I went in response to a revelation, and in a private meeting with the reputed leaders, I explained to them the gospel that I'm proclaiming to the gentiles. I did this because I was afraid that I was running or had run my life's race for nothing.

Now [this was] because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might enslave us,

Also, when they perceived that this [special] favor [of preaching to Gentiles] was granted to me, James, Cephas [i.e., Peter] and John, the highly regarded pillars [i.e., leaders of the church] extended to me and Barnabas their right hands [signifying an agreement] to share [in the preaching of the Gospel], with us going to the Gentiles and they going to the circumcised ones [i.e., Jews].

only, of the poor that we should be mindful, which also I was diligent -- this very thing -- to do.

Until certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision.

The rest of the Jewish Christians, too, joined him in this pretense so that even Barnabas was influenced to join them in their pretense.

still we know that a person is not justified [i.e., made right with God] by [perfect obedience to] the law of Moses, but rather through faith in [the person and work of] Christ. [Knowing this] we have trusted in Christ Jesus [to save us], so that we might be made right with God by trusting in Him and not by [our compliance with] the requirements of the law of Moses. Because by such law-compliance no one can be made right with God.

For if I try to build up again what I had already destroyed [i.e., by returning to depend on compliance with the law of Moses to become right with God, after having rejected this system by trusting in Christ to save me], I would certainly be guilty of sin.

For it was by means of [this system of] law-keeping that I [realized I] was dead. This was so I could find life through a relationship with God.

I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

[In doing this] I am not trying to disregard God's unearned favor, for if a person could become right with God by [perfect obedience to the requirements of] the law of Moses, then Christ died for nothing.

You foolish people [of the churches] of Galatia [Note: This was a province in present-day Turkey], who tricked you? Was not Jesus Christ graphically portrayed before you as being put to death on a cross?

This only would I learn of you: Received ye the spirit by the deeds of the law? Or else by preaching of the faith?

He that supplies to you the Spirit, and works mighty deeds among you, does he this by works of law or by the hearing of faith?

[An example of this is] Abraham, who believed God's [promise] and [because of such faith] he was considered right with God.

And, predicting that God would consider the Gentiles right with Him by [their] faith, the Scriptures previously recorded [this promise of] the Gospel to Abraham by saying [Gen. 12:3], "All nations will receive a blessing through your descendant [i.e., Jesus]."

This happened in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Now it was to Abraham that the promises were spoken, and to his offspring. God did not say, "offsprings" as if speaking of many, but "and to your offspring," as of one; and this is Christ.

This I say, that the law which began afterward, beyond four hundred and thirty years, doth not disannul the testament, that was confirmed afore of God unto Christ ward, to make the promise of none effect.

For if the inheritance [of never ending life] can be obtained by [obeying the requirements of] the law of Moses, it would not come from the promise [of God]; but God provided [this inheritance] for Abraham according to [His] promise.

But before this faith came, we were kept locked up under the law, in preparation for the faith which was to be unveiled.

The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.

But now that this faith has come, we are no longer in the charge of the attendant.

[In this relationship] there is to be no [distinction between] Jews or Greeks [i.e., Gentiles], slaves or free persons, men or women; for all of you are united into one [body] because of your relationship with Christ Jesus.

I mean this: As long as the heir is under age he is not a whit better off than a slave, although he is heir of all the property,

And so is it with us; when we were under age, as it were, we were slaves to the puerile teaching of this world;

I urge of you, brothers, become like me [in this matter], for I have become like you. You did not do anything wrong to me, [even as I have not wronged you].

What happened to this sense of being blessed you had? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

I wish I could be present this very moment with you, and suit my discourse accordingly, for I stand in doubt what to think of you.

Tell me this, you who want to be subject to law: Will you not listen to the Law?

This is spoken as an allegory. For these women are two covenants, one coming from Mount Sinai, bearing children that are to be slaves;

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

What does the Scripture say about this matter? [It says, Gen. 21:10-12], "Get rid of the slave woman [Hagar], with her son [Ishmael]; for the son of the slave woman [Ishmael] will not inherit [what God promised to Abraham and his descendants], along with the son of the free woman [i.e., Isaac]."

This is the freedom with which Christ has made us free. So keep on standing in it, and stop letting your necks be fastened in the yoke of slavery again.

I insist on this again to everyone who gets circumcised, that he is obliged to carry out the whole of the Law.

This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.

A little bit of yeast permeates the whole batch of dough [i.e., a few people can influence everyone else to do the wrong thing in this matter].

I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view of this. However, the one who is troubling you will suffer God's judgment, whoever he is.

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only abuse not this liberty for an occasion to indulge the flesh, but by mutual love serve one another.

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, which is this, "Thou shalt love thine neighbour as thyself."

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Practice bearing one another's burdens, and in this way carry out the law of Christ.

Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap,

Look at how large the letters are that I am using in writing this, and I am writing them myself.

For not even those who practice circumcision comply with [the requirements of] the law of Moses, yet they want you to be circumcised so they can take credit for this physical evidence [of your compliance with the law of Moses].

But far be it from me to have glory in anything, but only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which this world has come to an end on the cross for me, and I for it.

And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon Israel that pertaineth to God.

Let nobody trouble me after this, for I carry on my body the scars that mark me as Jesus' slave.

May the unearned favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be in your inner person, brothers. May this be so.

[This letter is from] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to God's will, [and is being sent] to the saints [i.e., God's holy people] at Ephesus [Note: This was a major city in the western province of Asia Minor, and now a part of Turkey. The words "at Ephesus" are omitted in some manuscripts, suggesting it was a circular letter], and the faithful ones in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus [everywhere else ?].

May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be praised, for He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in [fellowship with] Christ. [Note: The term "heavenly realms" is used somewhat differently throughout this book. Here it refers to Christians as part of the church on earth].

He did this by predestining us to adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will --

All this accords with the loving-kindness which God lavished upon us, accompanied by countless gifts of wisdom and discernment,

when he made known to us the secret of his will. This was according to his plan that he set forth in the Messiah

[He did this] to fulfill His plan at the proper time, by bringing together everything [in the universe] under Christ's headship --- things both in heaven and on earth.

In him, I say, for by our union with him we became God's Heritage, having from the first been destined for this in the intention of him who, in all that happens, is carrying out his own fixed purpose;

and this is the pledge of our inheritance, being given for the deliverance of his peculiar people, to the display of his glory.

This is why I myself, since I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and in all His people,

and what God's tremendous power [working] in us believers is. [This power is] the same as that utilized by God's mighty strength,

This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms

above all rule, power, and might, and domination, and above all names that are named, not in this world only, but also in the world to come.

And you being dead in trespasses and sins,??2 in which you formerly walked according to the life of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit which now operates in the children of disobedience,

in the which, in time past, ye walked, according to the course of this world, and after the governor that ruleth in the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of unbelief,

All of us [Jews] also once lived among such people, fulfilling the improper cravings of our physical being and doing what our bodies and minds desired. In this natural [unconverted] state we were deserving of [God's] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind].

[and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption].

for by grace ye are having been saved, through faith, and this not of you -- of God the gift,

For we [Christians] are the product of God's workmanship, [re-] created in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus for [the purpose of] doing good deeds. God had previously determined that this should be our practice.

For this reason keep it in mind that in the past you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are looked on as being outside the circumcision by those who have circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;

remember, I say, that ye were at that time without Christ, and were reputed aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and were strangers from the testaments of promise, and had no hope, and were without God in this world.

when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace,

He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it.

who by his spirit has likewise made you a part of this divine mansion.

For this cause, I Paul the servant of Jesus Christ am in bonds for your sakes, which are heathen -

For by revelation showed he this mystery unto me, as I wrote above in few words,

By reading this you will be able to understand my insight into the secret about the Christ --

which in previous generations was not made known to human beings as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This is that secret:

[it is this:] that the Gentiles are now joint heirs [with the Jews] and members of the same body, and joint partakers [sharing] in the [same divine] promise in Christ Jesus through [their faith in] the good news [of salvation].

I have become a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power.

Unto me, the least of all saints, is this grace given; that I should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

and to make clear how is to be carried out the trusteeship of this secret which has for ages been hidden away in God, the Creator of all things,

He did this so that now, through the church, the wisdom of God in all its variety might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm

This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

In him we have this fearless confidence and boldness of access through our faith in him.

For this reason it is my prayer that you may not become feeble because of my troubles for you, which are your glory.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Be ye rooted and grounded in social virtue, that you may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of this mystery:

I then, the prisoner in the Lord, make this request from my heart, that you will see that your behaviour is a credit to the position which God's purpose has given you,

Now to each one of us was given this grace, according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Concerning this the Scripture says: "He led a host of captives, when He went up on high, and granted gifts to men."

Now what does this "he went up" mean except that he also had gone down into the lower parts of the earth?

And this until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error;

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other gentiles walk; in vanity of their mind,

for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.

But this is not the way you have learned what Christ means,

if at least you have heard His voice and in Him have been taught--and this is true Christian teaching--

For this reason, laying aside falsehood, every one of you should speak the truth to his fellow man; for we are, as it were, parts of one another.

Let no filthy talk be heard from your mouths, but only what is good for building up people and meeting the need of the moment. This way you will administer grace to those who hear you.

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, either unclean person, or covetous person, which is the worshipper of images, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God.

But when all [such] things are exposed by the light [i.e., the truth], they become [clearly] visible [i.e., their true nature is revealed], for everything so revealed becomes illuminated. [Note: Possibly this means "it is light that clearly reveals everything"].