Galatians 1-3

Galatians 1

¹Paul, an Apostle (not from men, and not through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who made him come back from the dead),

²And all the brothers who are with me, to the churches of Galatia:

³Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁴Who gave himself for our sins, so that he might make us free from this present evil world, after the purpose of our God and Father:

⁵To whom be the glory for ever and ever. So be it.

⁶I am surprised that you are being so quickly turned away from him whose word came to you in the grace of Christ, to good news of a different sort;

⁷Which is not another sort: only there are some who give you trouble, desiring to make changes in the good news of Christ.

⁸But even if we, or an angel from heaven, were to be a preacher to you of good news other than that which we have given you, let there be a curse on him.

⁹As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man is a preacher to you of any good news other than that which has been given to you, let there be a curse on him.

¹⁰Am I now using arguments to men, or God? or is it my desire to give men pleasure? if I was still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

¹¹Because I say to you, my brothers, that the good news of which I was the preacher is not man's.

¹²For I did not get it from man, and I was not given teaching in it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³For news has come to you of my way of life in the past in the Jews' religion, how I was cruel without measure to the church of God, and did great damage to it:

¹⁴And I went farther in the Jews' religion than a number of my generation among my countrymen, having a more burning interest in the beliefs handed down from my fathers.

¹⁵But when it was the good pleasure of God, by whom I was marked out even from my mother's body, through his grace,

¹⁶To give the revelation of his Son in me, so that I might give the news of him to the Gentiles; then I did not take the opinion of flesh and blood,

¹⁷And I went not up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and again I came back to Damascus.

¹⁸Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and was there with him fifteen days.

¹⁹But of the other Apostles I saw only James, the Lord's brother.

²⁰Now God is witness that the things which I am writing to you are true.

²¹Then I came to the parts of Syria and Cilicia.

²²And the churches of Judaea which were in Christ still had no knowledge of my face or person:

²³Only it came to their ears that he who at one time was cruel to us is now preaching the faith which before had been attacked by him;

²⁴And they gave glory to God in me.

Galatians 2

¹Then after the space of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me.

²And I went up by revelation; and I put before them the good news which I was preaching among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were of good name, so that the work which I was or had been doing might not be without effect.

³But not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was made to undergo circumcision:

⁴And that because of the false brothers let in secretly, who came searching out our free condition which we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might make servants of us;

⁵To whom we gave way not even for an hour; so that the true words of the good news might still be with you.

⁶But from those who seemed to be important (whatever they were has no weight with me: God does not take man's person into account): those who seemed to be important gave nothing new to me;

⁷But, quite the opposite, when they saw that I had been made responsible for preaching the good news to those without circumcision, even as Peter had been for those of the circumcision

⁸(Because he who was working in Peter as the Apostle of the circumcision was working no less in me among the Gentiles);

⁹When they saw the grace which was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who had the name of being pillars, gave to me and Barnabas their right hands as friends so that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision;

¹⁰Only it was their desire that we would give thought to the poor; which very thing I had much in mind to do.

¹¹But when Cephas came to Antioch, I made a protest against him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.

¹²For before certain men came from James, he did take food with the Gentiles: but when they came, he went back and made himself separate, fearing those who were of the circumcision.

¹³And the rest of the Jews went after him, so that even Barnabas was overcome by their false ways.

¹⁴But when I saw that they were not living uprightly in agreement with the true words of the good news, I said to Cephas before them all, If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles, and not like the Jews, how will you make the Gentiles do the same as the Jews?

¹⁵We being Jews by birth, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

¹⁶Being conscious that a man does not get righteousness by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we had faith in Christ Jesus, so that we might get righteousness by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law will no flesh get righteousness.

¹⁷But if, while we were desiring to get righteousness through Christ, we ourselves were seen to be sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? In no way!

¹⁸For if I put up again those things which I gave to destruction, I am seen to be a wrongdoer.

¹⁹For I, through the law, have become dead to the law, so that I might be living to God.

²⁰I have been put to death on the cross with Christ; still I am living; no longer I, but Christ is living in me; and that life which I now am living in the flesh I am living by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who in love for me, gave himself up for me.

²¹I do not make the grace of God of no effect: because if righteousness is through the law, then Christ was put to death for nothing.

Galatians 3

¹O foolish Galatians, by what strange powers have you been tricked, to whom it was made clear that Jesus Christ was put to death on the cross?

²Give me an answer to this one question, Did the Spirit come to you through the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

³Are you so foolish? having made a start in the Spirit, will you now be made complete in the flesh?

⁴Did you undergo such a number of things to no purpose? if it is in fact to no purpose.

⁵He who gives you the Spirit, and does works of power among you, is it by the works of law, or by the hearing of faith?

⁶Even as Abraham had faith in God, and it was put to his account as righteousness.

⁷Be certain, then, that those who are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham.

⁸And the holy Writings, seeing before the event that God would give the Gentiles righteousness by faith, gave the good news before to Abraham, saying, In you will all the nations have a blessing.

⁹So then those who are of faith have a part in the blessing of Abraham who was full of faith.

¹⁰For all who are of the works of the law are under a curse: because it is said in the Writings, A curse is on everyone who does not keep on doing all the things which are ordered in the book of the law.

¹¹Now that no man gets righteousness by the law in the eyes of God, is clear; because, The upright will be living by faith.

¹²And the law is not of faith; but, He who does them will have life by them.

¹³Christ has made us free from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us: because it is said in the Writings, A curse on everyone who is put to death by hanging on a tree:

¹⁴So that on the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; in order that we through faith might have the Spirit which God had undertaken to give.

¹⁵Brothers, as men would say, even a man's agreement, when it has been made certain, may not be put on one side, or have additions made to it.

¹⁶Now to Abraham were the undertakings given, and to his seed. He says not, And to seeds, as of a great number; but as of one, he says, And to your seed, which is Christ.

¹⁷Now this I say: The law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, does not put an end to the agreement made before by God, so as to make the undertaking without effect.

¹⁸Because if the heritage is by the law, it is no longer dependent on the word of God; but God gave it to Abraham by his word.

¹⁹What then is the law? It was an addition made because of sin, till the coming of the seed to whom the undertaking had been given; and it was ordered through angels by the hand of a go-between.

²⁰Now a go-between is not a go-between of one; but God is one.

²¹Is the law then against the words of God? in no way; because if there had been a law which was able to give life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

²²However, the holy Writings have put all things under sin, so that that for which God gave the undertaking, based on faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who have such faith.

²³But before faith came, we were kept in prison under the law, waiting for the revelation of the faith which was to come.

²⁴So the law has been a servant to take us to Christ, so that we might have righteousness by faith.

²⁵But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a servant.

²⁶Because you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁷For all those of you who were given baptism into Christ did put on Christ.

²⁸There is no Jew or Greek, servant or free, male or female: because you are all one in Jesus Christ.

²⁹And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and yours is the heritage by the right of God's undertaking given to Abraham.