⁹ for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God.

¹⁰ This is why we work hard and continue to struggle,^[a] for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

⁸ Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. ⁹ So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?

² You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols.

¹³ Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.

Paul Remembers His Visit

2 You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] that our visit to you was not a failure.

¹⁶ And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:

¹⁵ “Friends,^[a] why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

²⁰ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. ²¹ The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’ ²² Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.

²³ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”