1 I n the freedom, then, with which Christ did make you free -- stand ye, and be not held fast again by a yoke of servitude;

In freedom Christ has made us free; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2 l o, I Paul do say to you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing;

Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no profit (advantage, avail) to you '> for if you distrust Him, you can gain nothing from Him].

3 a nd I testify again to every man circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law;

I once more protest and testify to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation and bound to practice the whole of the Law and its ordinances.

4 y e were freed from the Christ, ye who in law are declared righteous; from the grace ye fell away;

If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God’s gracious favor and unmerited blessing).

5 f or we by the Spirit, by faith, a hope of righteousness do wait for,

For we, through the Spirit’s, by faith anticipate and wait for the blessing and good for which our righteousness and right standing with God '> conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action, causes us] to hope.

6 f or in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith through love working.

For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.

7 Y e were running well; who did hinder you -- not to obey the truth?

You were running the race nobly. Who has interfered in (hindered and stopped you from) your heeding and following the Truth?

8 t he obedience not of him who is calling you!

This persuasion is not from Him Who called you.

9 a little leaven the whole lump doth leaven;

A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump.

10 I have confidence in regard to you in the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded; and he who is troubling you shall bear the judgment, whoever he may be.

I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no contrary view of the matter but will come to think with me. But he who is unsettling you, whoever he is, will have to bear the penalty.

11 A nd I, brethren, if uncircumcision I yet preach, why yet am I persecuted? then hath the stumbling-block of the cross been done away;

But, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still suffering persecution? In that case the cross has ceased to be a stumbling block and is made meaningless (done away).

12 O that even they would cut themselves off who are unsettling you!

I wish those who unsettle and confuse you would '> go all the way and] cut themselves off!

13 F or ye -- to freedom ye were called, brethren, only not the freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through the love serve ye one another,

For you, brethren, were called to freedom; only freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse '> selfishness], but through love you should serve one another.

14 f or all the law in one word is fulfilled -- in this: `Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;'

For the whole Law is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

15 a nd if one another ye do bite and devour, see -- that ye may not by one another be consumed.

But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you are not consumed by one another.

16 A nd I say: In the Spirit walk ye, and the desire of the flesh ye may not complete;

But I say, walk and live in the Spirit; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).

17 f or the flesh doth desire contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit contrary to the flesh, and these are opposed one to another, that the things that ye may will -- these ye may not do;

For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other, so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.

18 a nd if by the Spirit ye are led, ye are not under law.

But if you are guided (led) by the Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.

19 A nd manifest also are the works of the flesh, which are: Adultery, whoredom, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency,

20 i dolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strifes, emulations, wraths, rivalries, dissensions, sects,

Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies),

21 e nvyings, murders, drunkennesses, revellings, and such like, of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that those doing such things the reign of God shall not inherit.

Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 A nd the fruit of the Spirit is: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith,

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,

23 m eekness, temperance: against such there is no law;

Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law '> that can bring a charge].

24 a nd those who are Christ's, the flesh did crucify with the affections, and the desires;

And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.

25 i f we may live in the Spirit, in the Spirit also we may walk;

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. '> we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]

26 l et us not become vain-glorious -- one another provoking, one another envying!

Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another.