< Galatas 2 >
1 Deinde post annos quattuordecim, iterum ascendi Ierosolymam cum Barnaba, assumpto et Tito.
After 14 years passed, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas. I took Titus also.
2 Ascendi autem secundum revelationem: et contuli cum illis Evangelium, quod prædico in Gentibus, seorsum autem iis, qui videbantur aliquid esse: ne forte in vacuum currerem, aut cucurrissem.
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].
3 Sed neque Titus, qui mecum erat, cum esset Gentilis, compulsus est circumcidi:
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.
4 sed propter subintroductos falsos fratres, qui subintroierunt explorare libertatem nostram, quam habemus in Christo Iesu, ut nos in servitutem redigerent.
[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].
5 Quibus neque ad horam cessimus subiectione, ut veritas Evangelii permaneat apud vos:
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.
6 ab iis autem, qui videbantur esse aliquid, (quales aliquando fuerint, nihil mea interest. Deus personam hominis non accipit) mihi enim qui videbantur esse aliquid, nihil contulerunt.
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.
7 Sed econtra cum vidissent quod creditum est mihi Evangelium præputii, sicut et Petro circumcisionis:
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].
8 (qui enim operatus est Petro in Apostolatum circumcisionis, operatus est et mihi inter Gentes)
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.
9 et cum cognovissent gratiam, quæ data est mihi, Iacobus, et Cephas, et Ioannes, qui videbantur columnæ esse, dextras dederunt mihi, et Barnabæ societatis: ut nos in Gentes, ipsi autem in circumcisionem:
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].
10 tantum ut pauperum memores essemus, quod etiam solicitus fui hoc ipsum facere.
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.
11 Cum autem venisset Cephas Antiochiam: in faciem ei restiti, quia reprehensibilis erat.
But [later while I was at] Antioch [city], after Peter came there, I told him directly [SYN] that what he was doing was wrong.
12 Prius enim quam venirent quidam a Iacobo, cum Gentibus edebat: cum autem venissent, subtrahebat, et segregabat se timens eos, qui ex circumcisione erant.
[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].
13 Et simulationi eius consenserunt ceteri Iudæi, ita ut et Barnabas duceretur ab eis in illam simulationem.
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]!
14 Sed cum vidissem quod non recte ambularent ad veritatem Evangelii, dixi Cephæ coram omnibus: Si tu, cum Iudæus sis, Gentiliter vivis, et non Iudaice: quomodo Gentes cogis Iudaizare?
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]”
15 Nos natura Iudæi, et non ex Gentibus peccatores.
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].
16 Scientes autem quod non iustificatur homo ex operibus legis, nisi per fidem Iesu Christi: et nos in Christo Iesu credimus, ut iustificemur ex fide Christi, et non ex operibus legis: propter quod ex operibus legis non iustificabitur omnis caro.
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.
17 Quod si quærentes iustificari in Christo, inventi sumus et ipsi peccatores, numquid Christus peccati minister est? Absit.
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].
18 Si enim quæ destruxi, iterum hæc ædifico: prævaricatorem me constituo.
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].
19 Ego enim per legem, legi mortuus sum, ut Deo vivam: Christo confixus sum cruci.
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.
20 Vivo autem, iam non ego: vivit vero in me Christus. Quod autem nunc vivo in carne: in fide vivo Filii Dei, qui dilexit me, et tradidit semetipsum pro me.
[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.
21 Non abiicio gratiam Dei. Si enim per legem iustitia, ergo gratis Christus mortuus est.
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).