Galatians 3:1–29

¹ O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. ² I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh? ⁴ Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing? ⁵ Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe? ⁶ So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸ The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. ¹⁰ All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” ¹¹ Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” ¹² The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” ¹⁴ He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. ¹⁵ Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended. ¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ. ¹⁷ What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise. ¹⁹ Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator. ²⁰ A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one. ²¹ Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law. ²² But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that b…