ROMANS
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 -
6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 -
12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16
TOC
Maps
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through
his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was
descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be Son of God
with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead,
Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to
bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his
name, 6 including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all
God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus
Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. 9
For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my
witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, 10 asking that
by God's will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I am
longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to
strengthen you-- 12 or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each
other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in
order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the
Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise
and to the foolish 15 --hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also
who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God
for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it
is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith." 18 For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who
by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is
plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 Ever since the creation of
the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have
been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without
excuse; 21 for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give
thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless
minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools; 23 and they
exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human
being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them up
in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among
themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and
worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their
women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, 27 and in the same way also
the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion
for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own
persons the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to
acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should
not be done. 29 They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil,
covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are
gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of
evil, rebellious toward parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32
They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die--yet
they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.
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Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge
others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you,
the judge, are doing the very same things. 2 You say, "We know that God's
judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth." 3 Do you
imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet
do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the
riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that
God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But by your hard and
impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when
God's righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 For he will repay according to each
one's deeds: 7 to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and
immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 while for those who are self-seeking
and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There
will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also
the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew
first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality. 12 All who have sinned
apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned
under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law
who are righteous in God's sight, but the doers of the law who will be
justified. 14 When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what
the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. 15
They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their
own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or
perhaps excuse them 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through
Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all. 17 But if you call yourself
a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God 18 and know his will
and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law, 19 and if you
are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in
darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the
law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, 21 you, then, that teach others, will
you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You
that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob
temples? 23 You that boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
24 For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles
because of you." 25 Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if
you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So, if those
who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their
uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then those who are physically
uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and
circumcision but break the law. 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one
outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. 29 Rather,
a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the
heart--it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from
others but from God.
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Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of
circumcision? 2 Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were
entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their
faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Although everyone
is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written, "So that you may be
justified in your words, and prevail in your judging." 5 But if our injustice
serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to
inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could
God judge the world? 7 But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to
his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as
some people slander us by saying that we say), "Let us do evil so that good may
come"? Their condemnation is deserved! 9 What then? Are we any better off? No,
not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are
under the power of sin, 10 as it is written: "There is no one who is righteous,
not even one; 11 there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who
seeks God. 12 All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there
is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one." 13 "Their throats are
opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of vipers is under
their lips." 14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "Their
feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery are in their paths, 17 and the
way of peace they have not known." 18 "There is no fear of God before their
eyes." 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are
under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be
held accountable to God. 20 For "no human being will be justified in his sight"
by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is
attested by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith
in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his
grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put
forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He
did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had
passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to prove at the present
time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in
Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of
works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by
faith apart from works prescribed by the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only?
Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one;
and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised
through that same faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no
means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
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What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor
according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has
something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say?
"Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." 4 Now to
one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5 But to
one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is
reckoned as righteousness. 6 So also David speaks of the blessedness of those to
whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose
iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the one
against whom the Lord will not reckon sin." 9 Is this blessedness, then,
pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, "Faith
was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness." 10 How then was it reckoned to him?
Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he
was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the
righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose
was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and
who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, 12 and likewise the ancestor of
the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of
the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13 For the
promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his
descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is
the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise
is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is
there violation. 16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the
promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to
the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for
he is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father
of many nations")--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives
life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18
Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many
nations," according to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be."
19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already
as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered
the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the
promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21
being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore
his faith "was reckoned to him as righteousness." 23 Now the words, "it was
reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It
will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the
dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our
justification.
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Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this
grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering
produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces
hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into
our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6 For while we
were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely
will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone
might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we
still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have
been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.
10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of
his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation. 12 Therefore, just as sin came
into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread
to all because all have sinned-- 13 sin was indeed in the world before the law,
but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14 Yet death exercised dominion
from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression
of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not
like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much
more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man,
Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16 And the free gift is not like the effect
of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought
condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
17 If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that
one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free
gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus
Christ. 18 Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so
one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19 For
just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one
man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 But law came in, with the
result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all
the more, 21 so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might
also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
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What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that
grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism
into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united
with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so
that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to
sin. 7 For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8 But if we have died with
Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being
raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over
him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives,
he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive
to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your
mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No longer present your
members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as
those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God
as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you,
since you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Should we sin because
we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if
you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one
whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads
to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of
sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you
were entrusted, 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become
slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your natural
limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity
and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to
righteousness for sanctification. 20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free
in regard to righteousness. 21 So what advantage did you then get from the
things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But
now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get
is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Do you not know, brothers and sisters--for I am speaking to those
who know the law--that the law is binding on a person only during that person's
lifetime? 2 Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as
he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the
husband. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with
another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free
from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress. 4 In
the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ,
so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in
order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 While we were living in the flesh, our
sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit
for death. 6 But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us
captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new
life of the Spirit. 7 What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means!
Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not
have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." 8
But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of
covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from
the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived 10 and I died, and the very
commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an
opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the
law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13 Did what is good,
then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working death in me through
what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the
commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is
spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. 15 I do not
understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing
I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But
in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I
know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what
is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I
do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I
that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when
I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law
of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the
law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks
be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to
the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.
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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from
the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the
flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their
minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set
their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is
death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason
the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's
law--indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But
you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells
in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10
But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is
life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your
mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers
and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--
13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit
you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by
the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of
slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When
we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also
be glorified with him. 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time
are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the
creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20
for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will
of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set
free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the
children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor
pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the
first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the
redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is
not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not
see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit
intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart,
knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the
saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together
for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For
those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his
Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those
whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified;
and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then are we to say about
these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold
his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us
everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who
justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was
raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who
will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be
slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him
who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height,
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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I am speaking the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience
confirms it by the Holy Spirit-- 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in
my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. 4 They are
Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the
giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5 to them belong the
patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is
over all, God blessed forever. Amen. 6 It is not as though the word of God had
failed. For not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, 7 and not all of
Abraham's children are his true descendants; but "It is through Isaac that
descendants shall be named for you." 8 This means that it is not the children of
the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are
counted as descendants. 9 For this is what the promise said, "About this time I
will return and Sarah shall have a son." 10 Nor is that all; something similar
happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor
Isaac. 11 Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so
that God's purpose of election might continue, 12 not by works but by his call)
she was told, "The elder shall serve the younger." 13 As it is written, "I have
loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau." 14 What then are we to say? Is there
injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have
mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion." 16 So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who
shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for the
very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in
all the earth." 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens
the heart of whomever he chooses. 19 You will say to me then, "Why then does he
still find fault? For who can resist his will?" 20 But who indeed are you, a
human being, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it,
"Why have you made me like this?" 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to
make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary
use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has
endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction;
23 and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for
the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-- 24 including
us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As
indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,"
and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'" 26 "And in the very place
where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they shall be called
children of the living God." 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "Though
the number of the children of Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a
remnant of them will be saved; 28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the
earth quickly and decisively." 29 And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts
had not left survivors to us, we would have fared like Sodom and been made like
Gomorrah." 30 What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for
righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; 31 but
Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not
succeed in fulfilling that law. 32 Why not? Because they did not strive for it
on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over
the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, "See, I am laying in Zion a stone that
will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall, and whoever believes
in him will not be put to shame."
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Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
them is that they may be saved. 2 I can testify that they have a zeal for God,
but it is not enlightened. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes
from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God's
righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be
righteousness for everyone who believes. 5 Moses writes concerning the
righteousness that comes from the law, that "the person who does these things
will live by them." 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not
say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ
down) 7 "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up
from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, on your lips and
in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because if you
confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes with the heart
and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11 The
scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." 12 For there
is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is
generous to all who call on him. 13 For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved." 14 But how are they to call on one in whom they have not
believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And
how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to
proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet
of those who bring good news!" 16 But not all have obeyed the good news; for
Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" 17 So faith comes from what
is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask, have
they not heard? Indeed they have; for "Their voice has gone out to all the
earth, and their words to the ends of the world." 19 Again I ask, did Israel not
understand? First Moses says, "I will make you jealous of those who are not a
nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry." 20 Then Isaiah is so bold
as to say, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself
to those who did not ask for me." 21 But of Israel he says, "All day long I have
held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."
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I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself
am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the
scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 "Lord, they
have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left,
and they are seeking my life." 4 But what is the divine reply to him? "I have
kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 So too at
the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace,
it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it,
but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written, "God gave them a sluggish
spirit, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very
day." 9 And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling
block and a retribution for them; 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they
cannot see, and keep their backs forever bent." 11 So I ask, have they stumbled
so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to
the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their stumbling means
riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much
more will their full inclusion mean! 13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles.
Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry 14 in
order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their
rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but
life from the dead! 16 If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy,
then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also
are holy. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive
shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, 18
do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you
that support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 You will say,
"Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." 20 That is true. They
were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So
do not become proud, but stand in awe. 21 For if God did not spare the natural
branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the
severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness
toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be
cut off. 23 And even those of Israel, if they do not persist in unbelief, will
be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you have
been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to
nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches
be grafted back into their own olive tree. 25 So that you may not claim to be
wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery:
a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles
has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "Out of Zion
will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob." 27 "And this is
my covenant with them, when I take away their sins." 28 As regards the gospel
they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved,
for the sake of their ancestors; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are
irrevocable. 30 Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received
mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they have now been disobedient in
order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. 32 For
God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all. 33 O
the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are
his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 "For who has known the mind of
the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" 35 "Or who has given a gift to him, to
receive a gift in return?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all
things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
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I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to
God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is
the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace
given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly
than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the
measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many
members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many,
are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We
have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in
proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the
exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence;
the compassionate, in cheerfulness. 9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil,
hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one
another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the
Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13
Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. 14 Bless
those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who
rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not
be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the
sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably
with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of
God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." 20 No,
"if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something
to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." 21 Do
not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for
there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have
been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God
has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a
terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the
authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4 for it is
God's servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid,
for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to
execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only
because of wrath but also because of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also
pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, busy with this very thing. 7
Pay to all what is due them--taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom
revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. 8
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another
has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You
shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other
commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to
wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became
believers; 12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the
works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us live honorably as in
the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness,
not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
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Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of
quarreling over opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat
only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those
who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them.
4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own
lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to
make them stand. 5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others
judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6
Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat,
eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who
abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 We do not live
to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord,
and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die,
we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he
might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on
your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For
we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, "As I
live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give
praise to God." 12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God. 13 Let us
therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to
put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. 14 I know and am
persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean
for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is being injured
by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat
cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let your good be spoken
of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 The one who thus serves Christ is
acceptable to God and has human approval. 19 Let us then pursue what makes for
peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the
work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others
fall by what you eat; 21 it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything
that makes your brother or sister stumble. 22 The faith that you have, have as
your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn
themselves because of what they approve. 23 But those who have doubts are
condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not
proceed from faith is sin.
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We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak,
and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us must please our neighbor for the good
purpose of building up the neighbor. 3 For Christ did not please himself; but,
as it is written, "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." 4 For
whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by
steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5
May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with
one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with
one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Welcome one
another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For
I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the
truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the
patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As
it is written, "Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing
praises to your name"; 10 and again he says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his
people"; 11 and again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the
peoples praise him"; 12 and again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope." 13 May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may
abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 14 I myself feel confident about
you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled
with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless on some
points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the
grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the
priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may
be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have
reason to boast of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of
anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from
the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the
power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as
Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. 20 Thus I make it my
ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so
that I do not build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,
"Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard
of him shall understand." 22 This is the reason that I have so often been
hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, with no further place for me in these
regions, I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you 24 when I go to
Spain. For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent on by you, once I
have enjoyed your company for a little while. 25 At present, however, I am going
to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints; 26 for Macedonia and Achaia have been
pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27
They were pleased to do this, and indeed they owe it to them; for if the
Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be
of service to them in material things. 28 So, when I have completed this, and
have delivered to them what has been collected, I will set out by way of you to
Spain; 29 and I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the
blessing of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus
Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my
behalf, 31 that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my
ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will
I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 The God of peace
be with all of you. Amen.
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I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at
Cenchreae, 2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the
saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a
benefactor of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work
with me in Christ Jesus, 4 and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not
only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Greet also the
church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in
Asia for Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked very hard among you. 7 Greet
Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are
prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 8 Greet
Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and
my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who
belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my relative Herodion. Greet those
in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the
Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in
the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother--a mother to
me also. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the
brothers and sisters who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and
his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one
another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. 17 I urge you,
brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and
offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. 18
For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by
smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. 19 For
while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to
be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. 20 The God of peace will
shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you. 21 Timothy, my co-worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater,
my relatives. 22 I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23
Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city
treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you. 24 25 Now to God who is able to
strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26
but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all
the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the
obedience of faith-- 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be
the glory forever! Amen.
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