Galatians 1-3 (New American Standard Bible)

Galatians 1

Introduction

 ¹Paul, ^(A)an apostle (^(B)not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but ^(C)through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who ^(D)raised Him from the dead),

 ²and all ^(E)the brethren who are with me, To ^(F)the churches of Galatia:

 ^3(G)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

 ⁴who ^(H)gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from ^(I)this present evil age, according to the will of ^(J)our God and Father,

 ^5(K)to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

Perversion of the Gospel

 ⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting ^(L)Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a ^(M)different gospel;

 ⁷which is really not another; only there are some who are ^(N)disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

 ⁸But even if we, or ^(O)an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be ^(P)accursed!

 ⁹As we ^(Q)have said before, so I say again now, ^(R)if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be ^(S)accursed!

 ¹⁰For am I now ^(T)seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a ^(U)bond-servant of Christ.

Paul Defends His Ministry

 ¹¹For ^(V)I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is ^(W)not according to man.

 ¹²For ^(X)I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a ^(Y)revelation of Jesus Christ.

 ¹³For you have heard of ^(Z)my former manner of life in Judaism, how I ^(AA)used to persecute ^(AB)the church of God beyond measure and ^(AC)tried to destroy it;

 ¹⁴and I ^(AD)was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ^(AE)ancestral traditions.

 ¹⁵But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and ^(AF)called me through His grace, was pleased

 ¹⁶to reveal His Son in me so that I might ^(AG)preach Him among the Gentiles, ^(AH)I did not immediately consult with ^(AI)flesh and blood,

 ^17(AJ)nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to ^(AK)Damascus.

 ¹⁸Then ^(AL)three years later I went up ^(AM)to Jerusalem to become acquainted with ^(AN)Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.

 ¹⁹But I did not see any other of the apostles except ^(AO)James, the Lord's brother.

 ²⁰(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you ^(AP)before God that I am not lying.)

 ²¹Then ^(AQ)I went into the regions of ^(AR)Syria and ^(AS)Cilicia.

 ²²I was still unknown by sight to ^(AT)the churches of Judea which were ^(AU)in Christ;

 ²³but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching ^(AV)the faith which he once ^(AW)tried to destroy."

 ²⁴And they ^(AX)were glorifying God because of me.

Galatians 2

The Council at Jerusalem

 ¹Then after an interval of fourteen years I ^(AY)went up again to Jerusalem with ^(AZ)Barnabas, taking ^(BA)Titus along also.

 ²It was because of a ^(BB)revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the ^(BC)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be ^(BD)running, or had run, in vain.

 ³But not even ^(BE)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was ^(BF)compelled to be circumcised.

 ⁴But it was because of the ^(BG)false brethren secretly brought in, who ^(BH)had sneaked in to spy out our ^(BI)liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to ^(BJ)bring us into bondage.

 ⁵But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that ^(BK)the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

 ⁶But from those who were of high ^(BL)reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; ^(BM)God shows no partiality)--well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.

 ⁷But on the contrary, seeing that I had been ^(BN)entrusted with the ^(BO)gospel to the uncircumcised, just as ^(BP)Peter had been to the circumcised

 ⁸(for He who effectually worked for Peter in his ^(BQ)apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles),

 ⁹and recognizing ^(BR)the grace that had been given to me, ^(BS)James and ^(BT)Cephas and John, who were ^(BU)reputed to be ^(BV)pillars, gave to me and ^(BW)Barnabas the ^(BX)right hand of fellowship, so that we might ^(BY)go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

 ¹⁰They only asked us to remember the poor--^(BZ)the very thing I also was eager to do.

Peter (Cephas) Opposed by Paul

 ¹¹But when ^(CA)Cephas came to ^(CB)Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

 ¹²For prior to the coming of certain men from ^(CC)James, he used to ^(CD)eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, ^(CE)fearing the party of the circumcision.

 ¹³The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even ^(CF)Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

 ¹⁴But when I saw that they ^(CG)were not straightforward about ^(CH)the truth of the gospel, I said to ^(CI)Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, ^(CJ)live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

 ¹⁵"We are ^(CK)Jews by nature and not ^(CL)sinners from among the Gentiles;

 ¹⁶nevertheless knowing that ^(CM)a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by ^(CN)faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since ^(CO)by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

 ¹⁷"But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found ^(CP)sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? ^(CQ)May it never be!

 ¹⁸"For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I ^(CR)prove myself to be a transgressor.

 ¹⁹"For through the Law I ^(CS)died to the Law, so that I might live to God.

 ²⁰"I have been ^(CT)crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but ^(CU)Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in ^(CV)the Son of God, who ^(CW)loved me and ^(CX)gave Himself up for me.

 ²¹"I do not nullify the grace of God, for ^(CY)if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

Galatians 3

Faith Brings Righteousness

 ¹You foolish ^(CZ)Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ ^(DA)was publicly portrayed as crucified?

 ²This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by ^(DB)hearing with faith?

 ³Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

 ⁴Did you suffer so many things in vain--^(DC)if indeed it was in vain?

 ⁵So then, does He who ^(DD)provides you with the Spirit and ^(DE)works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by ^(DF)hearing with faith?

 ⁶Even so ^(DG)Abraham ^(DH)BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

 ⁷Therefore, be sure that ^(DI)it is those who are of faith who are ^(DJ)sons of Abraham.

 ⁸The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "^(DK)ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU."

 ⁹So then ^(DL)those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

 ¹⁰For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "^(DM)CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM."

 ¹¹Now that ^(DN)no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "^(DO)THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

 ¹²However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "^(DP)HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM."

 ¹³Christ ^(DQ)redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "^(DR)CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON ^(DS)A TREE"--

 ¹⁴in order that ^(DT)in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we ^(DU)would receive ^(DV)the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Intent of the Law

 ^15(DW)Brethren, ^(DX)I speak in terms of human relations: ^(DY)even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.

 ¹⁶Now the promises were spoken ^(DZ)to Abraham and to his seed He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "^(EA)And to your seed," that is, Christ.

 ¹⁷What I am saying is this: the Law, which came ^(EB)four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

 ¹⁸For ^(EC)if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but ^(ED)God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

 ^19(EE)Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ^(EF)ordained through angels ^(EG)by the agency of a mediator, until ^(EH)the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

 ²⁰Now ^(EI)a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one.

 ²¹Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? ^(EJ)May it never be! For ^(EK)if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

 ²²But the Scripture has ^(EL)shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

 ²³But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, ^(EM)being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

 ²⁴Therefore the Law has become our ^(EN)tutor to lead us to Christ, so that ^(EO)we may be justified by faith.

 ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a ^(EP)tutor.

 ²⁶For you are all ^(EQ)sons of God through faith in ^(ER)Christ Jesus.

 ²⁷For all of you who were ^(ES)baptized into Christ have ^(ET)clothed yourselves with Christ.

 ^28(EU)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for ^(EV)you are all one in ^(EW)Christ Jesus.

 ²⁹And if ^(EX)you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to ^(EY)promise.