Galatians 1

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle-not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead-
2 and all the brothers who are with me: To the churches of Galatia.[a]
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord [b] Jesus Christ,
4 who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

6 I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ, [and are turning] to a different gospel-
7 not that there is another [gospel], but there are some who are troubling you and want to change the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him![c]
9 As we have said before, I now say again: if anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him![d]
10 For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.

Paul Defends His Apostleship

11 Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on a human point of view.[e]
12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I persecuted God's church to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it;
14 and I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
15 But when God, who from my mother's womb set me apart[f] and called me by His grace, was pleased
16 to reveal His Son in me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.[g]
17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas,[h] and I stayed with him 15 days.
19 But I didn't see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.
20 Now in what I write to you, I'm not lying. God is my witness.[i]
21 Afterwards, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22 I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches in Christ;
23 they simply kept hearing: "He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy."
24 And they glorified God because of me.

Footnotes 9

  • [a]. A Roman province in what is now Turkey
  • [b]. Other mss read God our Father and the Lord
  • [c]. Or you, let him be condemned, or you, let him be condemned to hell; Gk anathema
  • [d]. Or received, let him be condemned, or received, let him be condemned to hell; Gk anathema
  • [e]. Lit not according to man
  • [f]. Jr 1:5
  • [g]. Lit flesh and blood
  • [h]. Other mss read Peter
  • [i]. Lit Behold, before God

Galatians 1 Commentaries

Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.