The Letter of Paul to the Galatians

   From Paul, an Apostle, not by human appointment or     
human commission, but by commission from Jesus Christ and     
from God the Father who raised him from the dead.  I and the group     
of friends now with me send greetings to the Christian congregations of 
Galatia.     
   Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,     
who sacrificed himself for our sins, to rescue us out of this present age of     
wickedness, as our God and Father willed; to whom be glory for ever and    
ever.  Amen.     
   I am astonished to find you turning so quickly away from him who     
called you by grace, and following a different gospel.  Not that it is in fact     
another gospel; only there are persons who unsettle your minds by trying     
to distort the gospel of Christ.  But if anyone, if we ourselves or an angel      
from heaven, should preach a gospel at variance with the gospel we     
preached to you, he shall be held outcast.  I now repeat what I have said      
before: if anyone preaches a gospel at variance with the gospel which you    
received, let him be outcast!      
   Does my language now sound as if I were canvassing for men's support?    
Whose support do I want but God's alone?  Do you think I am currying     
favour with men?  If I still sought men's favour, I should be no servant of     
Christ.     
   I must make it clear to you, my friends, that the gospel you heard me     
preach is no human intervention.  I did not take it over from any man; no man   
taught it me; I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.     
   You have heard what my manner of life was when I was still a practising      
Jew: how savagely I persecuted the church of God, and tried to destroy it;     
and how in the practice of our national religion I was outstripping many of    
my Jewish contemporaries in my boundless devotion to the traditions of my      
ancestors.  But then in his good pleasure God, who had set me apart from      
birth and called me through his grace, chose to reveal his Son to me and        
through me, in order that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles.  When      
that happened, without consulting any human being, without going up to    
Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, I went off at once to     
Arabia, and afterwards returned to Damascus.     
   Three years later I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas.  I      
stayed with him for a fortnight, without seeing any other of the apostles,    
except James the Lord's brother.  What I write is plain truth; before God     
I am not lying.        
   Next I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and remained unknown     
by sight to Christ's congregations in Judaea.  They only heard it said, 'Our      
former persecutor is preaching the good news of the faith which once he     
tried to destroy' ; and they praise God for me.      
   Next, fourteen years later, I went again to Jerusalem with Barnabas,      
taking Titus with us.  I went up because it had been revealed by God that     
I should do so.  I laid before them - but at a private interview with the men      
of repute - the gospel which I am accustomed to preach to the Gentiles,     
to make sure that the race I had run, and was running, should not be run in    
vain.  Yet even my companion Titus, Greek though he is, was not compelled     
to be circumcised.  That course was urged only as a concession to certain      
sham-Christians, interlopers who had stolen in to spy upon the liberty we     
enjoy in the fellowship of Christ Jesus.  These men wanted to bring us into   
bondage, but not for one moment did I yield to their dictation; I was deter-     
mined that the full truth of the Gospel should be maintained for you.      
   But as for the men of high reputation (not that their importance matters    
to me: God does not recognize the personal distinctions) - these men of      
repute, I say, did not prolong the consultation, but on the contrary     
acknowledged that I had been entrusted with the Gospel for Gentiles as    
surely as Peter had been entrusted with the Gospel for Jews.  For God       
whose action made Peter an apostle for the Jews, also made me an apostle     
to the Gentiles.     
   Recognizing, then, the favour thus bestowed upon me, those reputed     
pillars of our society, James, Cephas, and John, accepted Barnabas and     
myself as partners, and shook hands upon it, agreeing that we should go      
to the Gentiles while they went to the Jews.  All they asked was that we     
should keep their poor in mind, which was the very thing I made it my       
business to do.    
   But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because     
he was clearly in the wrong.  For until certain persons came from James    
he was taking his meals with gentile Christians; but when they came he     
drew back and began to hold aloof, because he was afraid of the advocates    
of circumcision.  The other Jewish Christians showed the same lack of      
principle; even Barnabas was carried away and played false like the rest.    
But when I saw that their conduct was not square with the truth of the    
Gospel, I said to Cephas, before the whole congregation, 'If you, a Jew    
born and bred, live like a Gentile, and not like a Jew, how can you insist     
that Gentiles must live like Jews?'       
   We ourselves are Jews by birth, not Gentiles and sinners.  But we know     
that no man is ever justified by doing what the law demands, but only     
through faith in Jesus Christ; so we too have put our faith in Jesus Christ,     
in order that we may be justified through this faith, and not through deeds    
dictated by law; for by such deed, Scripture says, no mortal man shall be    
justified.      
   If now, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves no less than the     
Gentiles turn out to be sinners against the law, does that mean that Christ     
is an abettor of sin?  No, never!  No, if I start building up again a system     
which I have pulled down, then it is that I show myself up as a transgressor     
of the law.  For through the law I died to law - to live for God.  I have been     
crucified with Christ: the life I now live is not my life, but the life which     
Christ lives in me; and my present bodily life is lived by faith in the Son of    
God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.  I will not nullify the grace     
of God; if righteousness comes by law, then Christ died for nothing.      

   You stupid Galatians!  You must have been bewitched - you before     
whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly displayed upon his cross!  Answer me     
one question: did you receive the spirit by keeping the law or by believing     
the gospel message?  Can it be that you are stupid?  You started with the         
spiritual; do you now look to the material to make you perfect?  Have all     
your great experiences been in vain - if vain indeed they should be?  I ask    
then: when God gives you the Spirit and works miracles among you, why    
is this?  Is it because you keep the law, or is it because you have faith in the    
gospel message?  Look at Abraham: he put his faith in God, and that faith     
was counted to him as righteousness.     
   You may take it, then, that it is the men of faith who are Abraham's sons.      
And Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through     
faith, declared the Gospel to Abraham beforehand: 'In you all nations shall      
find blessing.'  Thus it is men of faith who share the blessing with faith-      
ful Abraham.     
   On the other hand those who rely on obedience to the law are under a     
curse; for Scripture says, 'A curse is on all who do not persevere in doing    
everything that is written in the Book of the Law.'  It is evident that no one       
is ever justified before God in terms of law; because we read, 'he shall gain     
life who is justified through faith'.  Now law is not at all a matter of having     
faith: we read, 'he who does this shall gain life by what he does'.     
   Christ bought us freedom from the curse of the law by becoming for our     
sake an accursed thing; for Scripture says, 'A curse is on everyone who is     
hanged on a gibbet.'  And the purpose of it all was that the blessing of     
Abraham should in Jesus Christ be extended to the Gentiles, so that we     
might receive the promised Spirit through faith.    
   My brothers, let me give you an illustration.  Even in ordinary life, when     
a man's will and testament has been duly executed, no one else can set it     
aside or add a codicil.  Now the promises were pronounced to Abraham and     
to his 'issue'.  It does not say 'issues' in the plural, but in the singular, 'and        
to your issue' ; and the 'issue' intended is Christ.  What I am saying is this:     
a testament, or covenant, has already been validated by God; it cannot be     
invalidated, and its promises rendered ineffective, by a law made four      
hundred and thirty years later.  If the inheritance is by legal right, then it is     
not by promise; but it was by promise that God bestowed it as a free gift    
on Abraham.     
   Then what of the law?  It was added to make wrongdoing a legal offence.    
It was a temporary measure pending the arrival of the 'issue' to whom the     
promise was made.  It was promulgated through angels, and there was an     
intermediary; but an intermediary is not needed for one party acting alone,   
and God is one.      
   Does the law, then, contradict the promises?  No, never!  If a law had     
been given which had the power to bestow life, then indeed righteousness     
would have come from keeping the law.  But Scripture has declared the     
whole world to be prisoners in subjection to sin, so that faith in Jesus Christ     
may be the ground on which the promised blessing is given, and given to    
those who have such faith.     
   Before this faith came, we were close prisoners in the custody of law,     
pending the revelation of faith.  Thus the law was a kind of tutor in charge     
of us until Christ should come, when we should be justified through faith;     
and now that faith has come, the tutor's charge is at an end.     
   For through faith you are all sons of God in union with Christ Jesus.    
Baptized into union with him, you have all put on Christ as a garment.    
There is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman, male and     
female; for you are the 'issue' of Abraham, and so heirs by promise.     
   This is what mean: so long as the heir is a minor, he is no better off    
than a slave, even though the whole estate is his; he is under guardians and     
trustees until the date fixed by his father.  and so it was with us  During      
our minority we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe, but     
when the term was completed, God sent his own Son, born of a woman,    
born under the law, to purchase freedom for the subjects of the law, in    
order that we might attain the status of sons.    
   To prove that you are sons, God has sent into our hearts the Spirit of his     
Son, crying 'Abba!  Father!'  You are therefore no longer a slave but a son,     
and if a son, then also by God's own act an heir.       
   Formerly, when you did not acknowledge God, you were slaves of     
beings which in their nature are no gods.  But now you do acknow-     
ledge God - or rather, now that he has acknowledged you - how can you      
propose to enter their service all over again?  You keep special days and    
months and seasons and years.  You make me fear that all the pains I spent    
on you may prove to be labour lost.        

   Put yourselves in my place, my brothers, I beg you, for I have put    
myself in yours.  It is not that you did me any wrong.  As you know, it was     
bodily illness that originally led to my bringing you the Gospel, and you      
resisted any temptation to show scorn or disgust at the state of my poor    
body; you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as you might have       
welcomed Christ Jesus himself.  Have you forgotten how happy you thought      
yourselves in having me with you?  I can say this for you: you would have      
torn out your very eyes, and given them to me, had that been possible!  And     
have I now made myself your enemy by being frank with you?     
   The persons I have referred to are envious of you, but not with an    
honest envy.  what they really want is to bar the door to you so that you     
may come to envy them.  It is always a fine thing to deserve an honest     
envy - always, and not only when I am present with you, dear children.   
For my children you are, and I am in travail with you over again until you    
take the shape of Christ.  I wish I could be with you now; then I could     
modify my tone; as it is, I am at my wits end about you.     

   Tell me now, you who are so anxious to be under law, will you not listen   
to what the Law says?  It is written there that Abraham h ad two sons, one     
by his slave and the other by his free-born wife.  The slave-woman's son     
was born in the course of nature, the free woman's through God's promise.    
This is an allegory.  The two women stand for two covenants.  The one     
bearing children into slavery is the covenant that comes from Mount Sinai:    
that is Hagar.  Sinai is a mountain in Arabia and it represents the Jerusalem     
of today, for she and her children are in slavery.  But the heavenly Jeru-    
salem is the free woman; she is our mother.  For Scripture says, 'Rejoice,    
O barren woman who never bore child; break into a shout of joy, you who     
never knew a mother's pangs; for the deserted wife shall have more chil-     
dren than she who lives with the husband.'           
   And you, my brothers, like Isaac, are children of God's promise.  But    
just as in those days the natural-born son persecuted the spiritual son, so     
it is today.  But what does Scripture say?  'Drive out the slave-woman and    
her son, for the son of the slave shall not share the inheritance with the free     
woman's son.'  You see, then, my brothers, we are no slave-woman's     
children; our mother is the free woman.  Christ set us free, to be free men.    
Stand firm, then, and refuse to be tied to the yoke of slavery again.    
   Mark my words: I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision     
Christ will do you no good at all.  Once again, you can take it from me that      
every man who receives circumcision is under obligation to keep the entire     
law.  When you seek to be justified by way of law, your relation with Christ     
is completely severed: you have fallen out of the domain of God's grace.     
For to us, our hope of attaining that righteousness which we eagerly await    
is the work of the Spirit through faith.  If we are in union with Christ Jesus      
circumcision makes no difference at all, nor does the want of it; the only      
thing that counts is faith active in love.     
   You were running well; who was it that hindered you from following the    
truth?  Whatever persuasion he used, it did not come from God who is call-    
ing you; 'a little leaven', remember, 'leavens all the dough'.  United with    
you in the Lord, I am confident that you will not take the wrong view; but     
the man who is unsettling your minds, whoever he may be, must bear     
God's judgement.  And I, my friends, if I am still advocating circumcision,    
why is it I am still persecuted?  In that case, my preaching of the cross is a     
stumbling block no more.  As for these agitators, they had better go the    
whole way and make eunuchs of themselves!     
  
   You, my friends, were called to be free men; only do not turn your    
freedom into license for your lower nature, but be servants to one another in    
love.  For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment:    
'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  But if you go on fighting one another,     
tooth and nail, all you can expect is mutual destruction.    
   I mean this: if you are guided by the Spirit you will not fulfil the desires    
of your lower nature.  That nature sets its desires against the Spirit, while    
the Spirit fights against it.  They are in conflict with one another so that     
what you will to do you cannot do.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are     
not under law.    
   Anyone can see the kind of behaviour that belongs to the lower nature:     
fornication, impurity, and indecency; idolatry and sorcery; quarrels, a     
contentious temper, envy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, party     
intrigues, and jealousies; drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.  I warn you,    
as I warned you before, that those who behave in such ways will never     
inherit the kingdom of God.         
   But the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, good-     
ness, fidelity, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law dealing with such     
things as these.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the    
lower nature with its passions and desires.  If the Spirit is the source of our    
life, let the Spirit also direct our course.       
   We must not be conceited, challenging one another to rivalry, jealous     
of one another.  If a man should do something wrong, my brothers, on a      
sudden impulse, you who are endowed with the Spirit must set him right      
again very gently.  Look to yourself, each one of you: you may be tempted      
too.  Help one another carry these heavy loads, and in this way you will     
fulfil the law of Christ.     
   For if a man imagines himself to be somebody, when he is nothing, he is     
deluding himself.  Each man should examine his own conduct for himself;   
then he can measure his achievement by comparing himself with himself      
and not with anyone else.  For everyone has his own proper burden to bear.     
   When anyone is under instruction in the faith, he should give his teacher      
a share of all good things he has.      
   Make no mistake about this: God is not to be fooled; a man reaps what    
he sows.  If he sows seed in the field of his lower nature, he will reap from    
it a harvest of corruption, but if he sows in the field of the Spirit, the Spirit     
will bring him a harvest of eternal life.  So let us never tire of doing good,    
for if we do not slacken our efforts we shall in due time reap our harvest.    
Therefore, as opportunity offers, let us work for the good of all, especially      
members of the household of the faith.      

   You see these big letters?  I am now writing to you in my own hand.  It is     
all those who who want to make a fair outward an bodily show who are trying     
to force circumcision on you; their sole object is to escape persecution      
for the cross of Christ.  For even those who do receive circumcision are not     
thoroughgoing observers of the law; they only want you to be circumcised    
in order to boast of your having submitted to that outward rite.  But God     
forbid that I should boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus    
Christ, through which the world is crucified to me and I to the world!       
Circumcision is nothing; uncircumcision is nothing; the only thing that      
counts is new creation!  Whoever they are who take this principle for their     
guide, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the whole Israel of God!      
   In future let no one make trouble for me, for I bear the marks of Jesus     
branded on my body.     
   The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, my brothers.   
Amen.

The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970