Galatians 1

¹Paul, an apostle — [sent] not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God [the] Father, who raised Him from [the] dead —

²and all the brothers with me, To the churches of Galatia:

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

⁴who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

⁵to whom [be] glory forever [and] ever. Amen.

⁶I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the [One who] called you by [the] grace of Christ [and are turning] to a different gospel —

⁷which is not even [a gospel]. Evidently some [people] are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.

⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!

⁹As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!

¹⁰{Am I} now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

¹¹For I want you to know, brothers, [that] the gospel I preached was not devised by man.

¹²I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught [it]; rather, [ I received it ] by revelation from Jesus Christ.

¹³For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

¹⁴I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries [and] was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

¹⁵But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called [me] by His grace, was pleased

¹⁶to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,

¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles [who came] before me, but I went into Arabia and [later] returned to Damascus.

¹⁸Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.

¹⁹But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

²⁰I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.

²¹Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

²²I was personally unknown, however, to the churches of Judea that [are] in Christ.

²³They only heard the account: “The [man who] formerly persecuted us {is} now preaching the faith {he} once tried to destroy.”

²⁴And they glorified God because of me.