Greeting

¹Paul, an aapostle—bnot from men nor through man, but cthrough Jesus Christ and God the Father, dwho raised him from the dead— ²and all ethe brothers1 who are with me,

To fthe churches of Galatia:

³gGrace to you and peace hfrom God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴iwho gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present jevil age, according to the will of kour God and Father, ⁵to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

⁶I am astonished that you are lso quickly deserting mhim who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to na different gospel— ⁷onot that there is another one, but pthere are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or qan angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, rlet him be accursed. ⁹As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, rlet him be accursed.

¹⁰For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying sto please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a tservant2 of Christ.

Paul Called by God

¹¹For uI would have you know, brothers, that vthe gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.3 ¹²wFor I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it xthrough a revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹³For you have heard of ymy former life in Judaism, how zI persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely azealous was I for bthe traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵But when he cwho had set me apart dbefore I was born,4 and who ecalled me by his grace, ¹⁶was pleased to reveal his Son to5 me, in order fthat I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;6 ¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

¹⁸Then gafter three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹But I saw none of the other apostles except James hthe Lord's brother. ²⁰(In what I am writing to you, ibefore God, I do not lie!) ²¹jThen I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²²And I was still unknown in person to kthe churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴And they glorified God because of me.

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Paul Accepted by the Apostles

¹Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ²I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those lwho seemed influential) the gospel that mI proclaim among the Gentiles, nin order to make sure I was not running or had not orun in vain. ³But even Titus, who was with me, pwas not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. ⁴qYet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who rslipped in to spy out sour freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, tso that they might bring us into slavery— ⁵to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that uthe truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. ⁶And from those vwho seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; wGod shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential xadded nothing to me. ⁷On the contrary, when they saw that I had been yentrusted with zthe gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised ⁸(for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), ⁹and when James and Cephas and John, vwho seemed to be apillars, perceived the bgrace that was given to me, they cgave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰Only, they asked us to remember the poor, dthe very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

¹¹But ewhen Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him fto his face, because he stood condemned. ¹²For before certain men came from James, ghe was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing hthe circumcision party.1 ¹³And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that their iconduct was not in step with jthe truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas kbefore them all, “If you, though a Jew, llive like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

¹⁵We ourselves are Jews by birth and not mGentile sinners; ¹⁶yet we know that na person is not justified2 by works of the law obut through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, pbecause by works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found qto be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹For through the law I rdied to the law, so that I might slive to God. ²⁰I have been tcrucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives uin me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, vwho loved me and wgave himself for me. ²¹I do not nullify the grace of God, for xif righteousness3 were through the law, ythen Christ died for no purpose.

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By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

¹O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? zIt was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly aportrayed as crucified. ²Let me ask you only this: bDid you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by chearing with faith? ³Are you so foolish? dHaving begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by1 the flesh? ⁴eDid you suffer2 so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and fworks miracles among you do so gby works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ⁶just as hAbraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

⁷Know then that it is ithose of faith who are jthe sons of Abraham. ⁸And the Scripture, foreseeing that kGod would justify3 the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, l“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁰For all who rely on works of the law are munder a curse; for it is written, n“Cursed be everyone who does not oabide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” ¹¹Now it is evident that pno one is justified before God by the law, for q“The righteous shall live by faith.”4 ¹²But the law is not of faith, rather r“The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³Christ sredeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, t“Cursed is everyone who is hanged uon a tree”— ¹⁴so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might vcome to the Gentiles, so that wwe might receive xthe promised Spirit5 through faith.

The Law and the Promise

¹⁵yTo give a human example, brothers:6 zeven with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. ¹⁶Now athe promises were made bto Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, c“And to your offspring,” who is Christ. ¹⁷This is what I mean: the law, which came d430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as eto make the promise void. ¹⁸For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but fGod gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹Why then the law? gIt was added because of transgressions, huntil the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was iput in place through angels jby an intermediary. ²⁰Now kan intermediary implies more than one, but lGod is one.

²¹Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For mif a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²²But the Scripture nimprisoned everything under sin, so that othe promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given pto those who believe.

²³Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, qimprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴So then, rthe law was our sguardian until Christ came, tin order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶for in Christ Jesus uyou are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷For as many of you as vwere baptized winto Christ have xput on Christ. ²⁸yThere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave7 nor free, zthere is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And aif you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, bheirs according to promise.

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Sons and Heirs

¹I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,1 though he is the owner of everything, ²but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³In the same way we also, when we were children, cwere enslaved to the elementary principles2 of the world. ⁴But dwhen the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, eborn fof woman, born gunder the law, ⁵hto redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive iadoption as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God has sent jthe Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then kan heir through God.

Paul's Concern for the Galatians

⁸Formerly, when you ldid not know God, you mwere enslaved to those that by nature nare not gods. ⁹But now that you have come to know God, or rather oto be known by God, phow can you turn back again to qthe weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? ¹⁰rYou observe days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹I am afraid sI may have labored over you in vain.

¹²Brothers,3 tI entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. uYou did me no wrong. ¹³You know it was vbecause of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you wat first, ¹⁴and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me xas an angel of God, yas Christ Jesus. ¹⁵What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Have I then become your enemy by ztelling you the truth?4 ¹⁷They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. ¹⁸It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and anot only when I am present with you, ¹⁹bmy little children, cfor whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ dis formed in you! ²⁰I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

²¹Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, eone by a slave woman and fone by a free woman. ²³But gthe son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while hthe son of the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two icovenants. jOne is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. ²⁵Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;5 she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶But kthe Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷For it is written,

l“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;

break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than those of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸Now you,6 brothers, mlike Isaac, nare children of promise. ²⁹But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh opersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, pso also it is now. ³⁰But what does the Scripture say? q“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but rof the free woman.

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