Poetry by the Book – Galatians 5:1-15

Poetry: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, rhythm and structure.^a

You were running well!
Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
If you receive circumcision,
you who would be justified by the law,
you have fallen away from grace.
You are severed from Christ!
Christ will be of no advantage to you.
I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves!
He who is troubling you will bear his judgment,
whoever he is.
But if you bite and devour one another,
take heed that you are not consumed by one another.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail.
Every man who receives circumcision
is bound to keep the whole law.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
In that case
why am I still persecuted?
The stumbling block of the cross has been removed
if I, brethren, still preach circumcision.

I have confidence in the Lord
that you will take no other view than mine.
For freedom Christ has set us free.
We wait for the hope of righteousness,
through the Spirit, by faith;
faith working[made effective] through love.
You were called to freedom, brethren.
Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
Through love be servants of one another.
The whole law is fulfilled in one word—
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

^a My poetry structure was created from the RSV Bible using sentences and phrases verbatim.