Chapter 1

Paul, an apostle not holding his commission from men, not appointed by man’s means, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised him from the dead,

sends his greeting, and greeting from all the brethren who are with him, to the churches of Galatia.

Grace and peace be yours from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

He it is who has given himself up for our sins, to rescue us from the evil world that surrounds us, according to the will of God, who is our Father;

to him be glory for ever and ever, Amen.

I am astounded that you should be so quick to desert one who called you to the grace of Christ, and go over to another gospel;

this can only mean, that certain people are causing disquiet among you, in their eagerness to pervert the gospel of Christ.

Friends, though it were we ourselves, though it were an angel from heaven that should preach to you a gospel other than the gospel we preached to you, a curse upon him!

I repeat now the warning we gave you before it happened, if anyone preaches to you what is contrary to the tradition you received, a curse upon him!

Do you think it is man’s favour, or God’s, that I am trying to win now? Shall I be told, now, that I am courting the good will of men? If, after all these years, I were still courting the favour of men, I should not be what I am, the slave of Christ.

Let me tell you this, brethren; the gospel I preached to you is not a thing of man’s dictation;

it was not from man that I inherited or learned it, it came to me by a revelation from Jesus Christ.

You have been told how I bore myself in my Jewish days, how I persecuted God’s Church beyond measure and tried to destroy it,

going further in my zeal as a Jew than many of my own age and race, so fierce a champion was I of the traditions handed down by my forefathers.

And then, he who had set me apart from the day of my birth, and called me by his grace, saw fit

to make his Son known in me, so that I could preach his gospel among the Gentiles. My first thought was not to hold any consultations with any human creature;

I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles longer than myself; no, I went off into Arabia, and when I came back, it was to Damascus.

Then, when three years had passed, I did go up to Jerusalem, to visit Peter, and I stayed a fortnight there in his company;

but I did not see any of the other apostles, except James, the Lord’s brother.

Such is my history; as God sees me, I am telling you the plain truth.

Afterwards, I travelled into other parts of the world, Syria and Cilicia;

and all the time I was not even known by sight to the Christian churches of Judaea;

they only knew by hearsay, The man who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy,

and they praised God for what he had done in me.