| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ 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 with me, To the churches of Galatia: | 2All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia. |
| 3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, | 3May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. |
| 4who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the 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 whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. | 5All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. There Is Only One Good News |
| 6I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to 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 |
| 7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ. | 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 preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse! | 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. |
| 9As 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! | 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 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. | 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 certify to you, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man. | 11Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. |
| 12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. | 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 of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried 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 was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. | 14I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors. |
| 15But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and 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 in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood, | 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 the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned 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. |
| 18Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him 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 saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. | 19The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother. |
| 20I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie. | 20I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie. |
| 21Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. | 21After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. |
| 22I was personally unknown, however, to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. | 22And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally. |
| 23They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching 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!” |
| 24And they glorified God because of me. | 24And they praised God because of me. |
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