Galatians 5:17-24

5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires¹ that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to² 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 flesh³ are obvious:⁴ sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery,⁵ hostilities,⁶ strife,⁷ jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions,⁸ factions, 5:21 envying,⁹ murder,¹⁰ drunkenness, carousing,¹¹ 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 Spirit¹² is love,¹³ joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,¹⁴ 5:23 gentleness, and¹⁵ self-control. Against such things there is no law. 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ¹⁶ have crucified the flesh¹⁷ with its passions¹⁸ and desires.

¹tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.

²tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).

³tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

⁴tn Or “clear,” “evident.”

⁵tn Or “witchcraft.”

⁶tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

⁷tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

⁸tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).

⁹tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

¹⁰tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

¹¹tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).

¹²tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

¹³sn 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.

¹⁴tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

¹⁵tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.

¹⁶tc ‡ Some mss (א A B C P Ψ 0122¹ 0278 33 1175 1739 pc co) read “Christ Jesus” here, while many significant ones (Ì⁴⁶ D F G 0122*^,2 latt sy), as well as the Byzantine text, lack “Jesus.” The Byzantine text is especially not prone to omit the name “Jesus”; that it does so here argues for the authenticity of the shorter reading (for similar instances of probably authentic Byzantine shorter readings, see Matt 24:36 and Phil 1:14; cf. also W.-H. J. Wu, “A Systematic Analysis of the Shorter Readings in the Byzantine Text of the Synoptic Gospels” [Ph.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002]). On the strength of the alignment of Ì⁴⁶ with the Western and Byzantine texttypes, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

¹⁷tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

¹⁸tn The Greek term παθήμασιν (paqhmasin, translated “passions”) refers to strong physical desires, especially of a sexual nature (L&N 25.30).