Galatians 1
New American Standard Bible
Introduction
1 Paul, (A)an apostle ((B)not sent from men nor through human agency, but (C)through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who (D)raised Him from the dead), 2 and all (E)the brothers who are with me,
To (F)the churches of Galatia:
3 (G)Grace to you and peace from [a]God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who (H)gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from (I)this present evil [b]age, according to the will of (J)our God and Father, 5 (K)to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
Distortion of the Gospel
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting (L)Him who called you [c]by the grace of Christ, for a (M)different gospel, 7 which is not just another account; but there are some who are (N)disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But 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 [d](P)accursed! 9 As we (Q)have said before, even now I say again: (R)if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be [e](S)accursed!
10 For am I now (T)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 (U)bond-servant of Christ.
Paul Defends His Ministry
11 For (V)I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is (W)not [f]of human invention. 12 For (X)I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a (Y)revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of (Z)my former way of life in Judaism, how I (AA)used to persecute (AB)the church of God beyond measure and (AC)tried to destroy it; 14 and I (AD)was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my [g]countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my (AE)ancestral traditions. 15 But when [h]He who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and (AF)called me through His grace was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might (AG)preach Him among the Gentiles, (AH)I did not immediately consult with [i](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.
18 Then (AL)three years later I went up (AM)to Jerusalem to [j]become acquainted with [k](AN)Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 But I did not see another one of the apostles except [l](AO)James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to you, [m]I assure you (AP)before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then (AQ)I went into the regions of (AR)Syria and (AS)Cilicia. 22 I was still unknown by [n]sight to (AT)the churches of Judea which are (AU)in Christ; 23 but they only kept hearing, “The man who once persecuted us is now preaching (AV)the faith which he once (AW)tried to destroy.” 24 And they (AX)were glorifying God [o]because of me.
Footnotes
- Galatians 1:3 One early ms God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ
- Galatians 1:4 Or world
- Galatians 1:6 Lit in
- Galatians 1:8 Gr anathema
- Galatians 1:9 Gr anathema
- Galatians 1:11 Lit according to man
- Galatians 1:14 Lit race
- Galatians 1:15 One early ms God who
- Galatians 1:16 I.e., people
- Galatians 1:18 Or visit
- Galatians 1:18 I.e., Peter
- Galatians 1:19 Or Jacob
- Galatians 1:20 Lit behold before God
- Galatians 1:22 Lit face
- Galatians 1:24 Lit in me
Galatians 1
New Living Translation
Greetings from Paul
1 This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
2 All the brothers and sisters[a] here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.
3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ[b] give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
There Is Only One Good News
6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.[c] You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Paul’s Message Comes from Christ
11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. 12 I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.[d]
13 You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. 14 I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.
15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him 16 to reveal his Son to me[e] so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.
When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being.[f] 17 Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.
18 Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter,[g] and I stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.
21 After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally. 23 All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” 24 And they praised God because of me.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
