Galatians 2
1 THEN AFTER [an interval] of fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem. [This time I went] with Barnabas, taking Titus along with [me] also.2 I went because it was specially and divinely revealed to me that I should go, and I put before them the Gospel [declaring to them that] which I preach among the Gentiles. However, [I presented the matter] privately before those of repute, [for I wanted to make certain, by thus at first confining my communication to this private conference] that I was not running or had not run in vain [guarding against being discredited either in what I was planning to do or had already done].3 But [all went well!] even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled [as some had anticipated] to be circumcised, although he was a Greek.4 [My precaution was] because of false brethren who had been secretly smuggled in [to the Christian brotherhood]; they had slipped in to spy on our liberty and the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might again bring us into bondage [under the Law of Moses].5 To them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the Gospel might continue to be [preserved] for you [in its purity].6 Moreover, [no new requirements were made] by those who were reputed to be something--though what was their individual position and whether they really were of importance or not makes no difference to me; God is not impressed with the positions that men hold and He is not partial and recognizes no external distinctions--those [I say] who were of repute imposed no new requirements upon me [had nothing to add to my Gospel, and from them I received no new suggestions]. 7 But on the contrary, when they [really] saw that I had been entrusted [to carry] the Gospel to the uncircumcised [Gentiles, just as definitely] as Peter had been entrusted [to proclaim] the Gospel to the circumcised [Jews, they were agreeable];8 For He Who motivated and fitted Peter and worked effectively through him for the mission to the circumcised, motivated and fitted me and worked through me also for [the mission to] the Gentiles.9 And when they knew (perceived, recognized, understood, and acknowledged) the grace (God’s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing) that had been bestowed upon me, James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who were reputed to be pillars of the Jerusalem church, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, with the understanding that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised (Jews).10 They only [made one stipulation], that we were to remember the poor, which very thing I was also eager to do.11 But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I protested and opposed him to his face [concerning his conduct there], for he was blameable and stood condemned.12 For up to the time that certain persons came from James, he ate his meals with the Gentile [converts]; but when the men [from Jerusalem] arrived, he withdrew and held himself aloof from the Gentiles and [ate] separately for fear of those of the circumcision [party].13 And the rest of the Jews along with him also concealed their true convictions and acted insincerely, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy (their example of insincerity and pretense).14 But as soon as I saw that they were not straightforward and were not living up to the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas (Peter) before everybody present, If you, though born a Jew, can live [as you have been living] like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how do you dare now to urge and practically force the Gentiles to [comply with the ritual of Judaism and] live like Jews?15 [I went on to say] Although we ourselves (you and I) are Jews by birth and not Gentile (heathen) sinners,16 Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and in right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God). 17 But if, in our desire and endeavor to be justified in Christ [to be declared righteous and put in right standing with God wholly and solely through Christ], we have shown ourselves sinners also and convicted of sin, does that make Christ a minister (a party and contributor) to our sin? Banish the thought! [Of course not!]18 For if I [or any others who have taught that the observance of the Law of Moses is not essential to being justified by God should now by word or practice teach or intimate that it is essential to] build up again what I tore down, I prove myself a transgressor.19 For I through the Law [under the operation of the curse of the Law] have [in Christ’s death for me] myself died to the Law and all the Law’s demands upon me, so that I may [henceforth] live to and for God.20 I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.21 [Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]
Galates 2
1 Ensuite, au bout de quatorze ans, je montai de nouveau à Jérusalem avec Barnabas, prenant aussi Tite avec moi.2 Or j'y montai selon une révélation, et je leur exposai l'évangile que je prêche parmi les nations, mais, dans le particulier, à ceux qui étaient considérés, de peur qu'en quelque manière je ne courusse ou n'eusse couru en vain3 (cependant, même Tite qui était avec moi, quoiqu'il fût Grec, ne fut pas contraint à être circoncis):4 et cela à cause des faux frères, furtivement introduits, qui s'étaient insinués pour épier la liberté que nous avons dans le Christ Jésus, afin de nous réduire à la servitude;5 auxquels nous n'avons pas cédé par soumission, non pas même un moment, afin que la vérité de l'évangile demeurât avec vous.6 Or, de ceux qui étaient considérés comme étant quelque chose..., quels qu'ils aient pu être, cela ne m'importe en rien: Dieu n'a point égard à l'apparence de l'homme..., à moi, certes, ceux qui étaient considérés n'ont rien communiqué de plus;7 mais au contraire, ayant vu que l'évangile de l'incirconcision m'a été confié, comme celui de la circoncision l'a été à Pierre,8 (car celui qui a opéré en Pierre pour l'apostolat de la circoncision a opéré en moi aussi envers les nations,)9 et ayant reconnu la grâce qui m'a été donnée, Jacques, et Céphas, et Jean, qui étaient considérés comme étant des colonnes, me donnèrent, à moi et à Barnabas, la main d'association, afin que nous allassions vers les nations, et eux vers la circoncision,10 voulant seulement que nous nous souvinssions des pauvres, ce qu'aussi je me suis appliqué à faire.
11 Mais quand Céphas vint à Antioche, je lui résistai en face, parce qu'il était condamné.12 Car, avant que quelques-uns fussent venus d'auprès de Jacques, il mangeait avec ceux des nations; mais quand ceux-là furent venus, il se retira et se sépara lui-même, craignant ceux de la circoncision;13 et les autres Juifs aussi usèrent de dissimulation avec lui, de sorte que Barnabas même fut entraîné avec eux par leur dissimulation.14 Mais quand je vis qu'ils ne marchaient pas droit, selon la vérité de l'évangile, je dis à Céphas devant tous: Si toi qui es juif, tu vis comme les nations et non pas comme les juifs, comment contrains-tu les nations à judaïser?15 Nous qui, de nature, sommes juifs et non point pécheurs d'entre les nations,16 sachant néanmoins que l'homme n'est pas justifié sur le principe des oeuvres de loi, ni autrement que par la foi en Jésus Christ, nous aussi, nous avons cru au Christ Jésus, afin que nous fussions justifiés sur le principe de la foi en Christ et non pas sur le principe des oeuvres de loi: parce que sur le principe des oeuvres de loi nulle chair ne sera justifiée.17 Or si, en cherchant à être justifiés en Christ, nous-mêmes aussi nous avons été trouvés pécheurs, Christ donc est ministre de péché?18 Qu'ainsi n'advienne! Car si ces mêmes choses que j'ai renversées, je les réédifie, je me constitue transgresseur moi-même.19 Car moi, par la loi, je suis mort à la loi, afin que je vive à Dieu.20 Je suis crucifié avec Christ; et je ne vis plus, moi, mais Christ vit en moi; -et ce que je vis maintenant dans la chair, je le vis dans la foi, la foi au fils de Dieu, qui m'a aimé et qui s'est livré lui-même pour moi.21 Je n'annule pas la grâce de Dieu; car si la justice est par la loi, Christ est donc mort pour rien.
