Galatians 1:1-24

  • Greetings (1-5)

  • No other good news (6-9)

  • Good news preached by Paul comes from God (10-12)

  • Paul’s conversion and early activity (13-24)

1  Paul, an apostle, neither from men nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ+ and God the Father,+ who raised him up from the dead,  and all the brothers with me, to the congregations of Ga·laʹti·a:  May you have undeserved kindness and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He gave himself for our sins+ so that he might rescue us from the present wicked system of things*+ according to the will of our God and Father,+  to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.  I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away* from the One who called you with Christ’s undeserved kindness to another sort of good news.+  Not that there is another good news; but there are certain ones who are causing you trouble+ and wanting to distort the good news about the Christ.  However, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to you as good news something beyond the good news we declared to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, I now say again, Whoever is declaring to you as good news something beyond what you accepted, let him be accursed. 10  Is it, in fact, men I am now trying to persuade or God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I would not be Christ’s slave. 11  For I want you to know, brothers, that the good news I declared to you is not of human origin;+ 12  for neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it was through a revelation by Jesus Christ. 13  Of course, you heard about my conduct formerly in Juʹda·ism,+ that I kept intensely* persecuting the congregation of God and devastating it;+ 14  and I was making greater progress in Juʹda·ism than many of my own age in my nation, as I was far more zealous for the traditions of my fathers.+ 15  But when God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through his undeserved kindness,+ thought good 16  to reveal his Son through me so that I might declare the good news about him to the nations,+ I did not immediately consult with any human;* 17  nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before I was, but I went to Arabia, and then I returned to Damascus.+ 18  Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem+ to visit Ceʹphas,*+ and I stayed with him for 15 days. 19  But I did not see any of the other apostles, only James+ the brother of the Lord. 20  Now regarding the things I am writing you, I assure you before God that I am not lying. 21  After that I went into the regions of Syria and Ci·liʹcia.+ 22  But I was personally unknown to the congregations of Ju·deʹa that were in union with Christ. 23  They only used to hear: “The man who formerly persecuted us+ is now declaring the good news about the faith that he formerly devastated.”+ 24  So they began glorifying God because of me.

Footnotes

Or “wicked age.” See Glossary.
Or “are being so quickly removed.”
Lit., “that to the point of excess I kept.”
Lit., “with flesh and blood.”
Also called Peter.