Galatians 3 - 4 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

3O 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 ²^,^ahearing 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 ³^,^chearing 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

¹⁵^aBrothers, ^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.

¹⁹^aWhy 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 ¹^,^atutor. 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. ²⁸^aThere 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.

Sonship in Christ

4Now 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 stewards until the date set by the father. ³So also we, while we were children, were ^aenslaved under the ¹^,^belemental 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. ⁶And because you are sons, ^aGod 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, having known God, or rather having been ^aknown by God, ^bhow is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless ¹^,^celemental things, to which you want 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 for nothing.

¹²I beg of you, ^abrothers, ^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 proclaimed 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 testify to you 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 zealously seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will zealously seek them. ¹⁸But it is good always to be zealously sought in a commendable ¹manner, and ^anot only when I am present with you. ¹⁹^aMy 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, because ^aI am perplexed about you.

An Allegory of Two Covenants

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 servant-woman and ^bone by the free woman. ²³But ^athe son by the servant-woman had been born according to the flesh, while ^bthe son by the free woman through the promise. ²⁴¹^,^aThis is ²spoken with allegory, for these women are two covenants: one from ^bMount Sinai bearing children into ^cslavery; 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 give birth;Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;For more numerous are the children of the desolate oneThan of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸And you brothers, ^ain accordance with Isaac, are ^bchildren of promise. ²⁹But as at that time ^ahe who was born according to the flesh ^bwas persecuting him who was born according to the Spirit, ^cso it is now also. ³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “^aCast out the servant-woman and her son,For ^bthe son of the servant-woman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”

³¹So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant-woman, ¹but of the free woman.