Greetings from Paul
1 From:[a] Paul—an apostle not sent[b] from men or by a man, but by Jesus the Messiah,[c] and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me.
To: The churches in Galatia.
3 May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[d] be yours! 4 He gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father. 5 To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
There is No Other Gospel
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of the Messiah[e] and, instead, are following[f] a different gospel, 7 not that another one really exists. To be sure, there are certain people who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel about the Messiah.[g] 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you[h] a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned! 9 What we have told you in the past I am now telling you again: If anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that person be condemned! 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of people or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be the Messiah’s[i] servant.[j]
Jesus Himself Gave Paul His Message
11 For[k] I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a man, nor was I taught it, but it was revealed to me by Jesus the Messiah.[l] 13 For you have heard about my earlier life in Judaism—how I kept violently persecuting God’s church and was trying to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries, because I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
15 But when God, who set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son to me so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with another human being[m] at any time, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see[n] those who were apostles before me. Instead, I went away to Arabia and then came back to Damascus.
18 Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas,[o] and I stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Before God, what I’m writing to you is the truth.)[p] 21 Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 But the churches of the Messiah[q] that are in Judea did not yet know me personally. 23 The only thing they kept hearing was this: “The man who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy!” 24 So they kept glorifying God for what had happened to[r] me.
Footnotes
- Galatians 1:1 The Gk. lacks From
- Galatians 1:1 The Gk. lacks sent
- Galatians 1:1 Or Christ
- Galatians 1:3 Or Christ
- Galatians 1:6 Or Christ
- Galatians 1:6 Lit. Messiah for
- Galatians 1:7 Or Christ
- Galatians 1:8 Other mss. lack to you
- Galatians 1:10 Or Christ’s
- Galatians 1:10 Or slave
- Galatians 1:11 Other mss. read Now
- Galatians 1:12 Or Christ
- Galatians 1:16 Lit. with flesh and blood
- Galatians 1:17 The Gk. lacks see
- Galatians 1:18 I.e. Peter
- Galatians 1:20 Lit. is not a lie
- Galatians 1:22 Or Christ
- Galatians 1:24 The Gk. lacks what had happened to