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Today's Bible Reading :: Galatians 4 - 6 (ESV)

Galatians 4Listen to the passage

Galatians 5Listen to the passage

Galatians 6Listen to the passage

Galatians 4

Sons and Heirs

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:1 - I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,[fn] though he is the owner of everything,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:2 - but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:3 - In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles[fn] of the world.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:4 - But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:5 - to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:6 - And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:7 - So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:8

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:8 - Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:9 - But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:10 - You observe days and months and seasons and years!

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:11 - I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:12 - Brothers,[fn] I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:13 - You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:14 - and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:15 - What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:16 - Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:17 - They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:18 - It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:19

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:19 - my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:20

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:20 - I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

(Gen 21:8–21; Isa 54:1 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:21

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:21 - Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:22

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:22 - For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:23 - But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:24

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:24 - Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:25

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:25 - Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;[fn] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:26

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:26 - But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:27

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:27 - For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:28

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:28 - Now you,[fn] brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:29

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:29 - But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:30

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:30 - But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 4:31

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:31 - So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
ESV Footnotes
For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 7
Or elemental spirits; also verse 9
Or Brothers and sisters; also verses 28, 31
Or by dealing truthfully with you
Some manuscripts For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia
Some manuscripts we

Galatians 5

Christ Has Set Us Free

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:1 - For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:2 - Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:3 - I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:4 - You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified[fn] by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:5 - For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:6 - For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:7 - You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:8

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:8 - This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:9 - A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:10 - I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:11 - But if I, brothers,[fn] still preach[fn] circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:12 - I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:13 - For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:14 - For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:15 - But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Keep in Step with the Spirit

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:16 - But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:17 - For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:18 - But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:19

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:19 - Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:20

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:20 - idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:21

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:21 - envy,[fn] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[fn] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:22

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:23 - gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:24

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:24 - And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:25

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:25 - If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 5:26

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 5:26 - Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
ESV Footnotes
Or counted righteous
Or brothers and sisters; also verse 13
Greek proclaim
Some manuscripts add murder
Or make a practice of doing

Galatians 6

Bear One Another’s Burdens

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:1 - Brothers,[fn] if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:2 - Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:3 - For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:4 - But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:5 - For each will have to bear his own load.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:6 - Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:7 - Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:8

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:8 - For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:9 - And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:10 - So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Final Warning and Benediction

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:11 - See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:12 - It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:13 - For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:14 - But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which[fn] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:15 - For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:16 - And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:17 - From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gal 6:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 6:18 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
See the ESV Preface
ESV Footnotes
Or Brothers and sisters; also verse 18
Or through whom
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2025 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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