1:1 From Paul,¹ an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead) 1:2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia.

1:3 Grace and peace to you² from God the Father and our³ Lord Jesus Christ, 1:4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, 1:5 to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one⁴ who called you by the grace of Christ and following⁵ a different⁶ gospel— 1:7 not that there is another gospel;⁷ but⁸ there are some who are disturbing you and wanting⁹ to distort the gospel of Christ. 1:8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach¹⁰ a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you,¹¹ let him be condemned to hell!¹² 1:9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!¹³ 1:10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people,¹⁴ or of God? Or am I trying to please people?¹⁵ If I were still trying to please¹⁶ people,¹⁷ I would not be a slave¹⁸ of Christ!

1:11 Now¹⁹ I want you to know, brothers and sisters,²⁰ that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.²¹ 1:12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source;²² instead I received it²³ by a revelation of Jesus Christ.²⁴

1:13 For you have heard of my former lifestyle²⁵ in Judaism, how I was persecuting the church of God to an extreme degree and trying to destroy it. 1:14 I²⁶ was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation,²⁷ and was²⁸ extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 1:15 But when the one²⁹ who set me apart from birth³⁰ and called me by his grace was pleased 1:16 to reveal his Son in³¹ me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from³² any human being,³³ 1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia,³⁴ and then returned to Damascus.

1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas³⁵ and get information from him,³⁶ and I stayed with him fifteen days. 1:19 But I saw none of the other apostles³⁷ except James the Lord’s brother. 1:20 Take note³⁸ that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you!³⁹ 1:21 Afterwards I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 1:22 But I was unknown in person⁴⁰ to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 1:23 They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news⁴¹ of the faith he once tried to destroy.” 1:24 So⁴² they glorified God because of me.⁴³