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

Paul Defends His Ministry

¹¹ For ^(C)I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is ^(D)not ^[a]of human invention. ¹² For ^(E)I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a ^(F)revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ For you have heard of ^(G)my former way of life in Judaism, how I ^(H)used to persecute ^(I)the church of God beyond measure and ^(J)tried to destroy it; ¹⁴ and I ^(K)was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my ^[b]countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ^(L)ancestral traditions. ¹⁵ But when ^[c]He who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and ^(M)called me through His grace was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me so that I might ^(N)preach Him among the Gentiles, ^(O)I did not immediately consult with ^[d](P)flesh and blood, ^17 (Q)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 ^(R)Damascus.

¹⁸ Then ^(S)three years later I went up ^(T)to Jerusalem to ^[e]become acquainted with ^[f](U)Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I did not see another one of the apostles except ^[g](V)James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (Now in what I am writing to you, ^[h]I assure you ^(W)before God that I am not lying.) ²¹ Then ^(X)I went into the regions of ^(Y)Syria and ^(Z)Cilicia. ²² I was still unknown by ^[i]sight to ^(AA)the churches of Judea which are ^(AB)in Christ; ²³ but they only kept hearing, “The man who once persecuted us is now preaching ^(AC)the faith which he once ^(AD)tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they ^(AE)were glorifying God ^[j]because of me.

The Council at Jerusalem

2 Then after an interval of fourteen years I ^(AF)went up again to Jerusalem with ^(AG)Barnabas, taking ^(AH)Titus along also. ^2 [k]It was because of a ^(AI)revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the ^(AJ)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that somehow I might be ^(AK)running, or had run, in vain. ³ But not even ^(AL)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was ^(AM)compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ Yet it was a concern because of the ^(AN)false brothers secretly brought in, who ^(AO)had sneaked in to spy on our ^(AP)freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to ^(AQ)enslave us. ⁵ But we did not yield in subjection to them, even for an hour, so that ^(AR)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ⁶ But from those who ^[l]were of considerable ^(AS)repute (what they were makes no difference to me; ^(AT)God shows no favoritism)—well, those who were of repute contributed nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, seeing that I had been ^(AU)entrusted with the ^(AV)gospel ^[m]to the uncircumcised, just as ^(AW)Peter had been ^[n]to the circumcised ⁸ (for He who was at work for Peter in his ^(AX)apostleship ^[o]to the circumcised was at work for me also to the Gentiles), ⁹ and recognizing ^(AY)the grace that had been given to me, ^[p](AZ)James and ^[q](BA)Cephas and John, who were ^(BB)reputed to be ^(BC)pillars, gave to me and ^(BD)Barnabas the ^(BE)right ^[r]hand of fellowship, so that we might ^(BF)go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They only asked us to remember the poor—^(BG)the very thing I also was eager to do.