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;

Christ made us free. Stay that way. Do not get chained all over again in the Law and its kind of religious worship.

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

Listen to me! I, Paul, tell you that if you have the religious act of becoming a Jew done on you, Christ will be of no use to you at all.

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

I say it again. Every man who has the religious act of becoming a Jew done on him must obey every Law.

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

If you expect to be made right with God by obeying the Law, then you have turned away from Christ and His loving-favor.

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

We are waiting for the hope of being made right with God. This will come through the Holy Spirit and by faith.

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

If we belong to Jesus Christ, it means nothing to have or not to have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew. But faith working through love is important.

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

You were doing well. Who stopped you from obeying the truth?

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

Whatever he used did not come from the One Who chose you to have life.

9 a little leaven the whole lump doth leaven;

It only takes a little yeast to make the whole loaf of bread rise.

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 feel I can trust you because of what the Lord has done in your life. I believe you will not follow another way. Whoever is trying to lead you in the wrong way will suffer for it.

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;

Christian brothers, if I would still preach that people must go through the religious act of becoming a Jew to be a Christian, I would not be suffering from those who are making it hard for me. If I preached like that, the Jews would have no reason to be against the cross of Christ.

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

I wish those who are so willing to cut your bodies would complete the job by cutting themselves off from you.

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,

Christian brother, you were chosen to be free. Be careful that you do not please your old selves by sinning because you are free. Live this free life by loving and helping others.

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

You obey the whole Law when you do this one thing, “Love your neighbor as you love 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 hurt and make it hard for each other, watch out or you may be destroyed by each other.

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

I say this to you: Let the Holy Spirit lead you in each step. Then you will not please your sinful old selves.

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;

The things our old selves want to do are against what the Holy Spirit wants. The Holy Spirit does not agree with what our sinful old selves want. These two are against each other. So you cannot do what you want to do.

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

If you let the Holy Spirit lead you, the Law no longer has power over you.

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

The things your sinful old self wants to do are: sex sins, sinful desires, wild living,

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

worshiping false gods, witchcraft, hating, fighting, being jealous, being angry, arguing, dividing into little groups and thinking the other groups are wrong, false teaching,

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.

wanting something someone else has, killing other people, using strong drink, wild parties, and all things like these. I told you before and I am telling you again that those who do these things will have no place in the holy nation of God.

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

But the fruit that comes from having the Holy Spirit in our lives is: love, joy, peace, not giving up, being kind, being good, having faith,

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

being gentle, and being the boss over our own desires. The Law is not against these things.

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

Those of us who belong to Christ have nailed our sinful old selves on His cross. Our sinful desires are now dead.

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

If the Holy Spirit is living in us, let us be led by Him in all things.

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

Let us not become proud in ways in which we should not. We must not make hard feelings among ourselves as Christians or make anyone jealous.