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Bible / Galatians

Galatians 5

Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation

1 Stand fast and be not held again under the yoke of bondage.

2 Behold, I Paul tell you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.

3 And I testify again to every man circumcising himself that he is a debtor to do the whole law. CCC

4 You are made void of Christ, you who are justified in the law: you are fallen from grace.

5 For we in spirit, by faith, wait for the hope of justice.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision: but faith that worketh by Charity. CCC

7 You did run well. What hath hindered you, that you should not obey the truth?

8 This persuasion is not from him that calleth you.

9 A little leaven corrupteth the whole lump.

10 I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will not be of another mind: but he that troubleth you shall bear the judgment, whosoever he be.

11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the scandal of the cross made void.

12 I would they were even cut off, who trouble you.

13 For you, brethren, have been called unto liberty. Only make not liberty an occasion to the flesh: but by charity of the spirit serve one another.

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

15 But if you bite and devour one another: take heed you be not consumed one of another.

16 I say then: Walk in the spirit: and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. CCC

17 For the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh: For these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. CCC

18 But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest: which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, CCC · Fathers

20 Idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, CCC

21 Envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. CCC

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, CCC · Fathers

23 Mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. CCC

24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences. CCC

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. CCC

26 Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church

Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.

  1. Verse 3CCC 578
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 578 “Jesus, Israel's Messiah and therefore the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, was to fulfil the Law by keeping it in its…”
  2. Verse 6CCC 1814 CCC 162
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1814 “Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us,…”
    • CCC 162 “Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to…”
  3. Verse 16CCC 2515 CCC 2744 CCC 2819
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 2515 “Etymologically, "concupiscence" can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of…”
    • CCC 2744 “Prayer is a vital necessity. Proof from the contrary is no less convincing: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead…”
    • CCC 2819 “The kingdom of God (is) righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." The end-time in which we live is the…”
  4. Verse 17CCC 2515
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 2515 “Etymologically, "concupiscence" can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of…”
  5. Verse 19CCC 1470 CCC 1852
    Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 1470 “In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which…”
    • CCC 1852 “There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. the Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works…”

    • “animosities, irritable speeches, dissensions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and such like; of which I warn you, as also I have warned you, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  6. Verse 20CCC 1470 CCC 1852 CCC 2113
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1470 “In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which…”
    • CCC 1852 “There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. the Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works…”
    • CCC 2113 “Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not…”
  7. Verse 21CCC 1470 CCC 1852
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1470 “In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which…”
    • CCC 1852 “There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. the Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works…”
  8. Verse 22CCC 736 CCC 1108 CCC 1695 CCC 1832
    Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 736 “By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will…”
    • CCC 1108 “In every liturgical action the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form…”
    • CCC 1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God," "sanctified . . . (and) called…”
    • CCC 1832 “The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. the…”

    • “… again, he proceeds to tell us the spiritual actions which vivify a man, that is, the engrafting of the Spirit; thus saying, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, benignity, faith, meekness, continence, chastity: against these there is no law.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  9. Verse 23CCC 736 CCC 1832
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 736 “By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will…”
    • CCC 1832 “The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. the…”
  10. Verse 24CCC 2515 CCC 2543
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 2515 “Etymologically, "concupiscence" can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of…”
    • CCC 2543 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it,…”
  11. Verse 25CCC 736 CCC 782 CCC 1695 CCC 2516 CCC 2842 CCC 2848
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 736 “By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will…”
    • CCC 782 “The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found…”
    • CCC 1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God," "sanctified . . . (and) called…”
    • CCC 2516 “Because man is a composite being, spirit and body, there already exists a certain tension in him; a certain struggle of tendencies…”
    • CCC 2842 “This "as" is not unique in Jesus' teaching: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"; "Be merciful, even…”
    • CCC 2848 “Lead us not into temptation" implies a decision of the heart: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also....…”
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A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.