Hi Friends!
As you know, my wife I travel nearly every week to speak in churches, schools of ministry, and conferences. When I have the time (early mornings and on airplanes!) I’m working on translating Paul writings in the New Testament – Galatians is first and I’m calling it Freedom from Heaven! Thanks for supporting us and being a part of this amazing project. Hope you’ve been able to pick up a copy of the two books translated so far, The Song of Songs and The Psalms. Luke will be out by Christmas!
Here’s a draft version of Galatians 1:13-24
Enjoy!
“By now you have heard stories of how mercilessly I persecuted Christians and did my best to systematically destroy God’s church, all because of my radical devotion to the Jewish religion. ¹⁴My zeal and passion for the doctrines of Judaism distinguished me among my people, for I was far more advanced in my religious instruction than others my age.
¹⁵But then God one day called my by His grace, for He desired me and had chosen me from my birth to be His. ¹⁶God unveiled His Son in me so that I would proclaim Him to the non-Jewish people of the world. After I had this encounter I kept it a secret for some time, sharing it with no one. ¹⁷I chose not to run to Jerusalem to try to impress those who had become apostles before I did. Instead I went off into the Arabian Desert for a season until I returned to Damascus, where I had first encountered Jesus. ¹⁸I remained there for three years until I eventually went up to Jerusalem to get to know the apostle Peter and I stayed with him for two weeks. ¹⁹The only other apostle I met during that time was James,[1] the Lord’s brother.
²⁰Everything I am describing to you I confess before God to be the absolute truth. ²¹After my stay in Jerusalem I went to the Corinthians[2] of Syria and Cilicia,[3] ²²but remained unknown to the Christians in Judea. ²³The only thing they had been hearing about me was this: “Our former enemy who once brutally persecuted us is now out preaching the good news of our faith that he was obsessed with destroying!” ²⁴So because of this transformation that happened to me they praised God even more!” [4]
First, let me thank you for this undertaking! I trust someone will be proofreading to catch those little typos that slip by unnoticed sometimes. I realy don’t mean to be critical, but those things often jump out at me and I can’t help myself! Lol!
God Bless you!
Thanks Rebecca! I post this on the same day I do my rough draft, then I have 4 professional editors go over it carefully before publishing. Thanks for your comments! I just finished Ephesians this last week, working on Philippians next. Blessings! Brian Simmons