﻿Galatians.
Chapter 1.
Paul, an apostle—not from human beings or through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 
and all the brothers and sisters with me, to the churches of Galatia: 
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 
to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ, turning to a different gospel, 
which is not another gospel at all. There are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 
But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to the one we proclaimed to you, let him be accursed. 
As we have said before, I now say again: if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 
For am I now seeking the approval of people or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a slave of Christ. 
For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I proclaimed is not of human origin. 
I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 
For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, being far more zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 
But when the one who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased 
to reveal his Son in me so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood, 
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. Instead, I went away to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. 
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 
I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. 
As for what I am writing to you, I declare before God that I am not lying. 
Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 
I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 
They only kept hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.” 
And they glorified God because of me. 
