Galatians 1–4

1Paul, an apostle^a—sent not from men nor by a man,^b but by Jesus Christ^c and God the Father,^d who raised him from the dead^e—²and all the brothers and sisters^a with me,^f

To the churches in Galatia:^g

³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,^{h 4}who gave himself for our sinsⁱ to rescue us from the present evil age,^j according to the will of our God and Father,^{k 5}to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.^l

No Other Gospel

⁶I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called^m you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospelⁿ—⁷which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion^o and are trying to pervert^p the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you,^q let them be under God’s curse!^{r 9}As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,^s let them be under God’s curse!

¹⁰Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?^t If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul Called by God

¹¹I want you to know, brothers and sisters,^u that the gospel I preached^v is not of human origin. ¹²I did not receive it from any man,^w nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation^x from Jesus Christ.^y

¹³For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism,^z how intensely I persecuted the church of God^a and tried to destroy it.^{b 14}I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous^c for the traditions of my fathers.^{d 15}But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb^e and called me^f by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,^g my immediate response was not to consult any human being.^{h 17}I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.ⁱ

¹⁸Then after three years,^j I went up to Jerusalem^k to get acquainted with Cephas^b and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹I saw none of the other apostles—only James,^l the Lord’s brother. ²⁰I assure you before God^m that what I am writing you is no lie.ⁿ

²¹Then I went to Syria^o and Cilicia.^{p 22}I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea^q that are in Christ.^{r 23}They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith^s he once tried to destroy.”^{t 24}And they praised God^u because of me.

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

2Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem,^v this time with Barnabas.^w I took Titus^x along also. ²I went in response to a revelation^y and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles.^z I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race^a in vain. ³Yet not even Titus,^b who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.^{c 4}This matter arose because some false believers^d had infiltrated our ranks to spy on^e the freedom^f we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. ⁵We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel^g might be preserved for you.

⁶As for those who were held in high esteem^h—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritismⁱ—they added nothing to my message.^{j 7}On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task^k of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised,^al just as Peter^m had been to the circumcised.^{b 8}For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostleⁿ to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle^o to the Gentiles. ⁹James,^p Cephas^cq and John, those esteemed as pillars,^r gave me and Barnabas^s the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.^t They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles,^u and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor,^v the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

Paul Opposes Cephas

¹¹When Cephas^w came to Antioch,^x I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹²For before certain men came from James,^y he used to eat with the Gentiles.^z But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.^{a 13}The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas^b was led astray.

¹⁴When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,^c I said to Cephas^d in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.^e How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?^f

¹⁵“We who are Jews by birth^g and not sinful Gentiles^{h 16}know that a person is not justified by the works of the law,ⁱ but by faith in Jesus Christ.^j So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in^d Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.^k

¹⁷“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners,^l doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!^{m 18}If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹“For through the law I died to the lawⁿ so that I might live for God.^{o 20}I have been crucified with Christ^p and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.^q The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,^r who loved me^s and gave himself for me.^{t 21}I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,^u Christ died for nothing!”^e

Faith or Works of the Law

3You foolish^v Galatians!^w Who has bewitched you?^x Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.^{y 2}I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit^z by the works of the law,^a or by believing what you heard?^{b 3}Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?^{a 4}Have you experienced^b so much in vain—if it really was in vain? ⁵So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles^c among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?^{d 6}So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”^ce

⁷Understand, then, that those who have faith^f are children of Abraham.^{g 8}Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”^{dh 9}So those who rely on faithⁱ are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.^j

¹⁰For all who rely on the works of the law^k are under a curse,^l as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”^{em 11}Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God,ⁿ because “the righteous will live by faith.”^{fo 12}The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”^{gp 13}Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law^q by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”^{hr 14}He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,^s so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.^t

The Law and the Promise

¹⁵Brothers and sisters,^u let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. ¹⁶The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.^v Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”^iw meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years^x later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise;^y but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

¹⁹Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions^z until the Seed^a to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels^b and entrusted to a mediator.^{c 20}A mediator,^d however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

²¹Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not!^e For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.^{f 22}But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin,^g so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Children of God

²³Before the coming of this faith,^j we were held in custody^h under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.^{i 24}So the law was our guardian until Christ came^j that we might be justified by faith.^{k 25}Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.^l

²⁶So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God^m through faith, ²⁷for all of you who were baptized into Christⁿ have clothed yourselves with Christ.^{o 28}There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free,^p nor is there male and female,^q for you are all one in Christ Jesus.^{r 29}If you belong to Christ,^s then you are Abraham’s seed,^t and heirs^u according to the promise.^v

4What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. ²The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. ³So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery^w under the elemental spiritual forces^a of the world.^{x 4}But when the set time had fully come,^y God sent his Son,^z born of a woman,^a born under the law,^{b 5}to redeem^c those under the law, that we might receive adoption^d to…