33 (A)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: (B)I will put my law within them, and I will write it (C)on their hearts. (D)And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds(A)
    and write it on their hearts.(B)
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.(C)

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Released from the Law

Or do you not know, brothers[a]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For (A)a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.[b] Accordingly, (B)she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

Likewise, my brothers, (C)you also have died (D)to the law (E)through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, (F)in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work (G)in our members (H)to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the (I)new way of (J)the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 4
  2. Romans 7:2 Greek law concerning the husband
  3. Romans 7:6 Greek of the letter

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

Do you not know, brothers and sisters(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(B) So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(D) through the body of Christ,(E) that you might belong to another,(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law(H) were at work in us,(I) so that we bore fruit for death.(J) But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

But as it is, Christ[a] has obtained a ministry that is (A)as much more excellent than the old as (B)the covenant (C)he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 8:6 Greek he

But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant(A) of which he is mediator(B) is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

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31 but that Israel (A)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness[a] (B)did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the (C)stumbling stone,

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:31 Greek a law of righteousness

31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(A) have not attained their goal.(B) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(C)

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39 and by him (A)everyone who believes is freed[a] from everything (B)from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 13:39 Greek justified; twice in this verse

39 Through him everyone who believes(A) is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.(B)

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Example of Hagar and Sarah

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, (A)one by a slave woman and (B)one by a free woman. 23 But (C)the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while (D)the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two (E)covenants. (F)One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;[a] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But (G)the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

(H)“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
    break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
    than those of the one who has a husband.”

28 Now you,[b] brothers, (I)like Isaac, (J)are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh (K)persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, (L)so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? (M)“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but (N)of the free woman.

Christ Has Set Us Free

For (O)freedom Christ has (P)set us free; (Q)stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to (R)a yoke of (S)slavery.

Footnotes

  1. Galatians 4:25 Some manuscripts For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia
  2. Galatians 4:28 Some manuscripts we

Hagar and Sarah

21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law,(A) are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman(B) and the other by the free woman.(C) 23 His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh,(D) but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.(E)

24 These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above(F) is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:

“Be glad, barren woman,
    you who never bore a child;
shout for joy and cry aloud,
    you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
    than of her who has a husband.”[a](G)

28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.(H) 29 At that time the son born according to the flesh(I) persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit.(J) It is the same now. 30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”[b](K) 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman,(L) but of the free woman.(M)

Freedom in Christ

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.(N) Stand firm,(O) then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.(P)

Footnotes

  1. Galatians 4:27 Isaiah 54:1
  2. Galatians 4:30 Gen. 21:10