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12 For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.[a]

13 [b]For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it,(A) 14 and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:12 Although Paul received his gospel through a revelation from Christ, this did not exclude his use of early Christian confessional formulations. See note on Gal 1:4.
  2. 1:13–17 Along with Phil 3:4–11, which also moves from autobiography to its climax in a discussion on justification by faith (cf. Gal 2:15–21), this passage is Paul’s chief account of the change from his former way of life (Gal 1:13) to service as a Christian missionary (Gal 1:16); cf. Acts 9:1–22; 22:4–16; 26:9–18. Paul himself does not use the term “conversion” but stresses revelation (Gal 1:12, 16). In Gal 1:15 his language echoes the Old Testament prophetic call of Jeremiah. Unlike the account in Acts (cf. Acts 22:4–16), the calling of Paul here includes the mission to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles (Gal 1:16).

12 I did not receive it from any man,(A) nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation(B) from Jesus Christ.(C)

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism,(D) how intensely I persecuted the church of God(E) and tried to destroy it.(F) 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous(G) for the traditions of my fathers.(H)

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