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Acts 23

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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¹ For this reason I am writing these things while absent from you, so that when I come, I will not need to deal severely [with you], in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me [to be used] for building you up and not for tearing you down.

² Finally, believers, rejoice! Be made complete [be what you should be], be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace [enjoy the spiritual well-being experienced by believers who walk closely with God]; and the God of love and peace [the source of lovingkindness] will be with you.

³ Greet one another with a[1] holy kiss.

⁴ All[2] God's people greet you.

⁵ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

⁶ Paul, an apostle (not commissioned and sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ—the Messiah—and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),

⁷ and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

⁸ Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

⁹ who gave Himself [as a sacrifice to atone] for our sins [to save and sanctify us] so that He might rescue us from this present evil[1] age, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father—

¹⁰ to Him be [ascribed all] the glory through the ages of the ages. Amen.

¹¹ I am astonished and extremely irritated that you are so quickly shifting your allegiance and deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different [even contrary] gospel;

¹² which is really not another [gospel]; but there are [obviously][2] some [people masquerading as teachers] who are disturbing and confusing you [with a misleading, counterfeit teaching] and want to distort the gospel of Christ [twisting it into something which it absolutely is not].

¹³ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we [originally] preached to you, let him be condemned to destruction!

¹⁴ As we have said before, so I now say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from that which you received [from us], let him be condemned to destruction!

¹⁵ Am I now[3] trying to win the favor and approval of men, or of God? Or am I seeking to please someone? If I were still trying to be popular with men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

¹⁶ For I want you to know,[4] believers, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man's gospel [it is not a human invention, patterned after any human concept].

¹⁷ For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a [direct] revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ You have heard of my career and former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to hunt down and persecute the church of God extensively and [with fanatical zeal] tried [my best] to destroy it.

¹⁹ And [you have heard how] I surpassed many of my contemporaries among my countrymen in [my advanced study of the laws of] Judaism, as I was extremely loyal to the traditions of my ancestors.

²⁰ But when God, who had chosen me and set me apart before I was born, and called me through His grace, was pleased

²¹ to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles [as the good news—the way of salvation], I did not immediately consult with[5] anyone [for guidance regarding God's call and His revelation to me].

²² Nor did I [even] go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia and stayed awhile, and afterward returned once more to Damascus.

²³ Then three years later I did go up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas (Peter), and I stayed with him fifteen days.

²⁴ But I did not see any other apostle except James, the [half] brother of the Lord.

²⁵ (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you as if I were standing before God that I am not lying.)

²⁶ Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

²⁷ And I was still unknown by sight to the churches which were in Christ in Judea (Jerusalem and the surrounding region);

²⁸ they only kept hearing, "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the [good news of the] faith which he once was trying to destroy."

²⁹ And they were glorifying God [as the Author and Source of what had taken place and all that had been accomplished] in me.

³⁰ Then after a period of fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem, [this time] with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.

³¹ I went up [to Jerusalem] because of a [divine] revelation, and I put before them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so in private before those of[1] reputation, for fear that I might be running or had run [the course of my ministry] in vain.

³² But [all went well, for] not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled [as some had anticipated] to be circumcised, despite the fact that he was a Greek.

³³ My concern was because of the[2] false brothers [those people masquerading as Christians] who had been secretly smuggled in [to the community of believers]. They had slipped in to spy on the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us back into bondage [under the Law of Moses].

³⁴ But we did not yield to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue to remain with you [in its purity].

³⁵ But from those who were of high reputation (whatever they were—in terms of individual importance—makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality—He is not impressed with the positions that people hold nor does He recognize distinctions such as fame or power)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me [that is, they had nothing to add to my gospel message nor did they impose any new requirements on me].

#	AMP
1	For this reason I am writing these things while absent from you, so that when I come, I will not need to deal severely [with you], in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me [to be used] for building you up and not for tearing you down.
2	Finally, believers, rejoice! Be made complete [be what you should be], be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace [enjoy the spiritual well-being experienced by believers who walk closely with God]; and the God of love and peace [the source of lovingkindness] will be with you.
3	Greet one another with a[1] holy kiss.
4	All[2] God's people greet you.
5	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
6	Paul, an apostle (not commissioned and sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ—the Messiah—and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
7	and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
8	Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
9	who gave Himself [as a sacrifice to atone] for our sins [to save and sanctify us] so that He might rescue us from this present evil[1] age, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father—
10	to Him be [ascribed all] the glory through the ages of the ages. Amen.
11	I am astonished and extremely irritated that you are so quickly shifting your allegiance and deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different [even contrary] gospel;
12	which is really not another [gospel]; but there are [obviously][2] some [people masquerading as teachers] who are disturbing and confusing you [with a misleading, counterfeit teaching] and want to distort the gospel of Christ [twisting it into something which it absolutely is not].
13	But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we [originally] preached to you, let him be condemned to destruction!
14	As we have said before, so I now say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from that which you received [from us], let him be condemned to destruction!
15	Am I now[3] trying to win the favor and approval of men, or of God? Or am I seeking to please someone? If I were still trying to be popular with men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
16	For I want you to know,[4] believers, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man's gospel [it is not a human invention, patterned after any human concept].
17	For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a [direct] revelation of Jesus Christ.
18	You have heard of my career and former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to hunt down and persecute the church of God extensively and [with fanatical zeal] tried [my best] to destroy it.
19	And [you have heard how] I surpassed many of my contemporaries among my countrymen in [my advanced study of the laws of] Judaism, as I was extremely loyal to the traditions of my ancestors.
20	But when God, who had chosen me and set me apart before I was born, and called me through His grace, was pleased
21	to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles [as the good news—the way of salvation], I did not immediately consult with[5] anyone [for guidance regarding God's call and His revelation to me].
22	Nor did I [even] go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia and stayed awhile, and afterward returned once more to Damascus.
23	Then three years later I did go up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas (Peter), and I stayed with him fifteen days.
24	But I did not see any other apostle except James, the [half] brother of the Lord.
25	(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you as if I were standing before God that I am not lying.)
26	Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
27	And I was still unknown by sight to the churches which were in Christ in Judea (Jerusalem and the surrounding region);
28	they only kept hearing, "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the [good news of the] faith which he once was trying to destroy."
29	And they were glorifying God [as the Author and Source of what had taken place and all that had been accomplished] in me.
30	Then after a period of fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem, [this time] with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.
31	I went up [to Jerusalem] because of a [divine] revelation, and I put before them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so in private before those of[1] reputation, for fear that I might be running or had run [the course of my ministry] in vain.
32	But [all went well, for] not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled [as some had anticipated] to be circumcised, despite the fact that he was a Greek.
33	My concern was because of the[2] false brothers [those people masquerading as Christians] who had been secretly smuggled in [to the community of believers]. They had slipped in to spy on the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us back into bondage [under the Law of Moses].
34	But we did not yield to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue to remain with you [in its purity].
35	But from those who were of high reputation (whatever they were—in terms of individual importance—makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality—He is not impressed with the positions that people hold nor does He recognize distinctions such as fame or power)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me [that is, they had nothing to add to my gospel message nor did they impose any new requirements on me].

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