Galatians 1:1-24 ICB

[1] From Paul, an apostle. I was not chosen to be an apostle by men. I was not sent from men. It was Jesus Christ and God the Father who made me an apostle. God is the One who raised Jesus from death. [2] This letter is also from all the brothers who are with me. To the churches in Galatia. [3] I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be good to you and give you peace. [4] Jesus gave himself for our sins to free us from this evil world we live in. This is what God the Father wanted. [5] The glory belongs to God forever and ever. Amen. [6] A short time ago God called you to follow him. He called you by his grace that came through Christ. But now I am amazed at you! You are already turning away and believing something different than the Good News. [7] Really, there is no other Good News. But some people are confusing you and want to change the Good News of Christ. [8] We preached to you the Good News. So if we ourselves, or even an angel from heaven, preach to you something different than the Good News, he should be condemned! [9] I said this before. Now I say it again: You have already accepted the Good News. If anyone tells you another way to be saved, he should be condemned! [10] Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No! God is the One I am trying to please. Am I trying to please men? If I wanted to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. [11] Brothers, I want you to know that the Good News I preached to you was not made by men. [12] I did not get it from men, nor did any man teach it to me. Jesus Christ showed it to me. [13] You have heard about my past life. I belonged to the Jewish religion. I hurt the church of God very much and tried to destroy it. [14] I was becoming a leader in the Jewish religion. I did better than most other Jews of my age. I tried harder than anyone else to follow the old rules. These rules were the customs handed down by our ancestors. [15] But God had special plans for me even before I was born. So he called me through his grace that I might [16] tell the Good News about his Son to the non-Jewish people. So God showed me about his Son. When God called me, I did not get advice or help from any man. [17] I did not go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was. But, without waiting, I went away to Arabia and later went back to Damascus. [18] After three years I went to Jerusalem to meet Peter and stayed with him for 15 days. [19] I met no other apostles, except James, the brother of the Lord. [20] God knows that these things I write are not lies. [21] Later, I went to the areas of Syria and Cilicia. [22] In Judea the churches in Christ had never met me. [23] They had only heard this about me: "This man was trying to hurt us. But now he is preaching the same faith that he once tried to destroy." [24] And these believers praised God because of me.