1:1 Paul, an Apostle sent not from men nor by any man, but by Jesus Christ and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from among the dead--

1:2 and all the brethren who are with me: To the Churches of Galatia.

1:3 May grace and peace be granted to you from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

1:4 who gave Himself to suffer for our sins in order to rescue us from the present wicked age in accordance with the will of our God and Father.

1:5 To Him be the glory to the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

1:6 I marvel that you are so readily leaving Him who called you by the grace of Christ, and are adhering to a different Good News.

1:7 For other "Good News" there is none; but there are some persons who are troubling you, and are seeking to distort the Good News concerning Christ.

1:8 But if even we or an angel from Heaven should bring you a Good News different from that which we have already brought you, let him be accursed.

1:9 What I have just said I repeat--if any one is preaching to you a Good News other than that which you originally received, let him be accursed.

1:10 For is it man's favour or God's that I aspire to? Or am I seeking to please men? If I were still a man-pleaser, I should not be Christ's bondservant.

1:11 For I must tell you, brethren, that the Good News which was proclaimed by me is not such as man approves of.

1:12 For, in fact, it was not from man that I received or learnt it, but by a revelation from Jesus Christ.

1:13 For you have heard of my early career in Judaism--how I furiously persecuted the Church of God, and made havoc of it;

1:14 and how in devotion to Judaism I outstripped many men of my own age among my people, being far more zealous than they on behalf of the traditions of my forefathers.

1:15 But when He who set me apart even from my birth, and called me by His grace,

1:16 saw fit to reveal His Son within me in order that I might tell among the Gentiles the Good News concerning Him, at once I did not confer with any human being,

1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were my seniors in the Apostleship, but I went away into Arabia, and afterwards came back to Damascus.

1:18 Then, three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to inquire for Peter, and I spent a fortnight with him.

1:19 I saw none of the other Apostles, except James, the Lord's brother.

1:20 In making these assertions I am speaking the truth, as in the sight of God.

1:21 Afterwards I visited Syria and Cilicia.

1:22 But to the Christian Churches in Judaea I was personally unknown.

1:23 They only heard it said, "He who was once our persecutor is now telling the Good News of the faith of which he formerly made havoc."