Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Now the mediator or go-between [in a transaction] is not [needed] for just one party; whereas God is only one [and was the only One giving the promise to Abraham, but the Law was a contract between two, God and Israel; its validity depended on both].

the law, then, is against the promises of God? -- let it not be! for if a law was given that was able to make alive, truly by law there would have been the righteousness,

But the Scripture has imprisoned everyone [everything—the entire world] under sin, so that [the inheritance, the blessing of salvation] which was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe [in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s precious Son].

But before faith came, we were guarded under law, shut up to faith which was about to be revealed.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

And if you belong to Christ, then you are [truly] Abraham's seed [i.e., his spiritual descendants] and thereby [you will] inherit what was promised to him [i.e., God's blessings].

It was the same way with us. While we were children, we were slaves to the basic principles of the world.

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

I begin to be afraid that perhaps the labor I spent on you was wasted.

Become ye as, I, because, I also, was as, ye, - brethren, I entreat you. Not at all, have ye wronged me.

On the contrary, you know that it was because of a physical illness that I [remained and] preached the gospel to you the first time;

And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

What then was your blessedness? for I bear you witness that, if possible, plucking out your own eyes ye would have given them to me.

and I was wishing to be present with you now, and to change my voice, because I am in doubt about you.

For it is written in the law about Abraham's two sons [Gen. 16]; one [was] by his slave woman [Hagar] and the other by the free woman, [his wife, Sarah].

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

Now these facts are about to be used [by me] as an allegory [that is, I will illustrate by using them]: for these women can represent two covenants: one [covenant originated] from Mount Sinai [where the Law was given] that bears children [destined] for slavery; she is Hagar.

For it is written - Be gladdened, O barren one! that wast not giving birth, break forth and shout, thou that wast not in birth-pains, - because, more, are the children of the deserted one, than of her that had the husband.

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

You were going on well; who was the cause of your not giving ear to what is true?

[Your] being persuaded [to do this] was not motivated by God, who called you [into His fellowship].

[This letter is from] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to God's will, [and is being sent] to the saints [i.e., God's holy people] at Ephesus [Note: This was a major city in the western province of Asia Minor, and now a part of Turkey. The words "at Ephesus" are omitted in some manuscripts, suggesting it was a circular letter], and the faithful ones in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus [everywhere else ?].

according as he had chosen us in him through love, before the foundation of the world was laid, that we should be saints, and without blame before him, through love.

He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will—

so that we would praise His glorious, unearned favor, which was freely given to us through the One whom God loved [i.e., Christ].

It is in Him, and through the shedding of His blood, that we have our deliverance--the forgiveness of our offences--so abundant was God's grace,

when he made known to us the secret of his will. This was according to his plan that he set forth in the Messiah

In view of that Divine Order which was to mark the completion of the ages, when he should make everything, both in Heaven and on earth, center in him.

It is by him, that we have a share in the inheritance, which was before allotted to us, in consequence of his design, who executes the whole plan, as he himself had contriv'd it:

The end [i.e., of being so predetermined] was that we [Jewish Christians], who had previously placed our hope in Christ, should bring about the praise of God's splendor.

in whom ye also, after having heard the word of truth, the glad tidings of your salvation, in whom, I say, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit that was promised,

The same mighty power was exerted upon the Christ, when he raised the Christ from the dead and 'caused him to sit at his right hand' on high, exalting him above all Angels and Archangels of every rank,

Among whom we all at one time were living in the pleasures of our flesh, giving way to the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and the punishment of God was waiting for us even as for the rest.

But, dead in trespasses as we were, God was so rich in mercy that for his great love to us

This was so that, to future ages [of people on earth and in heaven], God could demonstrate the tremendous abundance of His unearned favor, expressed by His kindness to us in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus.

For you have been saved by God's unearned favor, through [your] faith, and that [salvation] was not the result of your own doing; it was the gift from God.

It was not the result of your own [good] deeds [See Titus 3:5], so that no one could boast [about it].

For he is our peace, which hath made of both one, and hath broken down the wall in the midst, that was a stop between us,

by setting aside the Law with its commandments, expressed, as they were, in definite decrees. His design was to unite the two sections of humanity in Himself so as to form one new man,

[This was also intended] to reestablish harmony between both of these peoples and God in [this] one body, through [Christ's death on] the cross. By doing this He put to death the hostility [between them].

Which was built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner,

For this reason I Paul, I whom Jesus has made a prisoner for the sake of you Gentiles ??2 for surely you have heard how the grace of God which was vouchsafed me in your interests has ordered it,

if so be that ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God which was given me to you-ward;

how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words,

by reading which you can understand my knowledge of the mystery of Christ,??5 which in other generations was not made known to the children of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit,

Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

The gentiles are heirs-in-common, members-in-common of the body, and common participants in what was promised by the Messiah Jesus through the gospel.

Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

and help everyone see how this secret that has been at work was hidden for ages by God, who created all things.

This was done so that now God's many-sided wisdom could be made known through the church, to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms [Note: "Heavenly realms" here refers to the world around us, where these angelic beings (good or bad) view the unfolding of God's wonderful plan],

Such was the eternal purpose which He had formed in Christ Jesus our Lord,

There is but one Body and one Spirit, just as there was but one hope set before you when you received your Call.

But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

[and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church];

For this was not the teaching of Christ which was given to you;

You have learned to lay aside, with your former manner of living, the old self who was on his way to ruin, as he followed the desires which deceive;

and to put on the new man, which, according to God, was created in righteousness and kindness of the truth.

Let him who was a thief be so no longer, but let him do good work with his hands, so that he may have something to give to him who is in need.

And do not grieve God's Holy Spirit; for it was through that Spirit that God sealed you as his, against the Day of Redemption.

There was a time when you were nothing but darkness. Now, as Christians, you are Light itself.

no man was ever yet averse to his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as the Lord doth the church:

for we are members of his body, as if taken out of his flesh, and of his bones, as Eve was out of Adam's.

serve them with affection, as if it was to the Lord,

For I am certain of this very thing, that he by whom the good work was started in you will make it complete till the day of Jesus Christ:

So that it became clear through all the Praetorium, and to all the rest, that I was a prisoner on account of Christ;

because to you it was granted, on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also on behalf of him to suffer;

being engag'd in the same conflict, in which you saw I was formerly, and hear that I am at present engag'd.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

who, although He existed in the form and unchanging essence of God [as One with Him, possessing the fullness of all the divine attributes—the entire nature of deity], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or asserted [as if He did not already possess it, or was afraid of losing it];

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

and in what appertained to him appearing as a man, he humbled himself, and was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

[This was] so that, in [honor of] the name of Jesus, everyone's knee in heaven, on earth and under the earth [i.e., all rational creatures] should bow [i.e., before God],

And so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Offering the word of life; so that I may have glory in you in the day of Christ, because my running was not for nothing and my work was not without effect.

But his quality is clear to you; how, as a child is to its father, so he was a help to me in the work of the good news.

Still I think it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you now, for he is my brother, fellow-worker, and fellow-soldier, and he was also your messenger to help me in my need.

For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.

For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.

circumcised when I was eight days old, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews [an exemplary Hebrew]; as to the [observance of the] Law, a Pharisee;

as to my zeal [for Jewish tradition], a persecutor of the church; and as to righteousness [supposed right living] which [my fellow Jews believe] is in the Law, I proved myself blameless.

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which was by law, but the righteousness which is by faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith,

Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.

I rejoiced greatly in the Lord, that now at last you have renewed your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned about me before, but you had no opportunity to show it.

Not that I speak from [any personal] need, for I have learned to be content [and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances.

Nevertheless, it was right of you to share [with me] in my difficulties.

As you Philippians also know, during the early days of [my] preaching the Gospel [in those regions], when I left Macedonia [Note: This was the northernmost province of Greece], no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving [i.e., financial help], except you only.

Even while I was in Thessalonica, you provided for my needs not once, but twice.

I received all, and have plenty. I was even filled after that I have received of Epaphroditus, that which came from you, an odor that smelleth sweet, a sacrifice accepted and pleasant to God.

Through the hope which is in store for you in heaven; knowledge of which was given to you before in the true word of the good news,

As it was given to you by Epaphras, our well-loved helper, who is a true servant of Christ for us,

He is the likeness of the unseen God, born first before all the creation ??16 for it was by him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angelic Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers; all things have been created by him and for him;

For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him.