Written to the congregation in Galatia, Asia Minor by or for the Apostle Paul (likely in Aramaic) about 50-CE.
Chapter 1
1 From Paul,
who was appointed an Apostle not by a man nor through a man, but through Jesus
the Anointed One and by God the Father who raised [Jesus] from the dead, 2 as well as from all the brothers that are
with me, to the congregations of Galatia;
3 May you receive loving care and peace
from God (our Father), and from the Lord Jesus the Anointed One…
4 The one who gave himself for our sins to
save us from this wicked age because it was the will
of our God and Father, 5 to
whom all glory belongs through the ages of ages…
May it
be so.
6 I’m amazed
that you’re so quickly making the change from the One that called you by the loving care of the Anointed One to a different type
of good news.
7 It really isn’t
another [good news], it’s just that certain ones among you are causing problems
and have made changes to the good news about the Anointed One.
8 However, if we or even a messenger from heaven were to come preaching
something to you as good news other than the good news that we’ve already
preached to you; let him be cursed!
9
Let me say that again.
Whoever preaches good news to you other than what you’ve
already believed; let him be cursed!
10 Indeed,
whose approval do you think I am presently seeking;
Do I wish to please God or
men?
Well, even if [I were trying to please] men, I would be servant of the Anointed
One anyhow.
11 So I want you to
understand this, brothers:
The good news that I preached as good news didn’t
come from men, 12 because I
didn’t get it from men, nor did any man teach it [to me].
[It came] through a
revelation from Jesus the Anointed One.
13 You’ve
heard about the way that I used to act [while I was involved] in Judaism, for I
fanatically persecuted the congregation of God and I was destroying it.
14 [I did this because] I was more
advanced in Judaism than many others of my own age and race, and I was far more
zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
15
But when The God who took me from my mother’s womb called [me] through His
loving care 16 to reveal His
Son through me so that I could preach the good news about him to the gentiles;
I
didn’t look for the advice of flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go to Jerusalem to see those that became
Apostles before me.
Rather, I went off to Arabia, and after that I returned to
Damascus.
18 In fact, I didn’t
go up to Jerusalem until some three years later, when I went to visit Cephas
(Peter) and I stayed with him for fifteen days.
19 However, I didn’t see any of the rest of the Apostles
other than the Lord’s brother James.
20 Look! I’m not lying to you about any of the things that I’m writing in the sight of God!
21 Then
after that, I traveled to the provinces of Syria and Kilikia…
22 So, those that were called by the Anointed One in Judea wouldn’t have
recognized my face.
23 All they
heard about me was:
‘The man that used to persecute us is now preaching the good
news about the same faith that he once tried to destroy.’
24 As the result, they glorified God because of me.
Chapter 2
1 Then after
fourteen years, I finally went to Jerusalem again, taking BarNabas and Titus
along with me.
2 And the reason
why I went there then, was because of a revelation [that I had received].
And
while I was there, I explained to the prominent ones about how I had been
preaching to the gentiles… however I did this privately, for fear that somehow
I had been running in vain.
3
Yet, though Titus (who was with me) was a Greek, they didn’t force him to get
circumcised then.
4 However,
they did bring in some false brothers who looked
down on the freedom we have in the Anointed Jesus
and who wanted to make us their slaves.
5
But we didn’t give in to them, not even for an instant, so that the truth of
the good news might continue among you!
6 And when
it came to those that seemed to be important (whatever they used to be makes no
difference to me, because God doesn’t go by what a man appears to be on the
outside), they didn’t show me anything new.
7
In fact, it was just the opposite; for when they saw that I had been entrusted
with the good news to the uncircumcised as Peter was to those that are
circumcised 8 (since the one
that gave Peter the powers of an Apostleship to the
circumcised also gave me such powers for the gentiles)…
9 Yes, when they came to know of the
loving care that had been shown to me, James, Cephas, and John (the ones that
seemed to be the pillars) gave BarNabas and I their approval to go to the
nations, while they would go to the circumcised.
10 They just told me to remember the poor, and I’ve tried
hard to do that.
11
Then when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, since I
knew that he was wrong.
12
Because, before certain men that came from James
arrived, he used to eat with the gentiles.
But after they arrived, he stopped
associating [with them] and [started acting like a Jew] in fear of those that
were circumcised.
13 And
because of this, all the rest of the Jews also joined in this performance, even
influencing BarNabas to join in this hypocrisy!
14 So when I
saw that they weren’t following the path of the truth of the good news, I said
to Cephas there in front of everyone:
‘If you are a Jew that lives as the
gentiles do, not as Jews do; why are you forcing gentiles to act like Jews?
15 For those of us that are natural Jews
(not sinners from the nations) 16
know that a man isn’t called righteous because of following the Law, but
because of his faith in the Anointed Jesus.
Even we had to put faith in the
Anointed Jesus so we could be called righteous by our faith in him…
But not by
following the Law, for no flesh will be declared righteous by following the
Law!
17 ‘Now, if
we are seeking to be called righteous through the Anointed One and we are still
found to be sinners; is the Anointed One just a servant to sin?
May that never
be so!
18 But if I’m found
rebuilding the things that I once tore down, this proves that I’m still a
sinner!
19 ‘As for
me; I died to the Law so that I could become alive to God.
20 Yes, I was hung on a pole along with
the Anointed One!
Therefore, I’m no longer the one that’s alive… it’s the
Anointed One that is living within me. So the life that I’m now living in the
flesh is being lived for the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over
for me.
21 As the result, I’m not
about to push aside the loving care of God.
For if righteousness came through the Law, then the Anointed One died in vain.’
Chapter 3
1 O you
foolish Galatians… yes, you whose eyes have seen what was written about Jesus
the Anointed One being impaled.
Who has cast this
evil spell over you?
2 I just
want to ask you this one thing:
Did you receive [God’s]
Spirit because you were obeying the Law, or because you believed in the
things that [you] heard?
3 Are you
really so foolish?
Did you start out in the Spirit just to end up in the flesh,
4 and did you go through so
much suffering for no reason?
For if there really wasn’t any reason for your
doing that;
5 Then, did the One
that gave you His Spirit and performs powerful works through you do this
because you’re obeying the Law, or because you put faith in the things that you
heard?
6 Remember that
AbraHam was considered righteous because he put his faith in Jehovah!
7
So, don’t you know that all who have such faith are the sons of AbraHam?
8 Now, the
reason why God gave the good news to AbraHam was because He saw ahead of time
that He would be calling gentiles righteous due to their faith.
For He said:
‘All the nations will be blest
because of you.’
9 Therefore,
those that have such faith are being blest along with faithful AbraHam!
10 Now,
everyone that is under the Law is under a curse, because
it is written:
‘Any man that doesn’t observe and obey all the words of this
Law is cursed!’
11 So it’s
obvious that no one is called righteous before God because of obeying the Law.
‘For it’s by their faith that the righteous will live.’
12 However,
the Law really doesn’t have anything to do with faith; rather, obeying [the
Law] is just a lifestyle.
13
And the Anointed One bought our freedom from the Law’s curse by becoming a
curse on our behalf.
For it’s
written:
‘Anyone that is hanged on a tree is
cursed before God.’
14 Therefore, the reason why this happened to him was so that the blessing of AbraHam could come through Jesus the Anointed One, and so that the gentiles could receive the promised Spirit… which [we have received] because of our faith!
15 Brothers,
allow me to explain this in human terms:
Nobody can change or destroy a valid
agreement between men.
16 And
notice that the promise was given to ‘AbraHam and his seed.’
It doesn’t say, ‘to
his seeds,’ as though there were many of them, but to just one, ‘his seed,’ who is the Anointed One!
17
Moreover, I tell you that the Sacred
Agreement that had been confirmed by The God some
four hundred and thirty years earlier and from which the Law came, didn’t supersede
the promise that He gave [to
AbraHam].
18 So if we could
only receive the inheritance by [following] the Law,
it couldn’t have come from the promise.
[Yet, notice that] God granted this
favor to AbraHam as a promise.
19 So, why
[do we have] the Law?
It was added to show us what sin was before the seed (the
one about whom the promise was given) would arrive.
And this was entrusted to
the hands of a mediator by [heavenly] messengers.
20 However, there’s no need for a mediator
when only one person is involved… and God is just one.
[Therefore, it was just
a promise].
21 Then did
the Law override God’s promise [to AbraHam]?
May that never be so!
For if the
Law had been provided to give [people] life, then the result of following the
Law would be righteousness.
22 However, following these scriptures
just locked everyone up in sin, so that the promise might be given to those that
believe through their faith in Jesus the Anointed One.
23 Yes,
before faith arrived, we were all locked up and prisoners to the Law until the
things that have to do with faith were revealed.
24 So the Law was just the tutor that led us to the
Anointed One and [to the promise] that we could be counted as righteous by our
faith.
25 And now that
the faith has arrived, we don’t need the tutor anymore!
26 The fact
is; you’ve all become sons of God through your faith
in the Anointed Jesus.
27
Indeed, all who are baptized into the Anointed
One have put on the Anointed One.
28
So there are no more Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen, males or females,
because you’re all in the Anointed Jesus.
29 And if you belong to the Anointed One;
as the promise told us, you are AbraHam’s seed and his heirs!
Chapter 4
1 Now, let me
say this:
As long as the heir is a baby, he isn’t any different from a slave.
For though he’s the master of everything, 2
he’s still under those that are in charge and under the manager of the house
until a day arrives that is set by his father.
3 And that’s how it used to be with us.
Back when we were
[spiritual] babies, we were slaves to the elementary things of this world.
4
But when the time arrived, God sent his Son (who was under the Law and came
through a woman) 5 so he could
buy those that were under the Law and adopt them as His sons.
6 And now that you’re [His] sons, God has
sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, where
it calls out, ‘Papa… Father!’
7
So you’re no longer slaves but sons. And as sons, you’re also heirs through God!
8 Therefore,
back when you didn’t know God, you were slaves to those that really aren’t gods.
9 But now that you’ve come to
know God (or rather, now that God has come to know you), why are you turning
back to those weak and sorry rules… why do you want to become slaves to them
once again?
10 For you’ve [gone
back to] the observance of days, months, seasons, and years…
11 So I’m afraid that all the work I’ve
done on your behalf has been wasted!
12
Brothers, I beg you to become like me, because I used to be just like you!
You’ve
never done me any wrong, 13 and
you surely recognized that I had a severe fleshly weakness when I preached the
good news to you the first time.
14
But even though this problem must have created difficulties for you, you didn’t
treat it with contempt or spit on it in disgust.
Rather, you received me like a
messenger from God… like the Anointed Jesus.
15 So where
is all the joy that you [once] had?
I can testify to the fact that if it had
been possible, you would have taken out your own eyes
and given them to me!
16 But have
I now become your enemy because I’m telling you the truth?
17 However,
[there are those that are now] zealously chasing after you for wrong reasons…
for they want to snip you off and make you their own zealous followers.
18 And it’s good for you to always be
zealously chased after (and not just when I’m with you), as long as it’s for a
good purpose.
19 O my
little children;
I’m enduring childbirth pains again until the Anointed One
becomes strong in you.
20 I
wish that I could be there with you right now and talk to you in a different
tone of voice… but I just don’t know how to help you!
21 So tell
me this, O you that want to be under the Law:
Don’t you hear what the Law
says?
22 It was written that
AbraHam had two sons, one by the slave girl and the other by the free woman.
23 The one that came through the slave girl
was born in the flesh, but the other ([the one that came] through the free
woman) [was born] through a promise.
24
So understand that this story is symbolic. For the two [women] symbolize two
sacred agreements.
[The first] one (Hagar) came from Mount Sinai and bore
children into slavery.
25 So
this Hagar means Sinai (a mountain in Arabia), and she symbolizes JeruSalem
today, which is in slavery with her children.
26
But the JeruSalem above is free, and she is our
mother.
27 For it is written:
‘So be glad, all you that are sterile,
And yell, O you that did not give birth…
O you, the one without birth pains!
For the children of the barren will be many…
Yes, more than those that have [their own] man!’
28 Therefore,
brothers; we are now children of the promise the same as IsaAc was.
29 And just as the one that was born in the
flesh started persecuting the one that was born through the Spirit… that’s what’s happening now!
30 What do
the Scriptures say?
‘Drive out the slave girl and her son, because the son
of the slave girl will never be an heir with the son of the free woman!’
31 So
brothers;
We aren’t the children of a slave girl, but of the free woman!
Chapter 5
1 Understand
that the Anointed One set us free so we can truly
be free!
Therefore, we should be standing erect and not allowing ourselves to
be put under the yoke of slavery again!
2 Look! I
(Paul) am telling you that if you get circumcised, the Anointed One won’t be of
any use to you!
3 And I again
testify to every man who gets circumcised, that he’s thereafter obligated to
obey the whole Law!
4 So those
of you that are trying to be called righteous by the Law have voided the
Anointed One, and have fallen away from his loving
care.
5 Indeed, it’s by the
spirit of faith that we are eagerly awaiting the
hope of [being counted as] righteous!
6 As the result, neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision have any value to the Anointed Jesus… just faith that is
motivated by love!
7 Now, since
you’ve been running so well; who is it that’s trying to keep you from obeying
the truth?
8 Ideas like this
aren’t coming from the One that is calling you; 9 rather, it’s coming from ‘a little bit yeast’ that has
started ‘fermenting the whole ball [of dough].’
10 For I’m confident that you who are in the Lord wouldn’t
have even thought of such a thing.
So the one that is causing all this agitation
will have to face judgment, no matter who he may be!
11 Brothers;
if I were preaching circumcision, then why am I being persecuted… for the
impaling pole wouldn’t be a snare anymore!
12
Oh, I wish that those that are stirring you up would cut on themselves!
13 You were
called to be free, brothers!
So don’t use this freedom to serve your flesh;
rather, use it to slave for each other in love!
14
Understand that the entire Law is fulfilled in the words:
‘You must love your
neighbor as yourself.’
15
However, if you keep on snapping at each other and chewing each other up; be
careful that you don’t swallow each other down!
16 I tell
you this:
If you are walking by Spirit, you won’t do any of the things that
your flesh desires.
17 For what
the flesh wants is at odds with what the Spirit wants, and the Spirit is at
odds with the flesh… they are in opposition to each other, keeping you from
doing the things that you may wish to do.
18
And if you are being led by Spirit, you aren’t under the Law!
19 Now, the
things that the flesh does are known.
They include sexual
immorality, uncleanness, lewdness, 20
idol worshiping, involvement in the occult,
hatreds, quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness,
divisions, sects, 21 envying,
getting drunk, wild partying, and things like that.
I’m warning you now as I’ve
warned you before, that those that do such things won’t inherit
God’s Kingdom.
22 On the
other hand, the fruitage of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, caring,
goodness, faith, 23
reasonableness, and self-control… and there are no laws against such things.
24 So those that belong to the Anointed
Jesus have hung their flesh on the pole along with its passions and desires.
25 And if we are living by Spirit, we need
to walk in [the ways of the] Spirit… 26
we shouldn’t be conceited, or challenging or envying each other!
Chapter 6
1 Brothers,
if someone ever gets caught up in doing bad things, those of you that are
spiritual should try to restore the person in a reasonable way, as you keep an
eye on yourselves so that you aren’t tempted also.
2 And if you’ll carry each other’s burdens, you’ll fulfill
the law of the Anointed One.
3 However, if anyone thinks he’s something
when he’s nothing, he’s just fooling himself.
4
Therefore, let us each prove [the value] of what we’re doing to ourselves
first, and perhaps this will give us grounds for boasting to ourselves… but not
to other people.
5 For each of
us has to carry our own load.
6 Also, may those that are being taught the Word share the good things they have with those that are doing the teaching.
7 Now, don’t
make any mistake when it comes to this, for you can’t mock God!
Whatever a
person is planting is what he’s going to harvest.
8 So if he’s planting [the desires] of his own flesh, he
will harvest decay from the flesh.
But if he’s planting things of [God’s]
Breath, he will harvest age-long life.
9 Therefore,
let’s not misbehave… let’s keep on doing what’s right until that time arrives,
because we’ll harvest what we deserve if we don’t tire out.
10 And until then, we should be doing good
things for everyone…
And especially for those that are related to us in the
Faith.
11 Look at these large letters that I have written with my own hand!
12 Now,
those that are urging you to get circumcised are appealing to your fleshly
nature.
[And the reason why they are doing this] is so that they won’t be
persecuted over the impaling pole of the Anointed Jesus!
13
So while they fail to obey the Law themselves, they want you to get circumcised so they can
have reasons to boast over your flesh!
14
However, may I never find myself boasting over anything other than the impaling
pole of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One;
For to me, the
whole world has been hung on a pole through him… as I have been to this
world.
15
Understand that circumcision isn’t anything, nor is uncircumcision.
Rather,
[what matters is becoming] a new creation!
16 May peace and mercy be on all those that walk in line with this rule, and upon the IsraEl of God.
17 Finally, let no one undermine my work, because I have the brand of Jesus on my body.
18 May the loving care of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One be
with you, my brothers.
May it be so!