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Galatians 3

1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2I want to learn only this from you: did you receive the Spirit by deeds of the law or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being brought to completion by the flesh? 4Did you experience so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5So then, does the one who supplies you with the Spirit and works deeds of power among you do so by deeds of the law or by hearing with faith?

6Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” 7recognize, then, that those who are of faith are Abraham's sons. 8And Scripture, foreseeing that God declares the Gentiles righteous by faith, announced the good news beforehand to Abraham: “All the nations will be blessed in you.” 9So those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, who believed.

10For all who are of deeds of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Accursed is everyone who does not continue in everything written in the book of the law, to do it.” 11Now it is clear that no one is declared righteous before God by the law, because “The righteous one will live by faith.” 12But the law is not of faith; rather, “The one who does these things will live by them.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, “Accursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” 14so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

15Brothers, I speak in human terms: even a human covenant, once ratified, is not set aside or added to. 16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but as referring to one, “And to your seed,” who is Christ. 17This is what I mean: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from a promise; but God has freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.

19Why, then, the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20Now a mediator is not for one party alone, but God is one. 21Is the law, then, against God's promises? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, righteousness really would have come from the law. 22But Scripture confined everything under sin, so that the promise might be given through faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.

23Before faith came, we were held in custody under the law, confined until the coming of the faith that was to be revealed. 24So the law became our guardian until Christ, so that we might be declared righteous by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. 27For all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise.

Translation notes 9

3:1–5 — Bewitched and hearing with faith. Paul uses the language of bewitchment to confront their change of direction; he does not identify a particular magical act. The public portrayal is most naturally his proclamation of the crucified Christ. “Hearing with faith” can also be understood as hearing the message of faith. “Experience” in verse 4 may mean suffering specifically; the wider wording leaves open whether Paul includes their experience of the Spirit.

3:7–9, 26 — Sons. The masculine family and inheritance language is retained. Verse 28 expressly includes male and female in the community whose standing is described. “Abraham, who believed” can also be rendered “faithful Abraham.”

3:10–14 — Law, curse, and tree. “Those who are of deeds of the law” describes people whose position is based on doing what the law requires. The scriptural quotations are translated as Paul gives them. “Tree” preserves the wording applied to the cross. “Redeemed” expresses liberation by purchase; Paul does not name a recipient of a payment. “The promise of the Spirit” here concerns receiving the promised Spirit.

3:11 — Faith and life. The quotation can also be divided as “The one who is righteous by faith will live.” The Greek wording allows faith to be connected more closely with either righteousness or living.

3:15–18 — Covenant and seed. The word translated “covenant” can also mean a will or testament; the illustration's precise legal background is disputed. “Seed” means offspring and can be collective. Paul's singular/plural argument focuses the promise on Christ; verse 29 also calls the many people belonging to Christ Abraham's seed. The four hundred thirty years are retained without an added chronological reconciliation.

3:19–20 — The purpose of the law. “Because of transgressions” does not specify whether the law restrains, exposes, or increases transgression. “Party alone” is supplied to make the compressed mediator statement readable. “God is one” remains as written; exactly how that statement completes the argument is disputed.

3:22 — Faith in Jesus Christ. “Through Jesus Christ's faithfulness” is a significant alternative, as at 2:16. Either way, the verse explicitly identifies those who believe as the recipients.

3:23–26 — Guardian and faith. A guardian here is a household supervisor of a minor, often a slave, not primarily a classroom teacher. “Until Christ” takes the phrase temporally in light of the before/after contrast; “to lead us to Christ” is another interpretation. “In Christ Jesus” in verse 26 can be attached more closely to “faith”: “through faith in Christ Jesus.”

3:27–29 — Put on Christ; male and female. The clothing image is retained. The Greek shifts from “neither … nor” to “male and female,” recalling the creation wording. The declaration concerns their unity in Christ and shared inheritance; the translation does not replace it with a narrower claim about one particular social practice.