Galatians 3
The full text of Galatians 3 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 You foolish Galatians! Who has put you under a spell? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed as crucified.
2 This is the one thing I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to reach the goal by the flesh?
4 Have you experienced so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing?
5 So then, does the one who supplies you with the Spirit and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are the true children of Abraham.
8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and so it announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."
9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, since it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."
11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because "the righteous will live by faith."
12 The law, however, is not based on faith; instead, "whoever does these things will live by them."
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree"—
14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles, and so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.
15 Brothers and sisters, let me put it in human terms: even with a merely human covenant, once it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds to it.
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," as though referring to many, but to one: "and to your seed," who is Christ.
17 What I mean is this: the law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise.
18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God graciously gave it to Abraham through a promise.
19 Why, then, the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made. It was put in place through angels, by the hand of a mediator.
20 Now a mediator is not for one party only, but God is one.
21 Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would indeed have come through the law.
22 But Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin, so that what was promised, given through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, might be granted to those who believe.
23 Before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, confined until the faith that was coming would be revealed.
24 So the law became our guardian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith.
25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, no "male and female"; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise.
Translation notes (18)
- Galatians 3:2a This can also be translated as 'by the message that is heard,' meaning the message about faith. The Greek phrase *akoe pisteos* can mean either 'hearing accompanied by faith' or 'the report/message of faith.'
- Galatians 3:3a This can also be translated as 'by human effort.' The Greek word *sarx*, translated here as 'flesh,' contrasts human striving with the Spirit's work.
- Galatians 3:4a This can also be translated as 'Did you suffer so much for nothing?' The Greek verb *epathete* can mean either 'experience' or 'suffer.'
- Galatians 3:5a The Greek phrase *akoe pisteos* appears again here; see the note at Galatians 3:2 for more information.
- Galatians 3:7a The Greek phrase "sons of Abraham" is used here in the inclusive sense of all his descendants, both sons and daughters.
- Galatians 3:11a This can also be translated as "the one who is righteous by faith will live." The Greek of Habakkuk 2:4 allows "by faith" to be connected either to "righteous" or to "will live."
- Galatians 3:13a The Greek word xylon, meaning "wood, tree, or pole," refers here to the cross. This verse quotes Deuteronomy 21:23.
- Galatians 3:14a The Greek phrase "the promise of the Spirit" means the Spirit who was promised.
- Galatians 3:15a The Greek word diatheke means both "covenant" and "will" or "testament"; Paul uses both meanings here and in the following verses.
- Galatians 3:16a The Greek word sperma, meaning "seed" or "offspring," is grammatically singular but can refer to an entire line of descendants collectively. Paul's argument relies on this singular form.
- Galatians 3:19a This can also be translated as "to deal with transgressions" or "to make transgressions known." The Greek phrase "because of transgressions" is open to different interpretations regarding how the law relates to them.
- Galatians 3:20a This famously compressed verse has been interpreted in many ways; Paul's point is generally that a mediator implies two parties, while the promise rests on the one God acting alone.
- Galatians 3:22a This can also be translated as "given through faith in Jesus Christ." The Greek phrase pistis Iesou Christou is unclear, meaning either Christ's own faithfulness or the believer's faith in Christ; see the notes at 2:16 and 2:20.
- Galatians 3:24a The Greek word paidagogos refers to a household servant who supervised and disciplined a child until adulthood—not a teacher, but a guardian or escort. This can also be translated as "until Christ"; the Greek phrase "unto Christ" can mean either "until Christ came" (temporal) or "to lead us to Christ" (directional).
- Galatians 3:25a This refers to the Greek word paidagogos again; see the note at 3:24 for its meaning.
- Galatians 3:26a The Greek word huioi, meaning "sons," is used here. In the Greco-Roman world, the son was the legal heir, and Paul's argument about inheritance relies on this status of "son and heir," which now belongs to all believers, both male and female (see 3:28-29; 4:5-7). The word is rendered "children" in this verse to show that this status is shared by everyone.
- Galatians 3:28a In the first two pairs, the Greek uses "neither... nor" (oude). For the third pair, Paul changes the wording to "there is no male and female" (arsen kai thelu)—a direct echo of Genesis 1:27 in the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, which reads "male and female he made them." This shift is deliberate and is preserved in this translation.
- Galatians 3:29a The Greek word sperma, meaning "seed" or "offspring," is the same word used in 3:16, and it is now applied to all who belong to Christ.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Greek and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Galatians, is free to read here on the web.
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