New International Version NIV
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.
1
Then 14 years later I went to Jerusalem again with Barnabas. I also took Titus along.
2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.
2
I went in response to a revelation [from God]. I showed them the way I spread the Good News among people who are not Jewish. I did this in a private meeting with those recognized as important people to see whether all my efforts had been wasted.
3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.
3
Titus was with me, and although he is Greek, no one forced him to be circumcised.
4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.
4
False Christians were brought in. They slipped in as spies to learn about the freedom Christ Jesus gives us. They hoped to find a way to control us.
5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
5
But we did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the Good News would always be yours.
6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message.
6
Those who were recognized as important people didn't add a single thing to my message. (What sort of people they were makes no difference to me, since God doesn't play favorites.)
7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.
7
In fact, they saw that I had been entrusted with telling the Good News to people who are not circumcised as Peter had been entrusted to tell it to those who are circumcised.
8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.
8
The one who made Peter an apostle to Jewish people also made me an apostle to people who are not Jewish.
9 James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
9
James, Cephas, and John (who were recognized as the most important people) acknowledged that God had given me this special gift. So they shook hands with Barnabas and me, agreeing to be our partners. It was understood that we would work among the people who are not Jewish and they would work among Jewish people.
10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
10
The only thing they asked us to do was to remember the poor, the very thing which I was eager to do.
11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
11
When Cephas came to Antioch, I had to openly oppose him because he was completely wrong.
12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. 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.
12
He ate with people who were not Jewish until some men James had sent [from Jerusalem] arrived. Then Cephas drew back and would not associate with people who were not Jewish. He was afraid of those who insisted that circumcision was necessary.
13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
13
The other Jewish Christians also joined him in this hypocrisy. Even Barnabas was swept along with them.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
14
But I saw that they were not properly following the truth of the Good News. So I told Cephas in front of everyone, "You're Jewish, but you live like a person who is not Jewish. So how can you insist that people who are not Jewish must live like Jews?"
15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles
15
We are Jewish by birth, not sinners from other nations.
16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
16
Yet, we know that people don't receive God's approval because of their own efforts to live according to a set of standards, but only by believing in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Jesus Christ in order to receive God's approval by faith in Christ and not because of our own efforts. People won't receive God's approval because of their own efforts to live according to a set of standards.
17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
17
If we, the same people who are searching for God's approval in Christ, are still sinners, does that mean that Christ encourages us to sin? That's unthinkable!
18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
18
If I rebuild something that I've torn down, I admit that I was wrong to tear it down.
19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
19
When I tried to obey the law's standards, those laws killed me. As a result, I live in a relationship with God. I have been crucified with Christ.
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
20
I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live I live by believing in God's Son, who loved me and took the punishment for my sins.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
21
I don't reject God's kindness. If we receive God's approval by obeying laws, then Christ's death was pointless.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.