Galatians 1:1-12

Contemporary English Version

1 ^1-2 From the apostle Paul and from all the Lord's followers with me.

I was chosen to be an apostle by Jesus Christ and by God the Father, who raised him from death. No mere human chose or appointed me to this work.

To the churches in Galatia:

³ I pray that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace! ⁴ Christ obeyed God our Father and gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins to rescue us from this evil world. ⁵ God will be given glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Only True Message

⁶ I am shocked that you have so quickly turned from God, who chose you with his gift of undeserved grace.^[a] You have believed another message, ⁷ when there is really only one true message. But some people are causing you trouble and want to make you turn away from the good news about Christ. ⁸ I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you! It doesn't matter if that person is one of us or an angel from heaven. ⁹ I have said it before, and I will say it again. I hope God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from what you have already believed.

¹⁰ I am not trying to please people. I want to please God. Do you think I am trying to please people? If I were doing that, I would not be a servant of Christ.

How Paul Became an Apostle

¹¹ My friends, I want you to know that no one made up the message I preach. ¹² It wasn't given or taught to me by some mere human. My message came directly from Jesus Christ when he appeared to me.