New King James Version | New Living Translation |
1Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through 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 brethren who are 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 to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, | 3May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. |
4who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver 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 whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. | 5All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. There Is Only One Good News |
6I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, 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 another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert 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, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. | 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 preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. | 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. |
10For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant 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 |
11But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. | 11Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. |
12For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of 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 conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure 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. |
14And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly 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 it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, | 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, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer 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 those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again 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 after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained 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. |
20(Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.) | 20I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie. |
21Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. | 21After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. |
22And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. | 22And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally. |
23But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which 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 in me. | 24And they praised God because of me. |
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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. |
|