹But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be ^aknown by God, ^bhow is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless ^1celemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

¹⁰You ^aobserve days and months and seasons and years.

¹¹I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored ¹over you in vain.

¹²I beg of you, ^abrethren, ^bbecome as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong;

¹³but you know that it was because of a ¹bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the ²first time;

¹⁴and that which was a ¹trial to you in my ²bodily condition you did not despise or ³loathe, but ^ayou received me as an angel of God, as ^bChrist Jesus Himself.

¹⁵Where then is ¹that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶So have I become your enemy ^aby ¹telling you the truth?

¹⁷They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.

¹⁸But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable ¹manner, and ^anot only when I am present with you.

^19aMy children, with whom ^bI am again in labor until ^cChrist is formed in you—

²⁰but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for ^aI am perplexed about you.

Bond and Free

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not ^alisten to the law?

²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, ^aone by the bondwoman and ^bone by the free woman.

²³But ^athe son by the bondwoman ¹was born according to the flesh, and ^bthe son by the free woman through the promise.

^241aThis is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from ^bMount Sinai bearing children ²who are to be ^cslaves; ³she is Hagar.

²⁵Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

²⁶But ^athe Jerusalem above is free; ¹she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written,

“^aRejoice, barren woman who does not bear;

Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;

For more numerous are the children of the desolate

Than of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸And you brethren, ^alike Isaac, are ^bchildren of promise.

²⁹But as at that time ^ahe who was born according to the flesh ^bpersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^cso it is now also.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say?

“^aCast out the bondwoman and her son,

For ^bthe son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”

³¹So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, ¹but of the free woman.