Study Desk

For am I now ^(C1)seeking the favor of people, or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a ^(C2)bond-servant of Christ.

For ^(C1)I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is ^(C2)not ^(F1)of human invention.

For ^(C1)I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a ^(C2)revelation of Jesus Christ.

For you have heard of ^(C1)my former way of life in Judaism, how I ^(C2)used to persecute ^(C3)the church of God beyond measure and ^(C4)tried to destroy it;

and I ^(C1)was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my ^(F1)countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ^(C2)ancestral traditions.

But when ^(F1)He who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and ^(C1)called me through His grace was pleased

to reveal His Son in me so that I might ^(C1)preach Him among the Gentiles, ^(C2)I did not immediately consult with ^(F1)(C3)flesh and blood,

^(C1)nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to ^(C2)Damascus.