| 5:1 | PLANT your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery. |
| 5:2 | Listen! I, Paul, say this to you: if you consent to be circumcised then Christ will be of no use to you at all. |
| 5:3 | I say this solemnly again to every one of you: every man who consents to be circumcised is bound to obey all the rest of the Law! |
| 5:4 | If you try to be justified by the Law you automatically cut yourself off from the power of Christ, you put yourself outside the range of his grace. |
| 5:5 | For it is by faith that we await in his Spirit the righteousness we hope to see. |
| 5:6 | In Christ Jesus there is no validity in either circumcision or uncircumcision; it is a matter of faith, faith which expresses itself in love. |
| 5:7 | You were making splendid progress; who stopped you from obeying the truth? |
| 5:8 | That sort of persuasion does not come from the One who is calling you. |
| 5:9 | Alas, it takes only a little leaven to affect the whole lump! |
| 5:10 | I feel confident in the Lord that you will not take any fatal step. But whoever it is who is worrying you will have a serious charge to answer. |
| 5:11 | And as for me, my brothers, if I were still advocating circumcision, why am I still suffering persecution? I suppose if only I would recommend this little rite all the hostility which the preaching of the cross provokes would disappear! |
| 5:12 | I wish those who are unsettling you would cut themselves off from you altogether! |
| 5:13 | It is to freedom that you have been called, my brothers. Only be careful that freedom does not become mere opportunity for your lower nature. You should be free to serve each other in love. |
| 5:14 | For after all, the whole Law toward others is summed up by this one command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." |
| 5:15 | But if freedom means merely that you are free to attack and tear each other to pieces, be careful that it doesn't mean that between you you destroy your fellowship altogether! |
| 5:16 | Here is my advice. Live your whole life in the Spirit and you will not satisfy the desires of your lower nature. |
| 5:17 | For the whole energy of the lower nature is set against the Spirit, while the whole power of the Spirit is contrary to the lower nature. Here is the conflict, and that is why you are not able to do what you want to do. |
| 5:18 | But if you follow the leading of the Spirit, you stand clear of the Law. |
| 5:19 | The activities of the lower nature are obvious. Here is a list: sexual immorality, impurity of mind, sensuality, |
| 5:20 | worship of false gods, witchcraft, hatred, mind, jealousy, bad temper, rivalry, factious, partyspirit, |
| 5:21 | envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like that. I solemnly assure you, as I did before, that those who indulge in such things will never inherit God's kingdom. |
| 5:22 | The Spirit, however, produces in human life fruits such as these: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, fidelity, |
| 5:23 | tolerance and selfcontroland no law exists against any of them. |
| 5:24 | Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their lower nature with all that it loved and lusted for. |
| 5:25 | If our lives are centered in the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit. |
| 5:26 | Let us not be ambitious for our own reputations, for that only means making each other jealous. |
Galatia 5 - Philips NT in Modern English
