International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
1From: Paul—an apostle not sent from men or by a man, but by Jesus the Messiah, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— | 1This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. |
2and all the brothers who are with me. To: The churches in Galatia. | 2All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia. |
3May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours! | 3May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. |
4He gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father. | 4Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. |
5To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen. | 5All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. There Is Only One Good News |
6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of the Messiah and, instead, are following a different gospel, | 6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News |
7not 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. | 7but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. |
8But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned! | 8Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. |
9What 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! | 9I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. |
10Am 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 servant. | 10Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. Paul’s Message Comes from Christ |
11For I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin. | 11Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. |
12For I did not receive it from a man, nor was I taught it, but it was revealed to me by Jesus the Messiah. | 12I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. |
13For you have heard about my earlier life in Judaism—how I kept violently persecuting God's church and was trying to destroy it. | 13You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. |
14I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries, because I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. | 14I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors. |
15But when God, who set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, was pleased | 15But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him |
16to reveal his Son to me so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with another human being at any time, | 16to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. |
17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me. Instead, I went away to Arabia and then came back to Damascus. | 17Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus. |
18Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. | 18Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. |
19But I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord's brother. | 19The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother. |
20(Before God, what I'm writing to you is the truth.) | 20I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie. |
21Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. | 21After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. |
22But the churches of the Messiah that are in Judea did not yet know me personally. | 22And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally. |
23The only thing they kept hearing was this: "The man who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy!" | 23All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” |
24So they kept glorifying God for what had happened to me. | 24And they praised God because of me. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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