Galatians 1:10-17

New International Version

¹⁰Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?^(A) If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul Called by God

¹¹I want you to know, brothers and sisters,^(B) that the gospel I preached^(C) is not of human origin. ¹²I did not receive it from any man,^(D) nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation^(E) from Jesus Christ.^(F)

¹³For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism,^(G) how intensely I persecuted the church of God^(H) and tried to destroy it.^(I) ¹⁴I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous^(J) for the traditions of my fathers.^(K) ¹⁵But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb^(L) and called me^(M) by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,^(N) my immediate response was not to consult any human being.^(O) ¹⁷I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.^(P)

Read full chapter

Isaiah 27

New International Version

Deliverance of Israel

27 In that day,^(A)

the Lord will punish with his sword^(B)—
his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan^(C) the gliding serpent,^(D)
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster^(E) of the sea.

²In that day^(F)—

“Sing^(G) about a fruitful vineyard:^(H)
³    I, the Lord, watch over it;
    I water^(I) it continually.
I guard^(J) it day and night
    so that no one may harm^(K) it.
⁴    I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
    I would march against them in battle;
    I would set them all on fire.^(L)
⁵Or else let them come to me for refuge;^(M)
    let them make peace^(N) with me,
    yes, let them make peace with me.”

⁶In days to come Jacob will take root,^(O)
Israel will bud and blossom^(P)
and fill all the world with fruit.^(Q)

⁷Has the Lord struck her
    as he struck^(R) down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
    as those were killed who killed her?
⁸By warfare^[a] and exile^(S) you contend with her—
    with his fierce blast he drives her out,
    as on a day the east wind^(T) blows.
⁹By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned^(U) for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:^(V)
When he makes all the altar stones^(W)
    to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles^[b]^(X) or incense altars^(Y)
    will be left standing.
¹⁰The fortified city stands desolate,^(Z)
    an abandoned settlement, forsaken^(AA) like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,^(AB)
    there they lie down;^(AC)
    they strip its branches bare.
¹¹When its twigs are dry, they are broken off^(AD)
    and women come and make fires^(AE) with them.
For this is a people without understanding;^(AF)
    so their Maker has no compassion on them,
    and their Creator^(AG) shows them no favor.^(AH)

¹²In that day the Lord will thresh^(AI) from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,^(AJ) and you, Israel, will be gathered^(AK) up one by one. ¹³And in that day^(AL) a great trumpet^(AM) will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled^(AN) in Egypt^(AO) will come and worship^(AP) the Lord on the holy mountain^(AQ) in Jerusalem.