5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; 1 only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, 2 but through love serve one another. 3 5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, 4 namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” 5 5:15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another, 6 beware that you are not consumed 7 by one another. 5:16 But I say, live 8 by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. 9 5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires 10 that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to 11 each other, so that you cannot do what you want. 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 5:19 Now the works of the flesh 12 are obvious: 13 sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, 14 hostilities, 15 strife, 16 jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, 17 factions, 5:21 envying, 18 murder, 19 drunkenness, carousing, 20 and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit 21 is love, 22 joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 5:23 gentleness, and 24 self-control. Against such things there is no law. 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ 25 have crucified the flesh 26 with its passions 27 and desires. 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with 28 the Spirit. 5:26 Let us not become conceited, 29 provoking 30 one another, being jealous 31 of one another.
6:1 Brothers and sisters, 32 if a person 33 is discovered in some sin, 34 you who are spiritual 35 restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. 36 Pay close attention 37 to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too. 6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 6:4 Let each one examine 38 his own work. Then he can take pride 39 in himself and not compare himself with 40 someone else. 6:5 For each one will carry 41 his own load.
6:6 Now the one who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with the one who teaches 42 it. 6:7 Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. 43 For a person 44 will reap what he sows, 6:8 because the person who sows to his own flesh 45 will reap corruption 46 from the flesh, 47 but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 6:9 So we must not grow weary 48 in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. 49 6:10 So then, 50 whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith. 51
1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
2 tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”
3 tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).
4 tn Or “can be fulfilled in one commandment.”
5 sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.
6 tn That is, “if you are harming and exploiting one another.” Paul’s metaphors are retained in most modern translations, but it is possible to see the meanings of δάκνω and κατεσθίω (daknw and katesqiw, L&N 20.26 and 88.145) as figurative extensions of the literal meanings of these terms and to translate them accordingly. The present tenses here are translated as customary presents (“continually…”).
7 tn Or “destroyed.”
8 tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).
9 tn On the term “flesh” (once in this verse and twice in v. 17) see the note on the same word in Gal 5:13.
10 tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).
12 tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.
13 tn Or “clear,” “evident.”
14 tn Or “witchcraft.”
15 tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”
16 tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).
17 tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).
18 tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.
19 tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important
20 tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).
21 tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.
22 sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.
23 tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.
24 tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.
25 tc ‡ Some
26 tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.
27 tn The Greek term παθήμασιν (paqhmasin, translated “passions”) refers to strong physical desires, especially of a sexual nature (L&N 25.30).
28 tn Or “let us also follow,” “let us also walk by.”
29 tn Or “falsely proud.”
30 tn Or “irritating.” BDAG 871 s.v. προκαλέω has “provoke, challenge τινά someone.”
31 tn Or “another, envying one another.”
32 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
33 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
34 tn Or “some transgression” (L&N 88.297).
35 sn Who are spiritual refers to people who are controlled and directed by God’s Spirit.
36 tn Or “with a gentle spirit” or “gently.”
37 tn Grk “taking careful notice.”
38 tn Or “determine the genuineness of.”
39 tn Grk “he will have a reason for boasting.”
40 tn Or “and not in regard to.” The idea of comparison is implied in the context.
41 tn Or perhaps, “each one must carry.” A number of modern translations treat βαστάσει (bastasei) as an imperatival future.
42 tn Or “instructs,” “imparts.”
43 tn Or “is not mocked,” “will not be ridiculed” (L&N 33.409). BDAG 660 s.v. μυκτηρίζω has “of God οὐ μ. he is not to be mocked, treated w. contempt, perh. outwitted Gal 6:7.”
44 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
45 tn BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”
46 tn Or “destruction.”
47 tn See the note on the previous occurrence of the word “flesh” in this verse.
48 tn Or “not become discouraged,” “not lose heart” (L&N 25.288).
49 tn Or “if we do not become extremely weary,” “if we do not give out,” “if we do not faint from exhaustion” (L&N 23.79).
50 tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what Paul has been arguing.
51 tn Grk “to those who are members of the family of [the] faith.”