< Galatians 1 >
1 [I], Paul, [write this letter to you. I remind you that I am] an apostle. That is not because a group of people [appointed me], nor because a human being [sent me to be an apostle]. Instead, Jesus Christ and God [our heavenly] Father, who caused Jesus to become alive again after he died, have [appointed and] sent [me to be an apostle].
2 All the fellow believers [who are here] with me [approve of this message that I am writing. I am sending this letter] to the congregations that [are] in Galatia [province].
3 [I pray that] God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ will kindly [help] you and enable [you to have inner] peace.
4 Christ offered himself [as a sacrifice] in order that [he might remove the guilt for] our sins. He did that in order that he might enable us to not [do the evil things that people who do not know him] do. [He did this] because God, who is our Father, wanted it. (aiōn )
5 [I pray that people will] praise God forever. (May it be so!/Amen!) (aiōn )
6 I am very disappointed [IRO] that so soon [after you trusted in Christ] you have turned away from [God]. He chose you in order that [you might have what] Christ freely/kindly gives. I am also disappointed that so soon you are believing a different [message which some say is] “good news.”
7 Their message is not a true message. [What is happening is that] certain persons are confusing your [minds]. They are desiring to change the good message (that Christ [revealed/about] Christ) [and are creating another message].
8 But even if we [(exc) apostles] or an angel from heaven would tell you a message that is different from the good message that we told you [before], I [appeal to God] that [he] punish such a person [forever].
9 As I told you previously, so now I tell you this once more: Someone is telling you [what he says is] a good message, but it is a message that is different from [the good message] that I gave you. So I [appeal to God] that [he] severely punish that person.
10 [I said that] because [RHQ] I do not desire that people approve me, [contrary to what some have said about me]. It is God whom I desire to approve me. [Specifically, I do not say and do] [RHQ] things just to please people. If it were still people whom I was trying to please, then I would not be one who [willingly and completely] serves Christ.
11 My fellow believers, I want you to know that the message about Christ that I proclaim to people is not one that some person [created/thought up].
12 I did not receive this message from a human [messenger], and no [human being] taught it to me. Instead, Jesus Christ revealed it to me.
13 People have told you how I used to behave when [I practiced] the Jewish religion. They told you that I continually did very harmful things to the groups of believers that God [established], and they told you that I tried to get rid of those people.
14 I practiced the Jewish religion more thoroughly than many [other Jews] who were my age practiced it. I much more enthusiastically tried to get others to obey the traditions that my ancestors [kept].
15 Nevertheless, before I was born, [God] (set me apart/selected me). He chose me [to live eternally], something that I did not deserve.
16 He wanted me to know that Jesus is (his Son/the man who is also God), so that I would tell others the message about him in regions where non-Jews live. But I did not immediately go to any human beings [SYN] in order to gain [an understanding of that message. I received it directly from Christ!]!
17 I did not [immediately] leave Damascus and go to Jerusalem [for that purpose] to those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away to Arabia [region, a desert area]. Later I returned once more to Damascus [city].
18 Then three years after [God revealed this good message to me], I went up to Jerusalem in order that I might meet Peter. But I stayed with him for [only] 15 days, [which was not long enough for him to teach me thoroughly about Christ].
19 I also saw James, the brother of our Lord [Jesus and the leader of the believers there, but] I did not see any other apostle.
20 God knows that what I am writing to you is completely true [LIT]!
21 After [I left Jerusalem], I went to [the regions of] Syria and Cilicia.
22 [At that time, people in] the Christian congregations that are in Judea [province] still had not met me [SYN] personally.
23 They only heard [others say about me] repeatedly, “[Paul], the one who was formerly doing harmful things to us, is now telling the [same message] which we believe and which formerly he was trying (to destroy/to cause people to stop believing)!”
24 And they praised God because of [what had happened to] me.
