Gal 2 | BSB | STEP | Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. I took Titus {along} also.

Galatians 2

The Council at Jerusalem

1 Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. I took Titus {along} also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But [I spoke] privately to those recognized as leaders, [for fear that] I was running or had already run in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who [was] with me, was compelled to be circumcised, [even though] he was a Greek. 4 [This issue arose] because [some] false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us. 5 We did {not} give in to [them] for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6 But as for the highly esteemed, whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism. For those [men] added nothing to my [message] . 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted {to preach} the gospel to the Gentiles, ^{▼▼Literal, the uncircumcision} just as Peter [ had been ] to the Jews. ^{▼▼Literal, the circumcision; also in verses 8 and 9} 8 For [God], who was at work in Peter’s apostleship to the Jews, was also at work in my [apostleship] to the Gentiles. 9 And recognizing the grace [that] I had been given, James, Cephas, ^{▼▼That is, Peter; also in verses 11 and 14} and John— those reputed to be pillars— gave me and Barnabas [the] right hand of fellowship, so that we [ should go ] to the Gentiles and they to the Jews. 10 [They] only [asked us] to be mindful of the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Confronts Cephas

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed [him] to his face, because he stood to be condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in [the] circumcision [ group ] . 13 The other Jews joined in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14 When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of [them] all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? 15 We [who are] Jews by birth and not Gentile ‘sinners’ 16 know that a man is not justified by works of [the] Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law, because by works of the Law no one will be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 If I rebuild what I have already torn down, I prove myself [to be] a lawbreaker. 19 For through [the] Law I died to [the] Law so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The [life] I live in [the] body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness [comes] through the Law, Christ died for nothing.” ^{▼▼Some interpreters close the quotation after verse 14 or 16.}