The Letter of Paul to the

GALATIANS

Chapter 1

Introduction

1 Paul, aan apostle (bnot sent from men nor through the agency of man, but cthrough Jesus Christ and God the Father, who draised Him from the dead),

2 and all athe brethren who are with me,

To bthe churches of Galatia:

3 aGrace to you and peace from 1God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

4 who agave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from bthis present evil 1age, according to the will of cour God and Father,

5 ato whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

Perversion of the Gospel

6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting aHim who called you 1by the grace of Christ, for a bdifferent gospel;

7 which is really not another; only there are some who are adisturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

8 But even if we, or aan angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel 1contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be 2baccursed!

9 As we ahave said before, so I say again now, bif any man is preaching to you a gospel 1contrary to what you received, he is to be 2caccursed!

10 For am I now aseeking the favor 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 bbond-servant of Christ.

Paul Defends His Ministry

11 For aI would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is bnot according to man.

12 For aI neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a brevelation of Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of amy former manner of life in Judaism, how I bused to persecute cthe church of God beyond measure and dtried to destroy it;

14 and I awas advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my 1countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my bancestral traditions.

15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and acalled me through His grace, was pleased

16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might apreach Him among the Gentiles, bI did not immediately consult with 1cflesh and blood,

17 anor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to bDamascus.

18 Then athree years later I went up bto Jerusalem to 1become acquainted with cCephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.

19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except 1aJames, the Lord’s brother.

20 (Now in what I am writing to you, 1I assure you abefore God that I am not lying.)

21 Then aI went into the regions of bSyria and cCilicia.

22 I was still unknown by 1sight to athe churches of Judea which were bin Christ;

23 but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching athe faith which he once btried to destroy.”

24 And they awere glorifying God 1because of me.

Chapter 2

The Council at Jerusalem

1 Then after an interval of fourteen years I awent up again to Jerusalem with bBarnabas, taking cTitus along also.

2 1It was because of a arevelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the bgospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be crunning, or had run, in vain.

3 But not even aTitus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was bcompelled to be circumcised.

4 But it was because of the afalse brethren secretly brought in, who bhad sneaked in to spy out our cliberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to dbring us into bondage.

5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that athe truth of the gospel would remain with you.

6 But from those who 1were of high areputation (what they were makes no difference to me; bGod 2shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.

7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been aentrusted with the bgospel 1to the uncircumcised, just as cPeter had been 2to the circumcised

8 (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his aapostleship 1to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles),

9 and recognizing athe grace that had been given to me, 1bJames and cCephas and John, who were dreputed to be epillars, gave to me and fBarnabas the gright 2hand of fellowship, so that we might hgo to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

10 They only asked us to remember the poor—athe very thing I also was eager to do.

Peter (Cephas) Opposed by Paul

11 But when aCephas came to bAntioch, I opposed him to his face, because he 1stood condemned.

12 For prior to the coming of certain men from 1aJames, he used to beat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, cfearing 2the party of the circumcision.

13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even aBarnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that they awere not 1straightforward about bthe truth of the gospel, I said to cCephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, dlive like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? 2

15 “We are aJews by nature and not bsinners from among the Gentiles;

16 nevertheless knowing that aa man is not justified by the works of 1the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by bfaith in Christ and not by the works of 1the Law; since cby the works of 1the Law no 2flesh will be justified.

17 “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found asinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? bMay it never be!

18 “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I aprove myself to be a transgressor.

19 “For through 1the Law I adied to 1the Law, so that I might live to God.

20 “I have been acrucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but bChrist lives in me; and 1the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in cthe Son of God, who dloved me and egave Himself up for me.

21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for aif righteousness comes through 1the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Chapter 3

Faith Brings Righteousness

1 1You foolish aGalatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ bwas publicly portrayed as crucified?

2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of 1the Law, or by 2ahearing with faith?

3 Are you so foolish? Having begun 1by the Spirit, are you now 2being perfected by the flesh?

4 Did you 1suffer so many things in vain—aif indeed it was in vain?

5 So then, does He who aprovides you with the Spirit and bworks 1miracles among you, do it by the works of 2the Law, or by 3chearing with faith?

6 1Even so aAbraham bbelieved God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

7 Therefore, 1be sure that ait is those who are of faith who are bsons of Abraham.

8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God 1would justify the 2Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “aAll the nations will be blessed in you.”

9 So then athose who are of faith are blessed with 1Abraham, the believer.

10 For as many as are of the works of 1the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “aCursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.”

11 Now that ano one is justified 1by 2the Law before God is evident; for, “3bThe righteous man shall live by faith.”

12 1However, the Law is not 2of faith; on the contrary, “aHe who practices them shall live 3by them.”

13 Christ aredeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “bCursed is everyone who hangs on ca 1tree”—

14 in order that ain Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might 1come to the Gentiles, so that we bwould receive cthe promise of the Spirit through faith.

Intent of the Law

15 aBrethren, bI speak 1in terms of human relations: ceven though it is only a man’s 2covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds 3conditions to it.

16 Now the promises were spoken ato Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “bAnd to your seed,” that is, Christ.

17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came afour hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

18 For aif the inheritance is 1based on law, it is no longer 1based on a promise; but bGod has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

19 aWhy the Law then? It was added 1because of transgressions, having been bordained through angels cby the 2agency of a mediator, until dthe seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

20 Now aa mediator is not 1for one party only; whereas God is only one.

21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? aMay it never be! For bif a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness 1would indeed have been 2based on law.

22 But the Scripture has ashut up 1everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, abeing shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

24 Therefore the Law has become our atutor to lead us to Christ, so that bwe may be justified by faith.

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a 1atutor.

26 For you are all asons of God through faith in bChrist Jesus.

27 For all of you who were abaptized into Christ have bclothed yourselves with Christ.

28 aThere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is 1neither male nor female; for byou are all one in cChrist Jesus.

29 And if ayou 1belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s 2descendants, heirs according to bpromise.

Chapter 4

Sonship in Christ

1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a 1child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is 2owner of everything,

2 but he is under guardians and 1managers until the date set by the father.

3 So also we, while we were children, were held ain bondage under the 1belemental things of the world.

4 But when athe fullness of the time came, God sent …