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Galatians 1

1Paul, an apostle—not from human beings or through a human being, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2and all the brothers with me, to the assemblies of Galatia: 3Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different good news— 7which is not another good news at all. Rather, some people are troubling you and want to distort the good news of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should announce to you good news contrary to what we announced to you, let that one be accursed. 9As we have said before, I now say again: if anyone announces to you good news contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed.

10For am I now seeking the approval of human beings or of God? Or am I trying to please human beings? If I were still pleasing human beings, I would not be Christ's slave. 11For I make known to you, brothers, that the good news announced by me is not of human origin. 12I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

13For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: how violently I persecuted God's assembly and tried to destroy it. 14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, being far more zealous for my ancestral traditions. 15But when the one who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through his grace was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me, so that I might announce him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. Instead, I went away to Arabia and returned again to Damascus.

18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. 20What I am writing to you—look, before God, I am not lying. 21Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22I was still unknown by sight to the assemblies of Judea that are in Christ. 23They only kept hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now announcing the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24And they glorified God because of me.

Translation notes 5

1:2, 11 — Brothers and assemblies. “Brothers” retains Paul's family language and can address the women and men of the community. An assembly is the gathered community, not a building. “Christ” is the title-derived designation meaning Messiah, the anointed one; the letter's recurring name formulas retain it.

1:6–9 — Good news and the curse. “Good news” is the word often translated “gospel.” Paul denies that the rival announcement is a legitimate alternative. “Accursed” expresses a solemn curse, not merely disapproval or exclusion from a meeting.

1:10–12 — Human approval and revelation. The first question can also be understood as asking whom Paul is trying to persuade or win over. “A revelation of Jesus Christ” can mean a revelation from Christ or one in which Christ is disclosed; verse 16 emphasizes the disclosure of the Son.

1:15–17 — His Son in me. “In me” retains the Greek wording; “to me” emphasizes Paul's reception of the revelation, while “through me” emphasizes its public effect. “Flesh and blood” means human beings. The Greek base leaves God unnamed in verse 15, although he is clearly the one meant; other Greek editions explicitly add “God.” Paul's journey is given without importing a chronology from Acts.

1:18–19 — Cephas and James. Cephas is Peter's Aramaic name. Getting acquainted need not exclude conversation or learning, but the verb does not itself specify a formal investigation. The wording most naturally includes James among the apostles in this broader use of the word; “I saw no other apostle, but I did see James” is another possible construction.