Galatians 3:19

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Galatians 3:17–21 · Berean Standard Bible

17 What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.

18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.

19 Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.

20 A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one.

21 Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law.

Greek words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Romans 3:1

What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

Romans 3:2

Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

Romans 7:7

What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

Romans 7:8

But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

Romans 7:9

Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

Romans 7:10

So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death.

Romans 7:11

For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death.

Romans 7:12

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

Romans 7:13

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

Galatians 3:21

Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law.

Galatians 3:22

But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.

Galatians 3:23

Before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.

Galatians 3:24

So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Deuteronomy 4:8

And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.

Psalms 147:19

He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel.

Psalms 147:20

He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!

Luke 16:31

Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

John 5:45

Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope.

John 5:46

If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.

John 5:47

But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

John 15:22

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

Romans 2:13

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.

Romans 3:19

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

Romans 3:20

Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.

Romans 4:15

because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.

Romans 5:20

The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

Romans 5:21

so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Timothy 1:8

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately.

1 Timothy 1:9

We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers,

Galatians 3:16

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.

Galatians 3:25

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Galatians 4:1

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.

Galatians 4:2

He is subject to guardians and trustees until the date set by his father.

Galatians 4:3

So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world.

Galatians 4:4

But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Deuteronomy 33:2

He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

Acts 7:53

you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”

Hebrews 2:2

For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment,

Hebrews 2:5

For it is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.

Exodus 20:19

“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

Exodus 20:20

“Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.”

Exodus 20:21

And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Exodus 20:22

Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.

Exodus 24:1

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

Exodus 24:2

Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”

Exodus 24:3

When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.”

Exodus 24:4

And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

Exodus 24:5

Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.

Exodus 24:6

Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.

Exodus 24:7

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”

Exodus 24:8

So Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Exodus 24:9

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

Exodus 24:10

and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

Exodus 24:11

But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

Exodus 24:12

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

Exodus 34:27

The LORD also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Exodus 34:28

So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 34:29

And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.

Exodus 34:30

Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him.

Exodus 34:31

But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.

Exodus 34:32

And after this all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them to do everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai.

Exodus 34:33

When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Exodus 34:34

But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,

Exodus 34:35

and the Israelites would see that the face of Moses was radiant. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

Leviticus 15:32

This is the law of him who has a discharge, of the man who has an emission of semen whereby he is unclean,

Deuteronomy 5:5

At that time I was standing between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain. And He said:

Deuteronomy 5:22

The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

Deuteronomy 5:23

And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,

Deuteronomy 5:24

and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.

Deuteronomy 5:25

But now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us, and we will die, if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.

Deuteronomy 5:26

For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived?

Deuteronomy 5:27

Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then you can tell us everything the LORD our God tells you; we will listen and obey.”

Deuteronomy 5:28

And the LORD heard the words you spoke to me, and He said to me, “I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.

Deuteronomy 5:29

If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.

Deuteronomy 5:30

Go and tell them: ‘Return to your tents.’

Deuteronomy 5:31

But you stand here with Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and statutes and ordinances you are to teach them to follow in the land that I am giving them to possess.”

Deuteronomy 5:32

So be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or to the left.

Deuteronomy 5:33

You must walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

Deuteronomy 9:13

The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 9:14

Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”

Deuteronomy 9:15

So I went back down the mountain while it was blazing with fire, with the two tablets of the covenant in my hands.

Deuteronomy 9:16

And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.

Deuteronomy 9:17

So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, shattering them before your eyes.

Deuteronomy 9:18

Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.

Deuteronomy 9:19

For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.

Deuteronomy 9:20

The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I also prayed for Aaron.

Deuteronomy 9:25

So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.

Deuteronomy 9:26

And I prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Deuteronomy 9:27

Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin.

Deuteronomy 9:28

Otherwise, those in the land from which You brought us out will say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’

Deuteronomy 9:29

But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.”

Deuteronomy 18:15

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.

Deuteronomy 18:16

This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”

Deuteronomy 18:17

Then the LORD said to me, “They have spoken well.

Deuteronomy 18:18

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

Deuteronomy 18:19

And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name.

Psalms 106:23

So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.

John 1:17

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Acts 7:38

He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.