Beginning

Greetings and Grace

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle—^(B)not sent from men nor through man, 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 our Father and the 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 forever and ever. Amen.

Distorting the Gospel

⁶ I marvel 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 really not another, only 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 proclaim to you a gospel ^[d]contrary to the gospel we have proclaimed to you, let him be ^[e](P)accursed! ⁹ As we ^(Q)have said before, so I say again now, ^(R)if any man is proclaiming to you a gospel ^[f]contrary to what you received, let him be ^[g](S)accursed!

¹⁰ For am I now ^(T)seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a ^(U)slave of Christ.

Paul Called by God

¹¹ For ^(V)I make known to you, brothers, that the gospel which I am proclaiming as good news is ^(W)not according to man. 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 conduct 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 countrymen, being far more zealous for the traditions of my ^(AE)fathers. ¹⁵ But when God, who had set me apart 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)proclaim Him as good news among the Gentiles, ^(AH)I did not immediately consult with ^[h](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 ^[i]become acquainted with ^(AN)Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I did not see any other of the apostles except ^[j](AO)James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (Now in what I am writing to you, ^[k]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 And I was still unknown by ^[l]sight to ^(AT)the churches of Judea which are ^(AU)in Christ; ²³ but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of ^(AV)the faith which he once ^(AW)tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they ^(AX)were glorifying God ^[m]because of me.

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years I ^(AY)went up again to Jerusalem with ^(AZ)Barnabas, taking ^(BA)Titus along also. ² And I went up ^[n]because of a ^(BB)revelation, and I laid out to them the ^(BC)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, lest somehow I might be ^(BD)running, or had run, in vain. ³ But not even ^(BE)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was ^(BF)compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ But this was because of the ^(BG)false brothers secretly brought in, who ^(BH)had sneaked in to spy out our ^(BI)freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to ^(BJ)enslave us. ⁵ But we did not yield in subjection to them for even ^[o]a moment, so that ^(BK)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ⁶ But from those who ^[p]were of high ^(BL)reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; ^(BM)God ^[q]shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, seeing that I had been ^(BN)entrusted with the ^(BO)gospel ^[r]to the uncircumcised, just as ^(BP)Peter had been ^[s]to the circumcised ⁸ (for He who worked in Peter unto his ^(BQ)apostleship ^[t]to the circumcised worked in me also unto the Gentiles), ⁹ and recognizing ^(BR)the grace that had been given to me, ^(BS)James and ^(BT)Cephas and ^[u]John, who were ^(BU)reputed to be ^(BV)pillars, gave to me and ^(BW)Barnabas the ^(BX)right ^[v]hand of fellowship, so that we might ^(BY)go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ Only they asked us to remember the poor—^(BZ)the very thing I also was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter (Cephas)

¹¹ But when ^(CA)Cephas came to ^(CB)Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he ^[w]stood condemned. ¹² For prior to the coming of certain men from ^(CC)James, he used to ^(CD)eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he began to shrink back and separate himself, ^(CE)fearing ^[x]the party of the circumcision. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even ^(CF)Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they ^(CG)were not ^[y]straightforward about ^(CH)the truth of the gospel, I said to ^(CI)Cephas before everyone, “If you, being a Jew, ^(CJ)live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?^[z]

¹⁵ “We are ^(CK)Jews by nature and not ^(CL)sinners from among the Gentiles; ¹⁶ nevertheless ^[aa]knowing that ^(CM)a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by ^(CN)faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since ^(CO)by the works of ^[ab]the Law no ^[ac]flesh will be justified. ¹⁷ But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found ^(CP)sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? ^(CQ)May it never be! ¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I ^(CR)prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through ^[ad]the Law I ^(CS)died to ^[ae]the Law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰ I have been ^(CT)crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but ^(CU)Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in ^(CV)the Son of God, who ^(CW)loved me and ^(CX)gave Himself up for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for ^(CY)if righteousness comes through ^[af]the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

3 O foolish ^(CZ)Galatians, who bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ ^(DA)was publicly portrayed as crucified? ² This is the only thing I want to learn from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of ^[ag]the Law, or by ^[ah](DB)hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun ^[ai]by the Spirit, are you now ^[aj]being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you ^[ak]suffer so many things for nothing—^(DC)if indeed it was for nothing? ⁵ So then, does He who ^(DD)provides you with the Spirit and ^(DE)works ^[al]miracles among you, do it by the works of ^[am]the Law, or by ^[an](DF)hearing with faith?

⁶ Just as ^(DG)Abraham ^(DH)believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, ⁷ so know that ^(DI)those who are of faith, those are ^(DJ)sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God ^[ao]would justify the ^[ap]Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “^(DK)All the nations will be blessed in you.” ⁹ So then ^(DL)those who are of faith are blessed with ^[aq]Abraham, the believer.

¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of ^[ar]the Law are under a curse, for it is written, “^(DM)Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to do them.” ¹¹ Now that ^(DN)no one is justified ^[as]by ^[at]the Law before God is evident, ^[au]for “^(DO)The righteous shall live by faith.” ^12 [av]However, the Law is not ^[aw]of faith; rather, “^(DP)He who does them shall live ^[ax]by them.” ¹³ Christ ^(DQ)redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “^(DR)Cursed is everyone who hangs on ^(DS)a ^[ay]tree”— ¹⁴ in order that ^(DT)in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ^[az]come to the Gentiles, so that we ^(DU)would receive ^(DV)the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The Promise by Faith

^15 (DW)Brothers, ^(DX)I speak ^[ba]in human terms: ^(DY)even though it is only a man’s ^[bb]covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds ^[bc]conditions to it. ¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken ^(DZ)to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And ^(EA)to your seed,” that is, Christ. ¹⁷ And what I am saying is this: the Law, which came ^(EB)430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to abolish the promise. ¹⁸ For ^(EC)if the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise, but ^(ED)God has granted it to Abraham through promise.

^19 (EE)Why the Law then? It was added ^[bd]because of trespasses, having been ^(EF)ordained through angels ^(EG)by the hand of a mediator, until ^(EH)the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. ²⁰ Now ^(EI)a mediator is not ^[be]for one person only, whereas God is one. ²¹ Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? ^(EJ)May it never be! For ^(EK)if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed be by law. ²² But the Scripture has ^(EL)shut up ^[bf]everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³ But before faith came, we were held in custody under the Law, ^(EM)being shut up for the coming faith to be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the Law has become our ^(EN)tutor unto Christ, so that ^(EO)we may be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a ^[bg](EP)tutor. ²⁶ For you are all ^(EQ)sons of God through faith in ^(ER)Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For all of you who were ^(ES)baptized into Christ have ^(ET)clothed yourselves with Christ. ^28 (EU)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no ^(EV)male and female, for ^(EW)you are all one in ^(EX)Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if ^(EY)you ^[bh]belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s ^[bi]seed, heirs according to ^(EZ)promise.