Galatians
Chapter 1
1 Paul, an apostle not chosen by people or through a person, but by Jesus Christ and God who brought him back from the dead.
2 Me and all the friends here send greetings to the churches in Galatia.
3 May you have kindness and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 He gave himself for our sins so he could save us from this evil world, as God our Father wanted.
5 May glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.
6 I am amazed that you are quickly turning away from God who called you by Christ’s grace to a different good news.
7 This is not really a different gospel, but some are troubling you, wanting to twist Christ’s good news.
8 Even if we or an angel from heaven tell you a different good news than what we already told you, that person should be considered cursed.
9 I told you before, and I say it again, if anyone teaches a different message than what you received, they should be rejected.
10 Am I now trying to win over people or God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I wouldn’t be Christ’s servant.
11 I assure you, friends, that the good news I shared was not made by people.
12 I did not get it from any person, nor was I taught it, but Jesus Christ revealed it to me.
13 You have heard about how I lived long ago, following the Jewish religion, and how I persecuted God’s church greatly and tried to destroy it.
14 I advanced in the Jewish faith more than many peers in my country, being much more passionate about the traditions of my ancestors.
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his kindness,
16 To show his Son through me, so I could tell about him to non-believers; I did not immediately consult with any person.
17 I did not go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me; instead, I went to Arabia and then came back to Damascus.
18 Three years later, I went to Jerusalem to meet Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days.
19 I did not see any other apostles, only James, the brother of the Lord.
20 I am telling you the truth, I am not lying, and God knows this.
21 Next, I went to the areas of Syria and Cilicia.
22 The churches in Judea that belonged to Christ did not know me by face.
23 They had only heard that the one who used to persecute us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.
24 They praised God because of me.