A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Galatians 1
Galatians 1 is the opening chapter of the forty-eighth book of the Bible. The 24-verse chapter opens Paul's sharpest letter, written to churches in Galatia who have been swayed by teachers insisting that Gentile Christians must follow the Jewish law.
The chapter opens with Paul's greeting, but it differs from his usual style. He emphasizes immediately that his apostleship is not from any human source but from Jesus Christ and God the Father. The point will become important later in the chapter.
Paul skips his usual prayer of thanksgiving entirely. Instead, he goes straight into the issue. He is astonished that the Galatians are so quickly deserting the one who called them and turning to a different gospel, which is no gospel at all but a distortion. He pronounces a curse on anyone, even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different gospel from the one they have received. He repeats the curse for emphasis.
The chapter then becomes autobiographical. Paul makes the case that his gospel and his authority come directly from God, not from the Jerusalem apostles. He recounts his earlier life as a zealous persecutor of the church, advancing in Judaism beyond his peers. He describes his sudden conversion, when God revealed his Son to him so that he could preach Christ among the Gentiles.
He stresses that after his conversion he did not immediately consult with anyone. He went to Arabia, then back to Damascus. Only three years later did he go up to Jerusalem to meet Peter, and even then only for fifteen days. He saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. The chapter closes with Paul affirming under oath that he is not lying, and noting that the churches of Judea, having only heard reports, glorified God because of him.
Verse 1. Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead—
Verse 2. and all the brothers with me, To the churches of Galatia:
Verse 3. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Verse 4. who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Verse 5. to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Verse 6. I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
Verse 7. which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.
Verse 8. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!
Verse 9. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!
Verse 10. Am I now seeking the approval 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 servant of Christ.
Verse 11. For I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man.
Verse 12. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Verse 13. For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
Verse 14. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Verse 15. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased
Verse 16. to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,
Verse 17. nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
Verse 18. Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.
Verse 19. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
Verse 20. I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.
Verse 21. Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
Verse 22. I was personally unknown, however, to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
Verse 23. They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
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