1:1 Paul, an apostle not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead, |
1:2 and all the brethren who dwell with me, To the churches of Galatia: |
1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, |
1:4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, |
1:5 to whom we acknowledge the glory forevermore. Amen. |
1:6 I feel amazed that you have so quickly deserted Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; |
1:7 which we can't really call another; only some have disturbed you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. |
1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he should receive a curse! |
1:9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he deserves a curse! |
1:10 For do I now seek the favor of men, or of God? Or do I strive to please men? If I still tried to please men, I would not yield myself as a bond-servant of Christ. |
1:11 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which I preached did not come from man. |
1:12 For I neither received it from man, nor did any man teach it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. |
1:13 For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; |
1:14 and I had advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, acting more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. |
1:15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, took the pleasure |
1:16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, |
1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who became apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. |
1:18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. |
1:19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother. |
1:20 (Now in what I write to you, I assure you before God that I do not lie.) |
1:21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. |
1:22 The churches of Judea which had loyalty to Christ still did not know me by sight; |
1:23 but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy." |
1:24 And they glorified God because of me. |