the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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Read the Bible
New King James Version
Galatians 1:20
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying!)
This here is the truth and you can set it stone.
Now God is witness that the things which I am writing to you are true.
Now what I write to you, behold, before God, I do not lie.
Now I am not lying in what I write to you. God is my witness.
Now about the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I'm not lying.
Now the things which I write to you, behold before God, I lie not.
In making these assertions I am speaking the truth, as in the sight of God.
Now the things which I write vnto you, behold, before God I lye not.
And what I write to you, behold, before God I do not lie.
The thinges that I wryte vnto you, beholde, God knoweth, I lye not.
what I write to you, I call God to witness is all true:
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.)
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you as if I were standing before God that I am not lying.)
Now touching the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
(In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
The thinges which I write beholde God knoweth I lye not.
Now concerning the things which I write to you, look, before God, I don't lie.
Now the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I lie not.
And the things that I write to you, lo, before God -- I lie not;
God knows that these things I write are not lies.
I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you!
I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.
And in the presence of God I swear I am telling the truth.
(Concerning these matters I am writing you about, I declare before God that I am not lying!)
(In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
Nowe the things which I write vnto you, beholde, I witnes before God, that I lie not.
Now the things which I write to you, behold, I confess before God, I do not lie.
Now about the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I'm not lying.
(I declareI declare">[fn] before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.)Romans 9:1;">[xr]
But these which I write to you, behold, before Aloha, [fn] that I lie not.
In the things which I am writing to you, behold, before God ! I lie not.
I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.
I am writing the truth. God knows I am not lying.
Now touching the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!
Now, as touching the things which I am writing to you, lo! before God, I am not guilty of falsehood: -
Now the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I lie not.
Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
(Now the things which I am writing to you, behold, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
The thynges therfore which I write vnto you, beholde, before God I lie not.
God knows there is nothing untrue in any of this.
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
What I write is true. God knows that I am not lying!
And these thingis which Y write to you, lo! tofor God Y lie not.
Contextual Overview
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
Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.
Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.
Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.
Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl;
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.
