1 O Galati insensati! Chi vi ha ammaliati per non ubbidire alla verità, voi, davanti ai cui occhi Gesú Cristo è stato ritratto crocifisso fra voi?

O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified?

2 Q uesto solo desidero sapere da voi: avete ricevuto lo Spirito mediante le opere della legge o attraverso la predicazione della fede?

Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing and believing ?

3 S iete cosí insensati che, avendo cominciato nello Spirito, vorreste finire nella carne?

Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now reaching perfection on the flesh?

4 A vete sofferto tante cose invano, se pur è stato veramente invano?

Have you suffered so many things and experienced so much all for nothing (to no purpose)—if it really is to no purpose and in vain?

5 C olui dunque che vi dispensa lo Spirito e opera tra voi potenti operazioni, lo fa mediante le opere della legge o mediante la predicazione della fede?

Then does He Who supplies you with His marvelous Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you do so on what the Law demands, or because of your believing in and adhering to and trusting in and relying on the message that you heard?

6 C osí Abrahamo «credette a Dio, e ciò gli fu messo in conto di giustizia»;

Thus Abraham believed in and adhered to and trusted in and relied on God, and it was reckoned and placed to his account and credited as righteousness (as conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action).

7 s appiate pure che coloro che sono dalla fede sono figli di Abrahamo.

Know and understand that it is the people by faith who are sons of Abraham.

8 E la Scrittura, prevedendo che Dio avrebbe giustificato le nazioni mediante la fede, diede prima ad Abrahamo una buona notizia: «Tutte le nazioni saranno benedette in te»,

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify (declare righteous, put in right standing with Himself) the Gentiles in consequence of faith, proclaimed the Gospel to Abraham in the promise, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed.

9 P erciò coloro che si fondano sulla fede sono benedetti col fedele Abrahamo.

So then, those who are people of faith are blessed and made happy and favored by God with the believing and trusting Abraham.

10 O ra tutti coloro che si fondano sulle opere della legge sono sotto la maledizione, perché sta scritto: «Maledetto chiunque non persevera in tutte le cose scritte nel libro della legge per praticarle».

And all who depend on the Law are under a curse and doomed to disappointment and destruction, for it is written in the Scriptures, Cursed (accursed, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment) be everyone who does not continue to abide (live and remain) by all the precepts and commands written in the Book of the Law and to practice them.

11 P oiché è manifesto che nessuno è giustificato mediante la legge davanti a Dio, perché: «Il giusto vivrà per la fede».

Now it is evident that no person is justified (declared righteous and brought into right standing with God) through the Law, for the Scripture says, The man in right standing with God shall live by and out of faith and he who through and by faith is declared righteous and in right standing with God shall live.

12 O ra la legge non proviene dalla fede, ma «l'uomo che farà queste cose vivrà per mezzo di esse».

But the Law does not rest on faith, for it itself says, He who does them shall live by them.

13 C risto ci ha riscattati dalla maledizione della legge, essendo diventato maledizione per noi (poiché sta scritto: «Maledetto chiunque è appeso al legno»),

Christ purchased our freedom from the curse (doom) of the Law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified);

14 a ffinché la benedizione di Abrahamo pervenisse ai gentili in Cristo Gesú, perché noi ricevessimo la promessa dello Spirito mediante la fede.

To the end that through Christ Jesus, the blessing to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might receive the promise of the Spirit.

15 F ratelli, io parlo alla maniera degli uomini: se un patto è ratificato, benché sia patto d'uomo, nessuno l'annulla o vi aggiunge qualche cosa.

To speak in terms of human relations, brethren, even a man makes a last will and testament (a merely human covenant), no one sets it aside or makes it void or adds to it when once it has been drawn up and signed (ratified, confirmed).

16 O ra le promesse furono fatte ad Abrahamo e alla sua discendenza. La Scrittura non dice: «E alle discendenze» come se si trattasse di molte, ma come di una sola: «E alla tua discendenza», cioè Cristo.

Now the promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir). He does not say, And to seeds (descendants, heirs), as if referring to many persons, but, And to your Seed (your Descendant, your Heir), obviously referring to one individual, Who is Christ (the Messiah).

17 O r io dico questo: la legge, venuta dopo quattrocentotrent'anni, non annulla il patto ratificato prima da Dio in Cristo, in modo da annullare la promessa.

This is my argument: The Law, which began 430 years after the covenant, does not and cannot annul the covenant previously established (ratified) by God, so as to abolish the promise and make it void.

18 I nfatti, se l'eredità derivasse dalla legge, non verrebbe piú dalla promessa. Or Dio la donò ad Abrahamo mediante la promessa.

For if the inheritance the Law, it no longer on the promise; however, God gave it to Abraham by virtue of His promise.

19 P erché dunque fu data la legge? Essa fu aggiunta a causa delle trasgressioni, finché fosse venuta la discendenza a cui era stata fatta la promessa; essa fu promulgata dagli angeli per mano di un mediatore.

What then was the purpose of the Law? It was added because of transgressions and of sin; and it was intended to be in effect until the Seed (the Descendant, the Heir) should come, to and concerning Whom the promise had been made. And it was arranged and ordained and appointed through the instrumentality of angels by the hand (in the person) of a go-between.

20 O r il mediatore non è mediatore di una sola parte, ma Dio è uno.

Now a go-between (intermediary) has to do with and implies more than one party. Yet God is one Person.

21 L a legge è dunque contraria alle promesse di Dio? Cosí non sia; perché se fosse stata data una legge capace di dare la vita, allora veramente la giustizia sarebbe venuta dalla legge.

Is the Law then contrary and opposed to the promises of God? Of course not! For if a Law had been given which could confer life, then righteousness and right standing with God would certainly have come by Law.

22 M a la Scrittura ha rinchiuso ogni cosa sotto il peccato, affinché fosse data ai credenti la promessa mediante la fede di Gesú Cristo.

But the Scriptures shut up and imprisoned by sin, so that which was promised through faith in Jesus Christ (the Messiah) might be given (released, delivered, and committed) to those who believe.

23 O ra, prima che venisse la fede noi eravamo custoditi sotto la legge, come rinchiusi, in attesa della fede che doveva essere rivelata.

Now before the faith came, we were perpetually guarded under the Law, kept in custody in preparation for the faith that was destined to be revealed (unveiled, disclosed),

24 C osí la legge è stata nostro precettore per portarci a Cristo, affinché fossimo giustificati per mezzo della fede.

So that the Law served as our trainer until Christ, that we might be justified (declared righteous, put in right standing with God) by and through faith.

25 M a, venuta la fede, non siamo piú sotto un precettore,

But now that the faith has come, we are no longer under a trainer (the guardian of our childhood).

26 p erché voi tutti siete figli di Dio per mezzo della fede in Cristo Gesú.

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.

27 P oiché voi tutti che siete stati battezzati in Cristo, vi siete rivestiti di Cristo.

For as many as were baptized into Christ have put on (clothed yourselves with) Christ.

28 N on c'è né Giudeo né Greco, non c'è né schiavo né libero, non c'è né maschio né femmina, perché tutti siete uno in Cristo Gesú.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 O ra, se siete di Cristo, siete dunque progenie d'Abrahamo ed eredi secondo la promessa.

And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.