Sons and Heirs

¹What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.

²He is subject to guardians and trustees until the date set by his father.

³So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principlesof the world.

⁴But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁵to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.

⁶And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

⁸Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

⁹But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

¹⁰You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

¹¹I fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain.

¹²I beg you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.

¹³You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.

¹⁴And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.

¹⁵What then has become of your blessing? For I can testify that, if it were possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

¹⁷Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them.

¹⁸Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose—at any time, and not only when I am with you.

¹⁹My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

²⁰how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you.

Hagar and Sarah

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand what the law says?

²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

²³His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise.

²⁴These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar.

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

²⁶But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written:“Rejoice, O barren woman,who bears no children;break forth and cry aloud,you who have never travailed;because more are the children of the desolate womanthan of her who has a husband.”

²⁸Now you,brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

²⁹At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”

³¹Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Freedom in Christ

¹It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.

²Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

³Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

⁴You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

⁵But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the hope of righteousness.

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.

⁷You were running so well. Who has obstructed you from obeying the truth?

⁸Such persuasion does not come from the One who calls you.

⁹A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough.

¹⁰I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be.

¹¹Now, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

¹²As for those who are agitating you, I wish they would proceed to emasculate themselves!

¹³For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

¹⁴The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁵But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

Walking by the Spirit

¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

¹⁷For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.

¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;

²⁰idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,

²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.

Submission to Authorities

¹Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.

²Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.

⁴For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.

⁵Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.

⁶This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.

⁷Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Love Fulfills the Law

⁸Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

⁹The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,”and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁰Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

The Day Is Near

¹¹And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

¹²The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

¹⁴Instead, clothe yourselves withthe Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

The LORD Exalts the Humble

¹Hallelujah!Give praise, O servants of the LORD;praise the name of the LORD.

²Blessed be the name of the LORDboth now and forevermore.

³From where the sun rises to where it sets,the name of the LORD is praised.

⁴The LORD is exalted over all the nations,His glory above the heavens.

⁵Who is like the LORD our God,the One enthroned on high?

⁶He humbles Himself to beholdthe heavens and the earth.

⁷He raises the poor from the dustand lifts the needy from the dump

⁸to seat them with nobles,with the princes of His people.

⁹He settles the barren woman in her homeas a joyful mother to her children.Hallelujah!