Galatians 2
1 After 14 years passed, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas. I took Titus also.
Then after a period of fourteen years I went up again to Urishlim with Bar-Naba, taking Titus also with me.
2 But [I tell you that] I went up there because of what God revealed to me. [It was not because someone there asked me to come]. I told people what was the good message that I was preaching in regions where non-Jews live. But I talked privately to those whom your new teachers highly respect. I did that in order that what I was doing and what I had done [MET] might not become useless [MET] [as a result of people rejecting my message because they thought that I was teaching something that was not true].
I went up by revelation, and I explained to them the Good News which I preach among those who are not Jewish, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
3 But [even though the leaders of the believers usually insisted that when non-Jews trusted in Christ someone must circumcise them], they did not even insist that Titus be circumcised, even though he was a Greek man who was with me.
But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
4 [I talked to them privately] because some people [successfully] pretended that they were fellow believers and associated with the true believers. They did that in order that they might observe closely what we do because we are free [from having to obey all the Jewish laws and rituals] because of our close relationship with Christ Jesus [MET]. Those people wanted to make us [like] slaves [MET] [of those rituals by convincing us that we cannot trust Christ solely but that we must also obey all the Jewish rituals].
This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Meshikha Yeshua, that they might bring us into bondage;
5 But not even briefly did we [(exc)] do what they wanted [about circumcision. We(exc) resisted them] in order that the truth of the message about Christ might continue to [benefit] you.
to whom we gave no place in the way of subjection, not for an hour, that the truth of the Good News might continue with you.
6 The [leaders in Jerusalem], whom your new teachers respect, did not add anything to what I preach. [And I would add that] what status those leaders had did not influence me, because God does not favor certain/important persons [IDM] more than others.
But from those who were reputed to be important (whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people)—they, I say, who were respected imparted nothing to me,
7 Instead of those leaders adding to the message that I tell people, they understood that I had been given the good message {God had given the good message to me} so that I might proclaim it to the non-Jews [MTY], just like [God] had given the good message to Peter so that he might tell it to those who are Jews [MTY].
but to the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the uncircumcision, even as Kipha with the Good News for the circumcision
8 That is, just like [God] had empowered/authorized Peter in order that he might be an apostle [to bring God’s message] to the Jews [MTY], he also had empowered/authorized me in order that I might be an apostle to [bring his message to] the non-Jews.
(for he who appointed Kipha to be an apostle of the circumcision appointed me also to the non-Jews);
9 And [those leaders] knew that God had kindly given to me this special work. So James, Peter, and John, the ones whom your new teachers [respect because they are] leaders [MET] [of the believers], shook hands with us [IDM] [to show that they agreed that Barnabas and I are serving the Lord just like they are, and that we are preaching the same message that they are preaching]. They also agreed that we [(exc)] are the ones whom God was sending to [tell his message to] non-Jews, but that God is sending them to [tell his message to] Jews [MTY].
and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, Yaquv and Kipha and Yukhanan, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Bar-Naba the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the non-Jews, and they to the circumcised.
10 They merely urged that we [(exc)] still remember to help the poor [fellow believers who live in Jerusalem]. That is exactly what I have been eager to do.
They only asked us to remember the poor—which very thing I was also zealous to do.
11 But [later while I was at] Antioch [city], after Peter came there, I told him directly [SYN] that what he was doing was wrong.
But when Kipha came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned.
12 [This is what happened]: [Peter went to Antioch and started eating regularly with non-Jewish believers there]. Later there were certain [Jewish believers who] came [to Antioch who claimed that] James, [the leader of the congregations in Jerusalem], had sent them. But when [those certain] men came, Peter gradually quit [eating] with the non-Jewish believers and would not associate with them. He was afraid that the Jewish [believers from Jerusalem would criticize him for associating with non-Jews].
For before some people came from Yaquv, he ate with those who were not Jewish. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
13 Also, the other Jewish [believers who were in Antioch] [SYN] acted (insincerely/in a way that they knew was not right) along with [Peter]. The result was that they convinced even Barnabas to [stop associating with the non-Jewish believers]!
And the rest of the Jewish believers joined him in his hypocrisy; so that even Bar-Naba was carried away with their hypocrisy.
14 But when I realized that they were not acting according to the truth of the message about Christ, [when] all [the fellow believers there] were present, I told Peter [the following]: “Although you [(sg)] are a Jew, [you often conduct yourself] like non-Jews [do by disregarding Jewish laws about food. When you are among non-Jews], you [(sg)] do not customarily conduct yourself at all like Jews [do]. So, (now it is wrong that you [(sg)] are causing non-Jews [to think that they must obey all] the Jewish rituals and customs!/why are you [(sg)] causing non-Jews [to think that they must obey all] the Jewish rituals and customs?) [RHQ]”
But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Kipha before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live as the non-Jews do, and not as the Jews do, how can you compel the non-Jews to live as the Jews do?
15 Some of us [believers] were born as Jews. We [(exc)] were not born as non-Jews. [We Jews have always considered non-Jews to be] ‘sinners’ [because they do not obey the Jewish rituals and laws].
"We, being Jews by birth, and not non-Jewish sinners,
16 But we [(exc)] now know that it is not because some person obeys the laws [that God gave to Moses] that [God] erases the record of that person’s sins. [God erases the record of a person’s sins only if that person trusts in what Jesus Christ has done]. Even we [(exc)] Jews trusted Christ Jesus. We [(exc)] did that in order that [God] would erase the record of our sins because of our trusting Christ, and not because of our obeying the laws [that God gave to Moses. God has said that] he will [never] erase the record of people’s sins just because of their obeying those laws.
yet knowing that no one is justified by the works of the law but through faith in Yeshua Meshikha, even we believed in Meshikha Yeshua, that we might be justified by faith in Meshikha, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.
17 Furthermore, because we [(exc) Jews] desired that [God] would erase the record of our sins because of our relationship with Christ, [it means that] we realized that we ourselves were sinners [like non-Jews, whom we called] sinners, [because we(exc) also were not obeying the Jewish rituals and laws]. [But] ([we(inc) certainly cannot conclude] that it is Christ who causes us to sin./[should we conclude] that it is Christ who causes us to sin?) [RHQ] [No, Christ] certainly does not [cause anyone to sin].
But if, while we sought to be justified in Meshikha, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Meshikha a servant of sin? Certainly not.
18 So if I should again believe [that God would erase the record of my sins because of my obeying the laws that he gave to Moses] [MET], [I would be like a man who] rebuilds an old building that he tore down. It would [soon] be clear that I am one who disobeys those same laws [that God gave to Moses].
For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker.
19 When [I realized that I could not earn God’s favor] by [obeying] the laws [that he gave to Moses, I decided not] to [respond to what those laws demanded] [MET], [just like] a dead person [does not respond to anything]. Now I live to [honor/serve] God.
For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God.
20 [It is as though] I was with Christ when he was crucified {died on the cross} [MET] (OR, [It is as though] my [old way of life ended when] Christ died on the cross.) No longer am I [directing the way I behave as I did before I believed in Christ]. Now Christ [is directing how] I [behave. And whatever I do] now while I live, I do it trusting in God’s Son. He is the one who loved me and offered himself [as a sacrifice] for me.
I have been crucified with Meshikha, and it is no longer I that live, but Meshikha living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
21 I am not rejecting [as useless] what God [did for me] ([kindly/that I did not deserve]), [as my opponents are doing. I fully accept that God saved me by acting kindly towards me]. If it is because people [obey the] laws [that God gave to Moses] that God erases the record of their sins, then Christ died (for nothing/needlessly).
I do not make void the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Meshikha died for nothing."
