1 Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which the Messiah hath made us free; and be not subjected again to the yoke of bondage.
2 Behold, I Paul say to you, That if ye become circumcised, the Messiah is of no advantage to you.
3 And again, I testify to every one who becometh circumcised, that he is bound to fulfill the whole law.
4 Ye have renounced the Messiah, ye who seek justification by the law: and ye have apostatized from grace.
5 For we, through the Spirit, which is from faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.
6 For, in the Messiah Jesus, circumcision is nothing, neither is uncircumcision, but the faith that is perfected by love.
7 Ye did run well: who hath interrupted you, that ye acquiesce not in the truth ?
8 The bias of your mind is not from him who called you.
9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole mass.
10 I confide in you through our Lord, that ye will entertain no other thoughts. And he that disquieteth you, shall bear his judgment, whoever he may be.
11 And I, my brethren, if I still preached circumcision, why should I suffer persecution ? Hath the offensiveness of the cross ceased?
12 But I would, that they who disquiet you, were actually cut off.
13 And ye, my brethren, have been called into liberty: only let not your liberty be an occasion to the flesh; but, by love, be ye servants to each other.
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one sentence; in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, beware, lest ye be consumed one by another.
16 And I say: Walk ye in the Spirit; and never follow the cravings of the flesh.
17 For the flesh craveth that which is repugnant to the Spirit; and the Spirit craveth that which is repugnant to the flesh: and the two are the opposites of each other, so that ye do not that which ye desire.
18 But if ye are guided by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 For the works of the flesh are known, which are whoredom, impurity, lasciviousness,
20 idol-worship, magic, malice, contention, rivalry, wrath, strife, divisions, discords,
21 envy, murder, drunkenness, revelling, and all the like things. And they who perpetrate these things, as I have before told you, and also now tell you, do not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruits of the Spirit are, love, joy, peace, long suffering, suavity, kindness, fidelity, modesty, patience.
23 Against these there standeth no law.
24 And they who are of the Messiah, have crucified their flesh, with all its passions and its cravings.
25 Let us therefore live in the Spirit; and let us press on after the Spirit.
26 And let us not be vain-glorious, despising one another, and envying one another.
|
