Study Desk

Paul,^(a) an apostle—not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father^(b) who raised Him from the dead^(c)—

and all the brothers who are with me: To the churches of Galatia.^[a](d)

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord^[b] Jesus Christ,

who gave Himself for our sins^(e) to rescue us from this present evil age,^(f) according to the will of our God and Father.^(g)

To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called^(h) you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

not that there is another gospel,⁽ⁱ⁾ but there are some^(j) who are troubling you and want to change the good news^[c] about the Messiah.

But even if we or an angel^(k) from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you,^(l) a curse be on him!^[d]

As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received,^(m) a curse be on him!

For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God?⁽ⁿ⁾ Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.

Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on human thought.^[e]

For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation^(o) from Jesus Christ.^(p)

For you have heard about my former way of life^(q) in Judaism:^(r) I persecuted^(s) God's church to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it.

I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.^(t)

But when God, who from my birth set me apart and called^(u) me by His grace, was pleased

to reveal His Son^(v) in me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.^[f]

I did not go up to Jerusalem^(w) to those who had become apostles^(x) before me; instead I went to Arabia^(y) and came back to Damascus.^(z)

Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem^(aa) to get to know Cephas,^[g](ab) and I stayed with him 15 days.

But I didn't see any of the other apostles except James,^(ac) the Lord's brother.

Now I am not lying in what I write to you. God is my witness.^[h]

Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria^(ad) and Cilicia.^(ae)

I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches in Christ;

they simply kept hearing: "He who formerly persecuted^(af) us now preaches the faith^(ag) he once tried to destroy."

And they glorified God because of me.