| International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1The Messiah has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop putting yourselves under the yoke of slavery again. | 1So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. |
| 2Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, the Messiah will be of no benefit to you. | 2Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. |
| 3Again, I insist that everyone who allows himself to be circumcised is obligated to obey the entire Law. | 3I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. |
| 4Those of you who are trying to be justified by the Law have been cut off from the Messiah. You have fallen away from grace. | 4For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. |
| 5Through the Spirit by faith we confidently await the fulfillment of our righteous hope, | 5But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. |
| 6for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love. | 6For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. |
| 7You were running the race beautifully. Who cut in on you and stopped you from obeying the truth? | 7You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? |
| 8Such influence does not come from the one who calls you. | 8It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. |
| 9A little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough. | 9This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! |
| 10I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view of this. However, the one who is troubling you will suffer God's judgment, whoever he is. | 10I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. |
| 11As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching the necessity of circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. | 11Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. |
| 12I wish that those who are upsetting you would castrate themselves! | 12I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves. |
| 13For you, brothers, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity to gratify your flesh, but through love make it your habit to serve one another. | 13For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. |
| 14For the whole Law is summarized in a single statement: "You must love your neighbor as yourself." | 14For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| 15But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you are not destroyed by each other. | 15But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Living by the Spirit’s Power |
| 16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never fulfill the desires of the flesh. | 16So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. |
| 17For what the flesh wants is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, and so you do not do what you want to do. | 17The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. |
| 18But if you are being led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. | 18But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. |
| 19Now the actions of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, promiscuity, | 19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, |
| 20idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions, | 20idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, |
| 21envy, murder, drunkenness, wild partying, and things like that. I am telling you now, as I have told you in the past, that people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. | 21envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. |
| 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, | 22But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, |
| 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. | 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! |
| 24Now those who belong to the Messiah Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. | 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. |
| 25Since we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also be guided. | 25Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. |
| 26Let's stop being arrogant, provoking one another and envying one another. | 26Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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