Galatians 1
1 This letter comes from Paul, an apostle not appointed by any human organization or human authority. Quite the contrary: I was appointed by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead.
To the churches in Galatia, from Paul, an apostle whose commission is not from any human authority and is given, not by human beings, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead;
2 All the brothers and sisters here with me join in sending this letter to the churches in Galatia.
and from all the followers of the Lord here.
3 May the grace and peace of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
May God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, bless you and give you peace.
4 Jesus gave himself for our sins to set us free from this current world of evil, following the will of our God and Father. (aiōn g165)
For Christ, to rescue us from this present wicked age, gave himself for our sins, in accordance with the will of our God and Father, (aiōn g165)
to whom be ascribed all glory for ever and ever. Amen. (aiōn g165)
6 I'm shocked at how quickly you're abandoning the God who by the grace of Christ called you. You are turning to a different kind of good news
I am astonished at your so soon deserting him, who called you through the love of Christ, for a different ‘good news,’
7 that isn't good news at all! Some people there are confusing you, wanting to pervert the good news of Christ.
which is really no good news at all. But then, I know that there are people who are harassing you, and who want to pervert the good news of the Christ.
8 But if anyone, even we ourselves, or even an angel from heaven, should promote any other kind of good news than what we have already told you, let them be condemned!
Yet even if we – or if an angel from heaven were to tell you any other ‘good news’ than that which we told you, may he be accursed!
9 I repeat what we've told you before: if anyone promotes any other kind of good news than what you've already accepted, let them be condemned!
We have said it before, and I repeat it now – If anyone tells you a ‘good news’ other than that which you received, may he be accursed!
10 Whose approval do you think I want—that of people, or of God? Do you think I'm trying to please people? If I wanted to please people I wouldn't be a servant of Christ!
Is this, I ask, trying to conciliate people, or God? Am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I should not be a servant of Christ.
11 Let me make it clear, my friends, regarding the good news I'm declaring—it did not come from any human being.
I remind you, friends, that the good news which I told is no mere human invention.
12 I didn't receive it from anyone, and nobody taught it to me—it was Jesus Christ who revealed it to me.
I, at least, did not receive it from any human being, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through a revelation made by Jesus Christ.
13 You heard how I behaved as a follower of the Jewish religion—how I fanatically persecuted God's church, savagely trying to destroy it.
You heard, no doubt, of my conduct when I was devoted to Judaism – how I persecuted the church of God to an extent beyond belief, and tried to destroy it,
14 I surpassed my contemporaries in the practice of the Jewish religion because I was so fervently devoted to the traditions of my ancestors.
and how, in my devotion to Judaism, I surpassed many of my contemporaries among my own people in my intense earnestness in upholding the traditions of my ancestors.
15 But when God (who had set me apart from birth) called me through his grace, and was pleased
But when God, who had set me apart even before my birth, and who called me by his love,
16 to reveal his Son to me so that I could announce the good news to the nations, I didn't discuss this with anyone.
saw fit to reveal his Son in me, so that I might tell the good news of him among the Gentiles, then at once, instead of consulting any human being,
17 I didn't go to Jerusalem to talk to those who preceded me as apostles; instead I left for Arabia, and then later returned to Damascus.
or even going up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, I went to Arabia, and came back again to Damascus.
18 After three years I went to Jerusalem to visit Peter. I stayed with him for two weeks.
Three years afterward I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Peter, and I stayed a fortnight with him.
19 I didn't see any other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.
I did not, however, see any other apostle, except James, the Master’s brother.
20 (Let me assure you before God that I'm not lying about what I'm writing to you!)
(As to what I am now writing to you, I call God to witness that I am speaking the truth).
21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia.
Afterward I went to the districts of Syria and Cilicia.
22 Even so, my face wasn't known to those in the churches of Judea.
But I was still unknown even by sight to the Christian churches in Judea;
23 They had only heard people say, “The man who used to persecute us is now spreading the faith he once tried to destroy!”
all that they had heard was – ‘The man who once persecuted us is now telling the good news of the faith of which he once tried to destroy.’
24 —and they praised God because of me.
And they praised God for my sake.
