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15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another,[a] beware that you are not consumed[b] by one another. 16 But I say, live[c] by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.[d] 17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires[e] that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to[f] each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 5:15 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 (daknō and katesthiō, 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…”).
  2. Galatians 5:15 tn Or “destroyed.”
  3. Galatians 5:16 tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).
  4. Galatians 5:16 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.
  5. Galatians 5:17 tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.
  6. Galatians 5:17 tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).