| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. | 1Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. |
| 2I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain. | 2I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. |
| 3But not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. | 3And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile. |
| 4This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. | 4Even that question came up only because of some so-called believers there—false ones, really —who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. |
| 5But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you. | 5But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you. |
| 6Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism)--they added nothing to me. | 6And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) |
| 7On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, | 7Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. |
| 8since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. | 8For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. |
| 9When James, Cephas, and John--those recognized as pillars--acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. | 9In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. |
| 10They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do. | 10Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do. Paul Confronts Peter |
| 11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. | 11But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. |
| 12For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. | 12When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. |
| 13Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. | 13As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. |
| 14But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, "If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?" | 14When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? |
| 15We are Jews by birth and not "Gentile sinners," | 15“You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. |
| 16and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. | 16Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” |
| 17But if we ourselves are also found to be "sinners" while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! | 17But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! |
| 18If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. | 18Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. |
| 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. | 19For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. |
| 20I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. | 20My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. |
| 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. | 21I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | 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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