Galatians 1

New American Standard Bible

Introduction

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle (^(B)not sent from men nor through human agency, but ^(C)through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who ^(D)raised Him from the dead), ² and all ^(E)the brothers who are with me,

To ^(F)the churches of Galatia:

^3 (G)Grace to you and peace from ^[a]God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who ^(H)gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from ^(I)this present evil ^[b]age, according to the will of ^(J)our God and Father, ^5 (K)to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

Distortion of the Gospel

⁶ I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting ^(L)Him who called you ^[c]by the grace of Christ, for a ^(M)different gospel, ⁷ which is not just another account; but there are some who are ^(N)disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or ^(O)an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be ^[d](P)accursed! ⁹ As we ^(Q)have said before, even now I say again: ^(R)if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be ^[e](S)accursed!

¹⁰ For am I now ^(T)seeking the favor of people, or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a ^(U)bond-servant of Christ.

Paul Defends His Ministry

¹¹ For ^(V)I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is ^(W)not ^[f]of human invention. ¹² For ^(X)I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a ^(Y)revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ For you have heard of ^(Z)my former way of life in Judaism, how I ^(AA)used to persecute ^(AB)the church of God beyond measure and ^(AC)tried to destroy it; ¹⁴ and I ^(AD)was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my ^[g]countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ^(AE)ancestral traditions. ¹⁵ But when ^[h]He who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and ^(AF)called me through His grace was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me so that I might ^(AG)preach Him among the Gentiles, ^(AH)I did not immediately consult with ^[i](AI)flesh and blood, ^17 (AJ)nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to ^(AK)Damascus.

¹⁸ Then ^(AL)three years later I went up ^(AM)to Jerusalem to ^[j]become acquainted with ^[k](AN)Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I did not see another one of the apostles except ^[l](AO)James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (Now in what I am writing to you, ^[m]I assure you ^(AP)before God that I am not lying.) ²¹ Then ^(AQ)I went into the regions of ^(AR)Syria and ^(AS)Cilicia. ²² I was still unknown by ^[n]sight to ^(AT)the churches of Judea which are ^(AU)in Christ; ²³ but they only kept hearing, “The man who once persecuted us is now preaching ^(AV)the faith which he once ^(AW)tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they ^(AX)were glorifying God ^[o]because of me.