Since we have heard that certain men, whom we did not authorize, have gone out from us and troubled you with their words, unsettling your minds by saying that you must be circumcised and keep the law,
The reason I am writing these things to you while I am absent is so that, when I am present, I will not need to be harsh in my use of authority, which the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.
That is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I came I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence about you all that my joy would be yours.
We are also sending with them our brother whom we have often tested and found to be earnest in many matters, and now he is even more earnest because of his great confidence in you.
Now this matter arose because of the false brothers who were secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us.
Now from those who were esteemed to be something (what sort of men they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show partiality)—those, I say, who were held in high esteem added nothing to me.
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you to keep you from obeying the truth? In your presence, before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Therefore all of us who are mature should adopt this mindset, and if you adopt a different mindset about anything, God will reveal that to you as well.