New Revised Standard NRS
Common English Bible CEB
1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.
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Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, and I took Titus along also.
2 I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain.
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I went there because of a revelation, and I laid out the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles for them. But I did it privately with the influential leaders to make sure that I wouldn't be working or that I hadn't worked for nothing.
3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
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However, not even Titus, who was with me and who was a Greek, was required to be circumcised.
4 But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us—
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But false brothers and sisters, who were brought in secretly, slipped in to spy on our freedom, which we have in Christ Jesus, and to make us slaves.
5 we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.
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We didn't give in and submit to them for a single moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue to be with you.
6 And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those leaders contributed nothing to me.
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The influential leaders didn't add anything to what I was preaching—and whatever they were makes no difference to me, because God doesn't show favoritism.
7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised
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But on the contrary, they saw that I had been given the responsibility to preach the gospel to the people who aren't circumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.
8 (for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles),
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The one who empowered Peter to become an apostle to the circumcised empowered me also to be one to the Gentiles.
9 and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
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James, Cephas, and John, who are considered to be key leaders, shook hands with me and Barnabas as equals when they recognized the grace that was given to me. So it was agreed that we would go to the Gentiles, while they continue to go to the people who were circumcised.
10 They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.
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They asked only that we would remember the poor, which was certainly something I was willing to do.
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned;
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But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was wrong.
12 for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.
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He had been eating with the Gentiles before certain people came from James. But when they came, he began to back out and separate himself, because he was afraid of the people who promoted circumcision.
13 And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
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And the rest of the Jews also joined him in this hypocrisy so that even Barnabas got carried away with them in their hypocrisy.
14 But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
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But when I saw that they weren't acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, "If you, though you're a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you require the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
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We are born Jews—we're not Gentile sinners.
16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.
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However, we know that a person isn't made righteous by the works of the Law but rather through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. We ourselves believed in Christ Jesus so that we could be made righteous by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the Law—because no one will be made righteous by the works of the Law.
17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
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But if it is discovered that we ourselves are sinners while we are trying to be made righteous in Christ, then is Christ a servant of sin? Absolutely not!
18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor.
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If I rebuild the very things that I tore down, I show that I myself am breaking the Law.
19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ;
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I died to the Law through the Law, so that I could live for God.
20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God's Son, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
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I don't ignore the grace of God, because if we become righteous through the Law, then Christ died for no purpose.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible