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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Galatians 1:20

And in the presence of God I swear I am telling the truth.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Minister, Christian;   Oath;   Paul;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Oaths;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Oath;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Paul;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Paul the Apostle;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Oath;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Corinth;   Galatians, the Epistle to the;   Oath;   Paul;   Timothy, the First Epistle to;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Apostles;   Church;   Flesh;   Galatians, Letter to the;   Oaths;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Paul the Apostle;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Acts of the Apostles;   Barnabas ;   Galatians Epistle to the;   Lying ;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Oath;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Acts of the Apostles;   Galatians, Epistle to the;   Law in the New Testament;   Oath;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I declare in the sight of God: I am not lying in what I write to you.
King James Version (1611)
Now the things which I write vnto you, behold, before God I lye not.
King James Version
Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
English Standard Version
(In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
New American Standard Bible
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
New Century Version
God knows that these things I write are not lies.
Amplified Bible
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you as if I were standing before God that I am not lying.)
New American Standard Bible (1995)
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
Legacy Standard Bible
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying!)
Berean Standard Bible
I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.
Complete Jewish Bible
(Concerning these matters I am writing you about, I declare before God that I am not lying!)
Darby Translation
Now what I write to you, behold, before God, I do not lie.
Easy-to-Read Version
God knows there is nothing untrue in any of this.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Nowe the things which I write vnto you, beholde, I witnes before God, that I lie not.
George Lamsa Translation
Now the things which I write to you, behold, I confess before God, I do not lie.
Good News Translation
What I write is true. God knows that I am not lying!
Lexham English Bible
(Now the things which I am writing to you, behold, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
Literal Translation
And what I write to you, behold, before God I do not lie.
American Standard Version
Now touching the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
Bible in Basic English
Now God is witness that the things which I am writing to you are true.
Hebrew Names Version
Now about the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I'm not lying.
International Standard Version
(I declareI declare
">[fn] before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.)Romans 9:1;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
But these which I write to you, behold, before Aloha, [fn] that I lie not.
Murdock Translation
In the things which I am writing to you, behold, before God ! I lie not.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The thynges therfore which I write vnto you, beholde, before God I lie not.
English Revised Version
Now touching the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
World English Bible
Now about the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I'm not lying.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Now the things which I write to you, behold before God, I lie not.
Weymouth's New Testament
In making these assertions I am speaking the truth, as in the sight of God.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And these thingis which Y write to you, lo! tofor God Y lie not.
Update Bible Version
Now concerning the things which I write to you, look, before God, I don't lie.
Webster's Bible Translation
Now the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I lie not.
New English Translation
I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you!
New King James Version
(Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)
New Living Translation
I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.
New Life Bible
I am writing the truth. God knows I am not lying.
New Revised Standard
In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, as touching the things which I am writing to you, lo! before God, I am not guilty of falsehood: -
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I lie not.
Revised Standard Version
(In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
The thinges which I write beholde God knoweth I lye not.
Young's Literal Translation
And the things that I write to you, lo, before God -- I lie not;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The thinges that I wryte vnto you, beholde, God knoweth, I lye not.
Mace New Testament (1729)
what I write to you, I call God to witness is all true:
THE MESSAGE
I, Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the Galatian churches. My authority for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor does it come through the appointment of some human higher-up. It comes directly from Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. I'm God-commissioned. So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we're in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God's plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes! I can't believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head. Let me be blunt: If one of us—even if an angel from heaven!—were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed. I said it once; I'll say it again: If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed. Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn't bother being Christ's slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn't receive it through the traditions, and I wasn't taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ. I'm sure that you've heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God's church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother's womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him. Immediately after my calling—without consulting anyone around me and without going up to Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles long before I was—I got away to Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus, but it was three years before I went up to Jerusalem to compare stories with Peter. I was there only fifteen days—but what days they were! Except for our Master's brother James, I saw no other apostles. (I'm telling you the absolute truth in this.)
Simplified Cowboy Version
This here is the truth and you can set it stone.

Contextual Overview

10 I am not trying to please people. I want to please God. Do you think I am trying to please people? If I were doing that, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11 My friends, I want you to know that no one made up the message I preach. 12 It wasn't given or taught to me by some mere human. My message came directly from Jesus Christ when he appeared to me. 13 You know how I used to live as a Jew. I was cruel to God's church and even tried to destroy it. 14 I was a much better Jew than anyone else my own age, and I obeyed every law that our ancestors had given us. 15 But even before I was born, God had chosen me. He was kind and had decided 16 to show me his Son, so that I would announce his message to the Gentiles. I didn't talk this over with anyone. 17 I didn't say a word, not even to the men in Jerusalem who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went at once to Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. 18 Three years later I went to visit Peter in Jerusalem and stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 The only other apostle I saw was James, the Lord's brother.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

behold: Romans 9:1, 2 Corinthians 11:10, 2 Corinthians 11:11, 2 Corinthians 11:31

Reciprocal: Romans 1:9 - God 2 Corinthians 1:23 - I call Philippians 1:8 - God 1 Thessalonians 2:5 - God 1 Timothy 2:7 - I speak

Cross-References

Genesis 1:7
And that's what happened. God made the dome
Genesis 1:14

The Fourth Day

God said, "I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years.
Genesis 1:22
Then he gave the living creatures his blessing—he told the ocean creatures to live everywhere in the ocean and the birds to live everywhere on earth.
Genesis 1:24

The Sixth Day

God said, "I command the earth to give life to all kinds of tame animals, wild animals, and reptiles." And that's what happened.
Genesis 1:25
God made every one of them. Then he looked at what he had done, and it was good.
Genesis 1:30
And I have given the green plants as food for everything else that breathes. These will be food for animals, both wild and tame, and for birds.
Genesis 2:19
So the Lord took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names. None of these was the right kind of partner for the man.
Genesis 8:17
Let out the birds, animals, and reptiles, so they can mate and live all over the earth."
1 Kings 4:33
He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
Psalms 148:10
every wild and tame animal, all reptiles and birds, come praise the Lord !

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now the things which I write unto you,.... Concerning his education, his religion, his principles and practices before conversion; concerning his call by the grace of God, the revelation of Christ in him, and his preaching of him among the Heathen; concerning his travels to several places for this purpose, and especially concerning his not receiving the Gospel from men, not from any of the apostles; and how that upon his conversion he did not go up to Jerusalem to any of them, to be taught and sent forth by them; and that it was not till three years after that he wept thither to see Peter, with whom he stayed but fifteen days, and saw no other apostle, but James the Lord's brother. Now this being a matter of moment, and what he had been charged with by the false teachers, that the Gospel he preached he had received from men, in order to disqualify him and bring him into contempt as an apostle, and which they had insinuated to the Galatians; he therefore not only wrote these things, but for the confirmation of them solemnly appeals to God the searcher of hearts for the truth of them;

behold, before God I lie not; which is not only a strong asseveration, but a formal oath; it is swearing by the God of truth, calling him to be witness of the things that he had written; whence it is manifest that an oath upon proper occasions, where there is a necessity for it, and a good end to be answered by it, may be lawfully made.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Behold, before God I lie not - This is an oath, or a solemn appeal to God; see the note at Romans 9:1. The design of this oath here is to prevent all suspicion of falsehood, It may seem to be remarkable that Paul should make this solemn appeal to God in this argument, and in the narrative of a plain fact, when his statement could hardly be called in question by anyone. But we may remark:

(1) That the oath here refers not only to the fact that he was with Peter and James only fifteen days, but to the entire group of facts to which he had referred in this chapter. “The things which I wrote unto you.” It included, therefore, the narrative about his conversion, and the direct revelation which he had from the Lord Jesus.

(2) There were no radios which he could appeal to in this case, and he could, therefore, only appeal to God. It was probably not practicable for him to appeal to Peter or James, since neither of them were in Galatia, and a considerable part of the transactions here referred to occurred where there were no witnesses. It pertained to the direct revelation of truth from the Lord Jesus. The only way, therefore, was for Paul to appeal directly to God for the truth of what he said.

(3) The importance of the truth here affirmed was such as to justify this solemn appeal to God. It was an extraordinary and miraculous revelation of the truth by Jesus Christ himself. He received information of the truth of Christianity from no human being. He had consulted no one in regard to its nature. That fact was so extraordinary, and it was so remarkable that the system thus communicated to him should harmonize so entirely with that taught by the other apostles with whom he had had no contact, that it was not improper to appeal to God in this solemn manner. It was, therefore, no trifling matter in which Paul appealed to God; and a solemn appeal of the same nature and in the same circumstances can never be improper.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 20. Before God I lie not. — This he speaks in reference to having seen only Peter and James at Jerusalem; and consequently to prove that he had not learned the Gospel from the assembly of the apostles at Jerusalem, nor consequently received his commission from them.


 
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