1Paul, Ac 13:9 an apostle — not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father Mt 5:16; 6:1; 11:27; Jn 8:42 who raised Him from the dead Ac 9:6; 20:24; 22:10-21; 26:16 —

2and all the brothers who are with me:

3Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Other mss read God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

4who gave Himself for our sins Rm 6:23; Ti 2:14 to rescue us from this present evil age, Mt 20:28; Rm 4:25; 1Co 15:3; Gl 2:20 according to the will of our God and Father. Php 4:20; 1Th 1:3; 3:11,13; Heb 10:7; 1Pt 3:17; Rv 10:7

5To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

6I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called Col 3:15; 1Pt 1:15 you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel —

7not that there is another gospel, Ac 4:12; 1Co 3:11 but there are some Jd 4 who are troubling you and want to change the good news Or gospel about the Messiah.

8But even if we or an angel Gn 16:7; Mt 13:49; Lk 1:11; Ac 5:19; Rv 14:6 from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, Rm 15:20 a curse be on him! Or you, let him be condemned, or you, let him be condemned to hell ; Gk anathema

9As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, Jd 3 a curse be on him!

10For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? 1Th 2:4 Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.

11Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on human thought. Lit not according to man

12For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation 1Pt 4:13 from Jesus Christ. 1Co 11:23; 15:3

13For you have heard about my former way of life 2Pt 3:11 in Judaism: Ac 8:1–9:2; 26:4; Php 3:5-6 I persecuted Php 3:6; 2Tm 3:12 God’s church to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it.

14I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. Mk 7:3

15But when God, who from my birth set me apart and called Mt 24:22; Col 3:15 me by His grace, was pleased

16to reveal His Son Jn 5:19; Heb 1:2 in me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. Lit flesh and blood

17I did not go up to Jerusalem Mt 23:37; Ac 8:1 to those who had become apostles Jd 17 before me; instead I went to Arabia Is 21:13; Jr 25:24; Ezk 27:21; Gl 4:25 and came back to Damascus. 2Sm 8:5

18Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem Ac 9:26 to get to know Cephas, Other mss read Peter Jn 1:42 and I stayed with him 15 days.

19But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, Jd 1 the Lord’s brother.

20Now I am not lying in what I write to you. God is my witness. Lit Behold, before God

21Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria Nm 23:7; Lk 2:2 and Cilicia. Ac 9:30; 11:25-26

22I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches in Christ;

23they simply kept hearing: “He who formerly persecuted Ac 8:1-3 us now preaches the faith Jd 3 he once tried to destroy.”

24And they glorified God because of me.