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Galatians 2

1Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along as well. 2I went up in response to a revelation and laid before them the good news I proclaim among the Gentiles. I did this privately before those held in high regard, lest I be running, or have run, in vain. 3But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 4This arose because of false brothers brought in secretly, who slipped in to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us. 5We did not yield to them in submission even for an hour, so that the truth of the good news might remain with you.

6But from those regarded as important—whatever they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality—those held in high regard added nothing to me. 7On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the good news for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been for the circumcised— 8for the one who worked through Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised also worked through me for the Gentiles— 9and when they recognized the grace given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were regarded as pillars, gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, so that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10They asked only that we remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they came, he began drawing back and separating himself, fearing those of the circumcision. 13The other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that they were not walking straight in line with the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

15“We are Jews by birth and not sinners from among the Gentiles. 16Yet knowing that a person is not declared righteous by deeds of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be declared righteous by faith in Christ and not by deeds of the law, because by deeds of the law no flesh will be declared righteous. 17But if, while seeking to be declared righteous in Christ, we ourselves were also found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18For if I build again what I tore down, I show myself to be a transgressor. 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, 20and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over for me. 21I do not set aside God's grace, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”

Translation notes 8

2:1–2 — Fourteen years and running. Paul does not expressly say which event starts the fourteen-year period. The visit is not identified here with one particular visit in Acts. Running is an image of his work and its outcome; his concern need not mean he doubted his message's truth.

2:4–6 — An interrupted sentence. “This arose” supplies a bridge in Paul's broken construction; the precise grammatical link to the preceding verse is uncertain. “God shows no partiality” translates the idiom “God does not accept a person's face,” concerning status or standing.

2:7–10 — One good news, different recipients. Circumcised and uncircumcised designate the Jewish and Gentile fields of work. The wording does not require two different saving messages. “Pillars” and the right hand of fellowship retain the images of support and recognized partnership. “Go” and “they asked” make the compressed Greek clauses explicit.

2:11–14 — From James. Coming from James does not by itself establish that James ordered the withdrawal. “Those of the circumcision” may identify a particular circumcision group in this dispute rather than every Jewish believer. “Stood condemned” expresses Cephas's blameworthy position without naming a separate tribunal.

2:14–21 — Where the quotation ends. The draft carries Paul's address to Cephas through verse 21. The Greek does not mark its endpoint; Paul may turn directly to his readers earlier, especially at verse 15 or 17.

2:15–16 — Sinners and righteousness. Paul starts from a Jewish distinction between Jews and Gentile “sinners,” then insists that even Jewish believers need Christ. “Declared righteous” is the judicial language often translated “justified.” “Deeds of the law” means what the law requires; it is not restricted in the translation to circumcision or food practices. “No flesh” means no human being.

2:16, 20 — Faith in Christ. The Greek expressions can also mean “Jesus Christ's faithfulness,” “Christ's faithfulness,” and “the Son of God's faithfulness.” The explicit statement “we believed in Christ Jesus” supports the faith-in-Christ reading, but does not settle the meaning of the related nouns. The alternative remains substantial.

2:19–21 — Dying and living. The law, death, crucifixion, and life language is retained without adding an explanation of how each relation works. “In the flesh” here describes Paul's embodied life; the phrase does not automatically mean sinful behavior. “For nothing” means to no purpose, not without payment.