1:1 From Paul, ¹  an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead) 1:2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia. 1:3 Grace and peace to you ²  from God the Father and our ³  Lord Jesus Christ, 1:4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, 1:5 to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one ⁴  who called you by the grace of Christ ⁵  and are following ⁶  a different ⁷  gospel – 1:7 not that there really is another gospel, ⁸  but ⁹  there are some who are disturbing you and wanting ¹⁰  to distort the gospel of Christ. 1:8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach ¹¹  a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ¹²  let him be condemned to hell! ¹³  1:9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! ¹⁴  1:10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, ¹⁵  or of God? Or am I trying to please people? ¹⁶  If I were still trying to please ¹⁷  people, ¹⁸  I would not be a slave ¹⁹  of Christ!

1:11 Now ²⁰  I want you to know, brothers and sisters, ²¹  that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. ²²  1:12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; ²³  instead I received it ²⁴  by a revelation of Jesus Christ. ²⁵ 

1:13 For you have heard of my former way of life ²⁶  in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it. 1:14 I ²⁷  was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, ²⁸  and was ²⁹  extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. ³⁰  1:15 But when the one ³¹  who set me apart from birth ³²  and called me by his grace was pleased 1:16 to reveal his Son in ³³  me so that I could preach him ³⁴  among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from ³⁵  any human being, ³⁶  1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem ³⁷  to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, ³⁸  and then returned to Damascus.

1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem ³⁹  to visit Cephas ⁴⁰  and get information from him, ⁴¹  and I stayed with him fifteen days. 1:19 But I saw none of the other apostles ⁴²  except James the Lord’s brother. 1:20 I assure you ⁴³  that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you! ⁴⁴  1:21 Afterward I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 1:22 But I was personally ⁴⁵  unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 1:23 They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news ⁴⁶  of the faith he once tried to destroy.” 1:24 So ⁴⁷  they glorified God because of me. ⁴⁸ 

2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem ⁴⁹  again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2:2 I went there ⁵⁰  because of ⁵¹  a revelation and presented ⁵²  to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so ⁵³  only in a private meeting with the influential people, ⁵⁴  to make sure that I was not running – or had not run ⁵⁵  – in vain. 2:3 Yet ⁵⁶  not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 2:4 Now this matter arose ⁵⁷  because of the false brothers with false pretenses ⁵⁸  who slipped in unnoticed to spy on ⁵⁹  our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. ⁶⁰  2:5 But ⁶¹  we did not surrender to them ⁶²  even for a moment, ⁶³  in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ⁶⁴ 

2:6 But from those who were influential ⁶⁵  (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people ⁶⁶ ) – those influential leaders ⁶⁷  added ⁶⁸  nothing to my message. ⁶⁹  2:7 On the contrary, when they saw ⁷⁰  that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised ⁷¹  just as Peter was to the circumcised ⁷²  2:8 (for he who empowered ⁷³  Peter for his apostleship ⁷⁴  to the circumcised ⁷⁵  also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) ⁷⁶  2:9 and when James, Cephas, ⁷⁷  and John, who had a reputation as ⁷⁸  pillars, ⁷⁹  recognized ⁸⁰  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ⁸¹  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ⁸²  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ⁸³  2:10 They requested ⁸⁴  only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.

2:11 But when Cephas ⁸⁵  came to Antioch, ⁸⁶  I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong. ⁸⁷  2:12 Until ⁸⁸  certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this ⁸⁹  and separated himself ⁹⁰  because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. ⁹¹  2:13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them ⁹²  by their hypocrisy. 2:14 But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ⁹³  in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force ⁹⁴  the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

2:15 We are Jews by birth ⁹⁵  and not Gentile sinners, ⁹⁶  2:16 yet we know ⁹⁷  that no one ⁹⁸  is justified by the works of the law ⁹⁹  but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. ¹⁰⁰  And ¹⁰¹  we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ ¹⁰²  and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one ¹⁰³  will be justified. 2:17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages ¹⁰⁴  sin? Absolutely not! 2:18 But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, ¹⁰⁵  I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law. ¹⁰⁶  2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, ¹⁰⁷  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So ¹⁰⁸  the life I now live in the body, ¹⁰⁹  I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, ¹¹⁰  who loved me and gave himself for me. 2:21 I do not set aside ¹¹¹  God’s grace, because if righteousness ¹¹²  could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! ¹¹³