Greeting

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God, ² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ and which centers around his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and appointed Son-of-God-in-power according to the Spirit of holiness through his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.^{1 5} Through him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name’s sake, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. ⁷ To all who are in Rome, dearly loved by God, called to be saints: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for every one of you, for the news of your faith is being proclaimed all over the world. ⁹ For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I mention² you in my prayers, ¹⁰ always asking³ if perhaps now at last, by the will of God, the way may be opened for me to come to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that I might impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established— ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged, together with you,⁴ by our mutual faith, both yours and mine.

¹³ Now, brothers, I don’t want you to be unaware that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), so that I might obtain some spiritual fruit among you as well, just as I have among the other Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and the foolish. ¹⁵ Thus, for my part, I am also eager to preach the gospel to you who live in Rome.

The Power of God for Salvation

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, since it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it a righteousness that comes from God is now revealed, a righteousness that is by faith and for faith.⁵ As it is written, “But he who is righteous by  faith shall live.”⁶

God’s Wrath Upon the Gentiles

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness; ¹⁹ for what may be known about God is evident within⁷ them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood through the things that he has made,⁸ so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For though they knew God, they neither glorified him as God, nor were they thankful, but instead became futile in their thoughts, even as⁹ their senseless hearts were¹⁰ darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ exchanging¹¹ the glory of the incorruptible God for an image made in the likeness of corruptible man, and of birds and four-footed animals and reptiles.¹²

²⁴ So God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another—^13 25 these who exchanged the truth of God for a lie,¹⁴ and who worshiped and served the creature instead of the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to shameful passions. For not only did their women exchange natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, ²⁷ but the men also did the same: Abandoning natural relations with women, they burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing indecent acts, and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their moral waywardness.¹⁵

²⁸ And since they did not think it worthwhile to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things that are improper. ²⁹ They are filled with all sorts of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and depravity. They overflow with¹⁶ envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. ³² And though they know the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them themselves, but also give hearty approval to those who engage in them.

Notes

1. Lit. appointed (ordained, marked out, designated) Son of God in (with) power according to [the] Spirit of holiness from (out of, by reason of) resurrection from (out of) the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord
2. Or remember
3. Or how unceasingly I always mention you in my prayers, asking
4. Or among you
5. Greek: ek (out of, from, by) pisteos (faith), eis (for the purpose of, resulting in) pistin (faith)
6. Or But the righteous shall live by faith. Hab. 2:4
7. Or among 
8. Lit. by things that were made
9. Lit. and
10. Lit. senseless heart was
11. Or changing; lit. and exchanged
12. Or crawling things, creatures
13. Lit. among themselves
14. Lit. the lie
15. Or error
16. Lit. are full of

God’s Impartial Judgment

2 So then, you are without excuse, O man, every one of you who sits in judgment; for at the very point where you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the one who judges, practice the same things. ² Now we know that the judgment of God on those who practice such things is in perfect harmony with the truth.^{1 3} But do you think this, O man—you who sit in judgment on those who practice such things, yet do the same things yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think nothing of the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that the goodness of God is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵ But in accordance with your stubbornness and your impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶ In that day he will repay each person according to his deeds: ⁷ to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing what is good: eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are selfishly ambitious, and who obey unrighteousness instead of the truth: wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who practices² evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; ¹⁰ but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who practices good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For there is no partiality with God.

¹² For as many as have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law; and as many as have sinned within the Law will be judged through the Law. ¹³ For it is not the hearers of the Law who will be righteous in God’s sight; rather, it is the doers of the Law who will be justified. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles, who who do not have the Law, do by nature the things prescribed in the Law, such persons, though not having the Law, become a law to themselves; ¹⁵ these show that the work required by the Law³ is written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness,⁴ and their thoughts going back and forth,⁵ either accusing or else⁶ defending them. ¹⁶ And so shall it be on the day when God judges the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

The Law, the Judgment, and the Jew

¹⁷ Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rest your hopes on the Law, and make your boast in God, ¹⁸ and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent (having received instruction from the Law), ¹⁹ and if you are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who live in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the Law the very form of knowledge and truth— ²¹ how is it that you who teach others fail to teach yourself?⁷ You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? ²² You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who make your boast in the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law? ²⁴ For, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.⁸

²⁵ For circumcision is indeed profitable if you practice the Law; but if you are a breaker of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ If, then, an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? ²⁷ Indeed, the physically uncircumcised man who fulfills the Law will be your judge; for though you have⁹ the written code¹⁰ and circumcision, you are a transgressor of the Law! ²⁸ For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward in the flesh. ²⁹ Rather, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and his circumcision is of the heart; it is by the Spirit, and not by the letter. This Jew’s¹¹ praise is not from men, but from God.

Notes

1. Lit. accords with truth
   
2. Lit. works, does
3. Lit. the work of the Law
4. Lit. bearing joint witness
5. Lit. and the thoughts between one another
   
6. Or even
7. Lit. so the one teaching another, why do you not teach yourself?
8. See Is. 52:5; Ezek. 36:22
9. Lit. who, though having
10. Or letter (of the Law)
11. Lit. whose

What Advantage Has the Jew?

3 “What advantage, then, does the Jew have; or what profit is there in circumcision?” ² Much in every way! First of all, they were entrusted with the very oracles of God! ³ “What then if some of them were unfaithful?¹ Will their unfaithfulness nullify the faithfulness of God?” ⁴ God forbid!² Rather, let God be found true and every man a liar. As it is written: “That you may triumph when you speak,³ and prevail when you are judged.”^{4 5} “But if our unrighteousness exhibits the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Would not God, who inflicts wrath, be unjust?” (I am speaking here as a mere man.) ⁶ God forbid! For how then could God judge the world? ⁷ “But if through my lie the truth of God abounds to his glory, why should I still be judged as a sinner?” ⁸ And why not say—as we are slanderously reported to be saying, and as some claim we are saying—“Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.

All the World Accountable to God

⁹ “What, then? Are we no better off?”  No, not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. ¹⁰ As it is written:

“There is no one who is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹ there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks after God.
¹² All of them have turned aside;
together they have become useless;
there is no one who does good, no, not one.”^5
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they have practiced deceit;
the poison of asps is behind their lips.”^6
14 “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”^7
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶ destruction and misery are in their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”^8
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”⁹

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be shut,¹⁰ and the whole world may become accountable to God. ²⁰ So then: By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in his sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Righteousness Through Faith in Christ

²¹ But now, apart from law,¹¹ a righteousness that comes from God¹² has been revealed. It is attested by the Law and the Prophets, ²² but comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (for there is no distinction, ²³ since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God). ²⁴ As a gift, and by his grace, they are justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set out as a propitiatory sacrifice, effective¹³ through faith in his shed blood. He did this in order to demonstrate his righteousness, since, in the forbearance of God, he had passed over the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶ yet always with a view to the demonstration of his righteousness at this present time, so that he might be both just and the justifier of all who have faith¹⁴ in Jesus.

²⁷ Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles as well? Yes, of the Gentiles as well, ³⁰ since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹ Are we therefore nullifying the Law through faith? God forbid! On the contrary, we are confirming¹⁵ the Law.

Notes

1. Or did not have faith
2. Lit. May it not be (happen)!
3. Or in what you said; lit. be vindicated (justified) in your words
4. Or enter into judgment; see Ps. 51:4
5. Ps. 14:1-3, 53:1-3; Eccl. 7:20
6. Ps. 5:9, 140:3
7. Ps. 10:7
8. Is. 59:7-8
9. Ps. 36:1
10. Or silenced; lit. blocked, stopped up
11. Or the Law
12. Lit. a righteousness of God
13. Or as a site of reconciliation (lit. mercy-seat), accessible
14. Lit. the one who has faith
15. Or establishing

The Justification of Abraham

4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our father according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 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 credited¹ to him for² righteousness.”^3 4 Now to him who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as a debt. ⁵ But to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. ⁶ David himself says the same thing when he⁴ describes the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ⁷ “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; ⁸ blessed is the man to whom the Lord will credit sin.”⁵

⁹ So is this blessedness for the circumcised alone, or for the uncircumcised as well? For we say that faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it credited: while he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised! ¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision—a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith when as yet he was uncircumcised—that he might become the father of all the uncircumcised who believe, so that righteousness could be credited to them as well. ¹² Moreover, he also became⁶ “the father of circumcision” to those who are not only physically circumcised,⁷ but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith which our father Abraham had when as yet he was uncircumcised.

Promise, Law, and Faith

¹³ For the promise to Abraham (or to his seed) that he would inherit the world was not given through the Law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.^8 14 For if those who live under the Law are heirs, then faith is nullified and the promise destroyed, ¹⁵ for the Law engenders wrath; but where there is no law, there is also no transgression. ¹⁶ This is why it comes through faith: so it can accord with grace, so that the promise can be guaranteed to all the seed—not just to those who live under the Law, but also to those who live by the faith of Abraham. For he⁹ is the father of us all ¹⁷ (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”¹⁰) in the sight of him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead, and who speaks of things that don’t exist as though they did. ¹⁸ In hope against hope Abraham kept on believing, and thus became the father of many nations, in accordance with what had previously been spoken: “So shall your seed be.”^11 19 And without weakening in faith, he contemplated his own body—already as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old—and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb; ²⁰ yet he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but instead grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and standing¹² fully persuaded that what God had promised he was also well able to perform. ²² And so “it was credited to him for righteousness.”¹³

²³ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was credited to him, ²⁴ but for ours as well, to whom it would soon be¹⁴ credited: that is, to all¹⁵ who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was delivered up for¹⁶ our transgressions, and raised again for our justification.

Notes

1. Greek logizomai: to credit, reckon, account, impute
2. Lit. unto, for the purpose of
3. Gen. 15:6
4. Lit. just as also David
5. Ps. 32:1-2
6. Lit. as well, and
7. Lit. not only of circumcision
8. Lit. righteousness of faith
9. Lit. who
10. Gen. 17:5
11. Gen. 15:5
12. Lit. having been
13. Gen. 16:6
14. Or it was meant to be; it will be
15. Lit. to those
16. Lit. because of,  for the purpose of

Blessings of the Way of Faith

5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have¹ peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and so rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only this, but we also glory in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, ⁴ perseverance proven character, and proven character hope. ⁵ And this is a hope that never disappoints,² for the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

⁶ For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might even dare to die. ⁸ Yet God displays his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ And now that we have been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved³ from wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹ And not only this, but we also exult⁴ in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received the reconciliation.

The Two Adams

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so that death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³ for until the Law, sin was in the world; but when there is no law, sin is not charged to anyone’s account. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, from the time of Adam till the time of Moses, death reigned, even over those whose sin was not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type⁵ of him who was to come.

¹⁵ But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if, by the transgression of the one, the many died, much more did the grace of God—and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ—overflow to the many. ¹⁶ And the gift is not like the judgment that came through the one who sinned. For the judgment arose from a single transgression,⁶ and resulted in condemnation; whereas the gracious gift arose from many transgressions, and resulted in justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the riches of God’s grace and his gift of righteousness⁷ reign in life through the One: Jesus Christ!

¹⁸ So then: Just as one transgression resulted in condemnation for all men, so too did one act of righteousness result in justification and life⁸ for all men. ¹⁹ For just as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so too, through the obedience of the One, will the many be made righteous. ²⁰ Moreover, the Law came in so that the offense would abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more,^9 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so too grace might reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notes

1. Some mss let us have
2. Lit. this hope does not make ashamed
3. Lit. Much more, then, having now been justified by his blood, will we be saved
   
4. Or glory, boast, rejoice
5. I.e. a picture; lit. pattern
6. Lit. (the) judgment (was) from one
7. Lit. the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
8. Lit. justification of life
9. Lit. superabounded

Shall the Justified Continue in Sin?

6 What then shall we say? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? ² God forbid! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you realize that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ Accordingly,¹ we also were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too should walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, the same is certainly true in regard to his resurrection.^2 6 For we know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body controlled by sin³ might be destroyed,⁴ so that we would no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we also believe that we will live with him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, can die no more: Death no longer has dominion⁵ over him. ¹⁰ For the death that he died, he died to sin, once and for all; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹ Thus, you too should consider yourselves completely dead⁶ to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹² Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so as to obey its evil desires.^7 13 Nor should you present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; rather, you should present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will not have dominion⁸ over you; for you are not under law, but under grace.

Holy Slavery

¹⁵ What then? Shall we go on sinning because we’re not under law, but under grace? God forbid! ¹⁶ Don’t you realize that when you constantly present yourselves as slaves to someone for obedience, you are the slaves of the one you obey: whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that though you once were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that form⁹ of teaching to which you were entrusted;^{10 18} and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ (I am speaking here in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you formerly presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting in¹¹ further lawlessness, so now you must present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. ²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ Tell me, then: What kind of fruit did you harvest from¹² the things of which you’re now ashamed? For the end result of those things is death. ²² But now that you’ve been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you are harvesting leads to sanctification;¹³ and the end result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notes

1. Lit. Therefore
2. Lit. but we shall also be in regard to the resurrection
3. Lit. the body of sin
4. Or rendered powerless
5. Or mastery
6. Lit. dead indeed; truly dead
7. Lit. lusts (cravings)
8. Or mastery
9. Or pattern
10. Lit. handed over
11. Or for the promotion of
12. Lit. What fruit were you having in
13. Lit. you have your fruit unto sanctification

A Better Husband

7 Or do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? ² For by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning a husband. ³ If, then, she is joined to another man while her husband is still living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law; and if she is joined to another man, she will not be an adulteress.

⁴ My brothers, this is what I am saying:¹ Through the body of Christ you too were made to die to the Law so that you could be joined to another—to him who was raised from the dead—so that we all might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the Law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now that we’ve died to what held us captive, we’ve been released from the Law so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Of Sin and the Law

⁷ What, then, shall we say? Is the Law sin? God forbid! On the contrary, I would never have known sin except through the Law. For I would never have known covetousness unless the Law had said, “You shall not covet.”^{2 8} But sin, taking its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of evil desire. For apart from the Law, sin is dead. ⁹ And apart from the Law, I was once alive; but when the commandment arrived, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰ Thus, I found that the commandment—which was meant to bring life—actually brought death! ¹¹ For sin, taking advantage of the commandment,³ deceived me; and through the commandment, it put me to death. ¹² Therefore the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ So did something good become the cause of my death?⁴ God forbid! Rather, sin—that it might be seen as sin—produced death in me through something that was good, so that sin, through the commandment, might become sinful beyond all measure. ¹⁴ For we know that the Law is spiritual, whereas I am fleshly, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I cannot understand what I keep on doing. For what I want to do, I do not perform;⁵ but what I hate, I do! ¹⁶ But if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am agreeing with the Law, that it is good. ¹⁷ But then it is no longer I who am doing it, but the sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) there dwells no good thing; for the desire for good is present within me, but the doing of it is not. ¹⁹ For the good that I want to do, I do not do; but the evil that I don’t want to do, that is what I perform. ²⁰ But if I am doing what I don’t want to do, it is no longer I who am doing it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ I find, then, this law:⁶ Evil is present with me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I gladly concur with the Law of God in my inner man.^{7 23} But I see another law at work in my members, waging war against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin residing in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this deadly sinful body?^8 25 (But thanks be to God,⁹ through Jesus Christ our Lord!) So then: I myself serve the Law of God with the mind; but with the flesh I serve the law of sin.

Notes

1. Lit. Therefore my brothers
2. Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21
3. Lit. taking opportunity through the commandment
4. Lit. become death to me
5. Or practice, accomplish
6. Lit. the law, the principle
7. Lit. according to the inner man
8. Lit. from the body of this death
9. Some mss I thank God

The Spirit-led Life of the Righteous in Christ

8 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 you¹ free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: Sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for the purpose of addressing sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who no longer walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live² according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit, on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God: It will not³ subject itself to the Law of God, for it is not even able to do so. ⁸ Thus,⁴ those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life⁵ because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

¹² So then, brothers: We are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; ¹³ for if you are living according to the flesh you will die. But if, by the Spirit, you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom⁶ we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God; ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs as well—heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, so that we also may be glorified with him.

Suffering and Glory

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with⁷ the glory that will soon be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the anxious longing of the creation earnestly awaits the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to hindrance and defeat, not by its own will, but because of him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ for⁹ the creation itself also will be delivered from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ²³ And not only it, but also we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit: Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting the adoption: the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For we were saved in hope. But hope that is seen is not really hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we’ve not yet seen,¹⁰ then with perseverance we eagerly wait for it.

²⁶ And in the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we don’t know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words; ²⁷ and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that God is working all things together¹¹ for good for those who love God, of those who are the called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ Moreover, those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified.

More than Conquerors

³¹ What, then, shall we say of these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but who gave him up for us all, how shall he not also, together with him, freely give us all things? ³³ Who can¹² bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; ³⁴ who is the one who condemns?¹³ Christ Jesus¹⁴ is the one who died—or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, and who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ What then can separate us from the love of Christ: Can tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ (Just as it is written, “For your sake we are put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”)^{15 37} Yet 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 any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notes

1. Some mss me
2. Lit. are
3. Lit. for it does not
4. Lit. And
5. Or the spirit is alive
6. Or a spirit of adoption, by which
7. Or towards, beside
8. Lit. futility, frustration, worthlessness
9. Or possibly who subjected it, in hope that
10. Lit. what we do not see
11. Some interpreters: that all things work together
    
12. Lit. will
13. Lit. who is the one condemning?
14. Some mss omit Jesus
15. Ps. 44:2

Paul’s Love for His Jewish Brothers

9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying, and my conscience also bears witness with me in the Holy Spirit—when I say ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. ³ For I could wish¹ that I myself were accursed—cut off from Christ—for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, ⁴ the people of Israel.² To them belong the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the service of worship, and the promises; ⁵ to them belong the fathers; and from them, according to the flesh, came the Christ, who is over all: God forever blessed.³ Amen!

God’s Sovereign Grace

⁶ Nevertheless, it is not as if the word of God has fallen to the ground, for they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel, ⁷ nor are they all children simply because they are the seed of Abraham; rather, “It is through Isaac that⁴ your seed will be named.”^5 8 In other words, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God; rather, it is the children of the promise who are counted as the seed. ⁹ For this is a word of promise: “At that time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”^{6 10} Nor is that all, but there is Rebekah as well, who conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac. ¹¹ Yet before they were born or had done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose in election might stand (which is not based on works, but rather on him who calls), ¹² it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”^7 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”⁸

Sovereign Grace Defended

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? God forbid! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”^9 16 Consequently, it does not depend on the man who wills, or on the man who runs, but on God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very reason I raised you up, that I might display my power in you, and that my name would be proclaimed in all the earth.”^10 18 So then: He has mercy on whom he wills¹¹ to have mercy, and whom he wills to harden, he hardens.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever withstood his will?” ²⁰ But on the contrary, who are you, O man, to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? ²² What if God, desiring to display his wrath and make his power known, endured with great patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³ And what if he did so in order to make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy that he had prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ including us, whom he also called, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the Gentiles? ²⁵ As he also says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who were not my people,
and her ‘Beloved’ who was not beloved.”¹²
26 “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they shall be called the sons of the living God.”¹³

²⁷ But concerning Israel, Isaiah cries out:

“Though the number of the children of Israel be like the sand of the sea,
it is only the remnant that will be saved;
²⁸ for the Lord will execute his sentence upon the land,¹⁴
and will do so thoroughly and swiftly.”^15
29 Just as Isaiah previously had said:¹⁶
“Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed,
we would have become like Sodom,
and would have been made like Gomorrah.”¹⁷

Israel and the Way of Works

³⁰ What then shall we conclude?¹⁸ We conclude that Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have now attained righteousness—but a righteousness that comes through faith; ³¹ whereas Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were attained by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ Just as it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone that causes stumbling, and a rock that gives offense; but he who believes in him will never be put to shame.”¹⁹

Notes

1. Or pray
2. Lit. who are Israelites
3. Or Christ, who is God over all, forever blessed; or Christ—God, who is over all, be blessed forever!
4. Lit. in Isaac shall
5. Gen. 21:12
6. Gen. 18:10, 14
7. Gen. 25:23
8. Mal. 1:2-3
9. Ex. 33:19
10. Ex. 9:16
11. Or chooses, desires, wishes
    
12. Hos. 2:23
13. Hos. 1:10
14. Or earth; lit. execute his word upon the land
15. Lit. finishing it and cutting it short; Is. 10:22-23
16. Or Just as Isaiah predicted
17. Is. 1:9
18. Lit. say
19. Is. 8:14, 28:16

Paul’s Heart’s Desire and Prayer

10 Truly, brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God is for their salvation. ² For I bear them witness that they are zealous for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. ³ For ignoring¹ God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish a righteousness of their own, they have not submitted to the righteousness that comes from God. ⁴ For Christ is the goal² of the Law, resulting in righteousness for everyone who believes.

Moses Himself Wrote of Christ

⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness that comes through the Law, saying: “The man who practices these things will live because of them.”^{3 6}But the righteousness that comes through faith speaks like this: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring down Christ from above) ⁷ or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring up Christ from the dead).” ⁸ But what does it say? It says, “The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart,”⁴—that is, the message about faith that we proclaim, ⁹ that if you confess⁵ with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”^6 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is lord of all, overflowing in riches to all who call on him. ¹³ For, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”⁷

¹⁴ How then can⁸ they call on him in whom they’ve not believed? And how can they believe in him whom⁹ they have never heard? And how can they hear without a herald? ¹⁵ And how can they serve as heralds unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”^{10 16} But not all have obeyed¹¹ the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”^12 17 So then: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the message about Christ.¹³

¹⁸ “But I say, surely they’ve never heard!” On the contrary: “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”^{14 19 “}But I say, surely Israel didn’t know!” First Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy by that which is not a nation; I will move you to anger by a nation without understanding.”^{15 20} And later on Isaiah grows very bold, saying, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself¹⁶ to those who did not ask for me.”^{17 21} But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contentious¹⁸ people.”¹⁹

Notes

1. Or failing to understand; lit. not knowing
2. Or end, consummation
3. Lev. 18:5
4. Deut. 30:12-14
5. Or proclaim. Because if you confess
6. Is. 28:16
7. Joel 2:32
8. Lit. will
9. Or of whom
10. Is. 52:7; Nah. 1:15
11. Or heeded, listened to
12. Is. 53:1
13. Or through the word of Christ
14. Ps. 19:4
15. Deut. 32:21
16. Lit. was made manifest
17. Is. 65:1
18. Or antagonistic, obstinate; lit. contradictory
19. Is. 65:2

God Has a Remnant of Jewish Believers

11 “I ask then: Surely God hasn’t rejected his people, has he?” God forbid! For I myself am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ³ “Lord, they’ve killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left; and now they’re seeking my life”¹? ⁴ But what was the divine response to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bent the knee to Baal.”^2 5 In the same way, then, there is at this present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. ⁶ And if it is by grace, it is no longer based on works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.

⁷ What then should we conclude? Just this: What Israel seeks, it has not obtained; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were hardened. ⁸ As it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor—eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear—down to this very day.”^{3 9} Likewise, David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and their just dessert.^{4 10} May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see; and may you bend their backs forever.”⁵

Israel Will Be Grafted in Again

¹¹ “I ask then: Have they stumbled so as never to rise again?” ⁶ God forbid! Rather, through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles in order to provoke the Jews to jealousy. ¹² But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!⁷

¹³ But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Seeing, then, that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴ if by any means I might provoke my own people⁸ to jealousy, thereby saving some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection means reconciliation for the world, what will their acceptance be, if not life from the dead? ¹⁶ For if the first portion⁹ of the sacred dough is holy, the lump is holy as well; and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. ¹⁷ Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you—like a shoot from a wild olive—were grafted in among them, henceforth to partake¹⁰ of the root and fatness of the olive tree along with them, ¹⁸ see to it that you do not brag against the branches. But if you do brag, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you!

Let the Gentiles be Grateful—and Fear!

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Branches were broken off so I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ True enough:¹¹ They were indeed broken off due to unbelief; and you, due to your faith, are standing. Nevertheless, do not think too highly of yourself, but instead fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he¹² spare you. ²² Behold, then, the kindness and the severity of God: on those who fell, severity, but towards you, God’s kindness, if indeed you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. ²³ And they—if they do not continue in unbelief—will also be grafted in, for God is able graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut out from what by nature is a wild olive tree—and then, in a manner contrary to nature, grafted into a cultivated olive tree—how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree?

The Mystery of God’s Plan for Jew and Gentile

²⁵ For I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you be wise in your own eyes: A partial hardening has fallen on Israel till the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. ²⁷ And this will be¹³ my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”¹⁴

²⁸ With respect to the gospel they are enemies for your sake; but with respect to divine election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are without regret or change.^15 30 For just as formerly you were disobedient to God but now have received mercy through their disobedience, ³¹ so now they too have become disobedient, so that through the mercy shown to you they too may now¹⁶ obtain mercy. ³² For God has consigned all to¹⁷ disobedience so that he may have mercy on all.

Eternal Praise for God’s Inscrutable Judgments

³³ O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his paths past tracing out! ³⁴ For, “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”^{18 35} Or “Who has first given to him, such that he must pay it back again?”^{19 36} For from him and through him and for him are all things, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Notes

1. 1 Kings 19:10, 14
2. 1 Kings 19:18
3. Deut. 29:4; Is. 29:10
4. Lit. a recompense to them
5. Ps. 69:22-23
6. Lit. in order to fall?
7. I.e. full number
8. Lit. my flesh
9. Lit. fruits
10. Lit. and (so) became a partaker
11. Lit. Well (said)!
12. Some mss perhaps he will not
13. Or is
14. Is. 59:20-21
15. Lit. without repentance
16. A number of trustworthy mss omit now
17. Or imprisoned all in
18. Is. 40:13
19. Lit. and it will be given (paid) back to him? Job 41:11

New Testament Priests

12 Therefore I entreat you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy and acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service of worship.^1 2 And do not be conformed to this present evil age,² but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you can discover³ what the will of God is: what is good and pleasing and fully complete in his sight.

Humble Service with Spiritual Gifts

³ For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you: Don’t think of yourselves more highly than you should, but think judiciously, each according to the measure of faith that God has allotted to him. ⁴ For just as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Therefore, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each one exercise his own: If it is prophecy, let him prophesy in proportion to his faith.^{4 7} If it is service, let him serve. If it is teaching, let him teach. ⁸ If it is exhortation, let him encourage and exhort. If it is giving, let him do so with sincerity.⁵ If it is leadership, let him lead with diligence. And if it is mercy, let him show it with cheerfulness.

Attitudes and Actions of the Christian

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest what is evil, cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo one another in bestowing honor. ¹¹ Don’t lag behind in diligence, but be fervent in spirit,⁶ serving the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, continue steadfastly in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints, and be eager to show⁷ hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you: Bless and do not curse.¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind towards one another: Don’t be proud and high-minded, but associate with the lowly.⁸ Don’t be wise in your own eyes. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Take care to do what is right in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, and as far as it depends on you, live at peace with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but instead leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.^{9 20} Therefore, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; and if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing you will heap flaming coals upon his head.”^{10 21} Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Notes

1. Or reasonable service
2. Or world; see Gal. 1:4
3. Or discern, approve, demonstrate
   
4. Lit. according to the proportion of the faith
5. Or generosity, liberality
6. Or possibly aglow with the Spirit
7. Lit. pursue
8. Or give yourselves to humble tasks; accommodate yourselves to lowly things
9. Deut. 32:35
10. Prov. 25:21-22

God, Government, and the Christian

13 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for no authority exists except by divine appointment,¹ and the authorities that exist have been put in place by God. ²Accordingly, everyone who opposes the authorities² is actually opposing the ordinance of God, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers are not a source of fear to those who maintain good conduct, only to those whose conduct is evil. Do you want to have no fear of the authorities? Do what is good and you will receive their³ praise, ⁴ for they are servants of God, meant for your good. But if you do what is evil, then be in fear: There is a reason they carry a sword,⁴ since they are servants of God—agents of retribution—to bring his wrath on whoever practices evil. ⁵ Consequently, it is necessary to be in submission, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶ This is why you also⁵ must pay taxes, since the authorities are ministers of God, constantly attending to this very thing. ⁷ So then: Give to everyone their due:⁶ tax to whom tax, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

A Time for Love

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves another⁷ has fulfilled the Law. ⁹ For all these commandments⁸—“You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,”⁹ and any others that there may be¹⁰—can be summed up in this one saying: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^11 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.

¹¹ And you must do all this, recognizing the time in which you live, and knowing that the hour for you to awake from sleep has already arrived; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us throw off the works of darkness and strap on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk properly, as in the daytime: not in revelries and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and unbridled lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision at all for the forbidden desires of the flesh.¹²

Notes

1. Lit. by God
   
2. Lit. the authority
3. Lit. its, and so through verse 4
4. Lit. fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain
5. Or This is also why you
6. Lit. what is due, owed
7. Lit. the other
8. Lit. all this
9. Ex. 20:13-15, 17; Deut. 5:17-19, 21
10. Lit. and if there is any other commandment
11. Lev. 19:18
12. Lit. for the flesh, for (its) desires (lusts)
    

Judgment and Liberty in Non-essentials

14 Accept the brother¹ who is weak in the faith, but not with a view to judging² his opinions.  ² One brother believes he is free to eat anything, whereas the weak brother eats only vegetables. ³ He who eats freely must not look down on him who does not; and he who does not eat freely must not judge him who does—for God has accepted him. ⁴ Who are you to judge another man’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for God is able to make him stand.

⁵ Some of you consider one day more important than another,³ others consider every day alike.⁴ Let each one be fully persuaded in his own mind. ⁶ He who honors a day, honors it to the Lord. Also, he who eats freely, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat freely, does not eat to the Lord—and he too gives God thanks. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again: that he might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ But as for you, why do you judge your brother? Or again, why do you look down on your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will acknowledge⁵ God.”^{6 12} So then: Each of us will give an account of himself to God. ¹³ Let us therefore stop judging one another, but instead make this resolve: never to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in our brother’s way.

Self-sacrifice in Pursuit of Peace

¹⁴ I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but if anyone thinks of something as unclean, for him it is unclean. ¹⁵ If, then, your brother is thrown into confusion⁷ because of what you eat, you are no longer walking in love; you must not let your food tear down the brother for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore, do not allow what you regard as good⁸ to be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God has nothing to do with food and drink,⁹ but with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For he who serves Christ with this understanding¹⁰ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

¹⁹ So then: Let us pursue the things that make for peace, and the things by which we may build each other up. ²⁰ Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. Yes, all things are clean; but it is wrong for a man to eat freely if it causes someone to stumble.^11 21 Indeed, it is good neither to eat meat, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything at all by which your brother might be made to stumble. ²² The faith that you have, have it to yourself before God. Happy is the man who has no qualms about¹² what he approves. ²³ But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not done in faith; for whatever is not done in faith is sin.

Notes

1. Lit. person
2. Or disputing
3. Lit. (There is he) who judges a day above a day
   
4. Lit. (there is he) who judges every day [alike]
   
5. Or confess, give praise to
6. Is. 45:23
7. Or grieved, offended, distressed
8. Lit. allow your good
9. Lit. is not food (eating) and drink (drinking)
   
10. Or in this way; lit. in (with) this
11. Lit. for a man who eats through a stumbling block
12. Lit. who does not judge (condemn) himself in (by)
    

Christ, Our Example

15 Now we who are strong should bear with the frailties of the weak rather than please ourselves. ² Each one of us should please his neighbor for his good, for his edification. ³ For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written: “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”^1 4 For whatever was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that we, through perseverance and the comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. ⁵ Now may the God of perseverance and comfort grant you to be like-minded with one another² in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that together with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received you to the glory of God.

Christ, the Servant of Jew and Gentile

⁸ For I declare to you that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises made to the fathers, ⁹ and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will acknowledge you³ among the Gentiles; and I will sing hymns to your name.”^{4 10} And again he⁵ says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people!”^{6 11} And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud him, all you peoples!”^{7 12} And again, Isaiah says: “The root of Jesse will come, even he who rises up to rule the Gentiles: In him will the Gentiles place their hopes.”^{8 13} Now 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.

Paul, God’s Apostle to the Gentiles

¹⁴ Now I myself am also confident, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, richly supplied with all knowledge, and well able to admonish one another. ¹⁵ Nevertheless, on certain points I have written to you more boldly, in order to remind you of them once again. I have done so because of the grace of God given to me, ¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God like a priest, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable to him, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ Therefore, in Christ Jesus I freely boast about the service I have offered to God.^9 18 For I would never dare to speak of anything except what Christ Jesus has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—¹⁹ by word and deed, by the power¹⁰ of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit—so that from Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, all the way to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. ²⁰ But in so doing, I have made it my ambition¹¹ never to preach the gospel where Christ was already named, in order that I might not build on another man’s foundation. ²¹ Instead, as it is written, “Those who were not told of him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”¹²

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

²² This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. ²³ But since I no longer have opportunity for work in these regions, and since for many years I have greatly desired to come to you ²⁴ if and when I journey to Spain, I hope to do so now. For I hope to see you when I pass through Rome, and then, after enjoying your company for a while, to be sent out by you when I depart for Spain.^13 25 But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. ²⁶ For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a certain contribution to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. ²⁷ For it pleased them to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have received a share in the Jew’s spiritual things, they in turn are obligated to serve the Jews in their material things. ²⁸ So then: Once I have completed this ministry and sealed this fruit to them, I will set out for Spain by way of you. ²⁹ And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰ Now I beseech you, brothers, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God on my behalf. ³¹ Pray that I might be rescued from those in Judea who are disobedient; and pray that my service to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, ³² so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God, and be refreshed together with you all. ³³ The God of peace¹⁴ be with you all. Amen.

Notes

1. Ps. 69:9
2. Lit. grant you to think the same with (among) each other
3. Or give praise to you, confess you
4. 2 Sam. 22:50; Ps. 18:49
5. Or it
6. Deut. 32:43
7. Ps. 117:1
8. Lit. the Gentiles will hope; Is. 11:10
9. Lit. the things towards God
10. Or to obedience in word and deed—by the power
11. Lit. of Christ, but thus being ambitious
12. Is. 52:15
13. Lit. to be sent forward by you there
14. Lit. And (now) may the God of peace

Commendation and Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea, ² so that you will welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and supply her with any help she may need from you; for she herself has been a helper to many, and to me as well.

³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their own necks for my life; not only do I give them thanks, but so do all the churches of the Gentiles. ⁵ Likewise, greet the church that meets in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, the first convert¹ to Christ from the province of Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who worked so hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junias,² my countrymen and fellow prisoners, who are well-known³ among the apostles, and who also were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my dear friend. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet the members of Aristobulus’ household. ¹¹ Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet the members of Narcissus’ household who are in the Lord. ¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, diligent workers in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who⁴ worked so hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, the chosen⁵ in the Lord; and greet his mother (who is mine as well). ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus and 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.

Beware of Divisive Men

¹⁷ Now I urge you, brothers: Keep your eye on those who create divisions and obstacles⁶ contrary to the teaching you received⁷—and turn away from them. ¹⁸ For such men are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own belly; and by smooth talk and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. ¹⁹ For the report of your obedience has reached one and all, so that I rejoice over you. Nevertheless, I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil. ²⁰ And the God of peace will soon crush Satan beneath your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Greetings from Paul’s Colleagues

²¹ Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, all greet you. ²² (I, Tertius, who am writing this letter, greet you in the Lord.) ²³ Gaius, who is host to me and the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you, along with Quartus, our⁸ brother. ²⁴ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.⁹

Concluding Doxology

²⁵ Now to him who is able to establish you by conforming you to¹⁰ my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ—that is, by conforming you to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages past, ²⁶ but now is made manifest, and, in accordance with the command of the everlasting God, is made known through the prophetic scriptures to all nations for obedience to the faith¹¹— ²⁷ to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen!

Notes

1. Lit. first fruits
2. Or possibly Junia (a woman)
3. Or of note, outstanding
4. The pronoun is feminine
5. Or possibly a choice man
6. Or offenses, hindrances; lit. stumbling blocks
7. Lit. you learned
8. Lit. the
9. Many older mss omit this verse
10. Lit. establish you according to
11. Lit. for the obedience of faith