World English Bible · Under Rome
Galatians 1
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, —not from men, nor through man, but through , and , who him from — and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia: to you and peace from and our , who gave himself for our , that he might us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our and — to whom be the and ever. . I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the of Christ to a different "", but there isn't another "." Only there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the of Christ. But even though we, or from , should preach to you any "" other than that which we preached to you, let him be . As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any "" other than that which you received, let him be . For am I now seeking the of men, or of ? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn't be a Christ. But I make known to you, brothers, concerning the which was preached by me, that it is not according to man. For I didn't receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through of . For you have heard of my way of living in time past in the ' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted of and ravaged it. I advanced in the ' religion beyond many of my own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly for the traditions of my fathers. But when it was the good pleasure of , who separated me from my mother's and called me through his , to his Son in me, that I might preach him among the , I didn't immediately confer with and , nor did I go up to to those who were before me, but I went away into . Then I returned to . Then after three years I went up to to visit , and stayed with him fifteen days. But of the other I saw no one except , brother. Now about the things which I write to you, behold, before , I'm not lying. Then I came to the regions of and . I was still unknown by to the assemblies of which were in Christ, but they only heard, "He who once persecuted us now preaches the that he once tried to destroy." So they glorified in me.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.