RKJNT - Romans

Chapter 1

1:1  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

1:2  (Which he promised beforehand by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

1:3  Concerning his Son, who was born a descendant of David according to the flesh;

1:4  And through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord,

1:5  By whom we have received grace and apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake;

1:6  And you also are among those called to belong to Jesus Christ:

1:7  To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:8  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

1:9  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you in my prayers;

1:10  Making request, that by some means I might now at last, by the will of God, succeed in coming to you.

1:11  For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so you may be established;

1:12  That is, that we may together be comforted, each by the other's faith, both yours and mine.

1:13  Now I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, that I often intended to come to you, (but was prevented until now,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the other Gentiles.

1:14  I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the foolish.

1:15  So, for my part, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

1:17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by unrighteousness;

1:19  Because that which may be known about God is evident to them; for God has shown it to them.

1:20  For since the creation of the world his invisible nature, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly seen, being understood by the things that have been made; so that they are without excuse:

1:21  Because, though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were they thankful; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

1:23  And exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.

1:24  Therefore God gave them up, through the lusts of their own hearts, to sexual impurity, to dishonour their own bodies among themselves:

1:25  Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

1:26  For this cause God gave them up to vile affections: for even their women exchanged natural relations for that which is against nature:

1:27  And likewise the men, leaving their natural relations with woman, burned in their lust toward one another; men with men doing that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1:28  And as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.

1:29  They were filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malevolence; whisperers,

1:30  Slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

1:31  Without understanding, untrustworthy, without natural affection, unmerciful:

1:32  Who knowing the just decree of God, that those who commit such things are worthy of death, not only do these things, but applaud those who practice them.

Chapter 2

2:1  Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you pass judgement: for when you pass judgement on another, you condemn yourself; for you who pass judgement do the same things.

2:2  But we are sure that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things.

2:3  And do you think, O man, that when you pass judgement on those who do such things, yet do the same yourself, that you shall escape the judgment of God?

2:4  Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience; not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

2:5  But because of your hard and unrepentant heart you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath when the righteous judgment of God shall be revealed;

2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

2:7  To those who by patience in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

2:8  But to those who are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath.

2:9  There shall be tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who does evil, first for the Jew, and also for the Greek;

2:10  But glory, honour, and peace for every man who does good works, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek:

2:11  For there is no partiality with God.

2:12  For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law;

2:13  (For it is not the hearers of the law who are justified before God, but it is the doers of the law who shall be justified.

2:14  For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves.

2:15  They show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or perhaps defending them.)

2:16  On that day God shall judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ, as my gospel proclaims.

2:17  Behold, if you call yourself a Jew, and rely upon the law, and boast of your relationship with God,

2:18  And know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law;

2:19  And are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light for those who are in darkness,

2:20  An instructor for the foolish, a teacher of infants, having the embodiment of knowledge and truth in the law:

2:21  You, therefore, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? you who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

2:22  You who say a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? you who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

2:23  You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law?

2:24  For as it is written, The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

2:25  For circumcision is truly of value, if you keep the law: but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has becomes uncircumcision.

2:26  Therefore, if the uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?

2:27  And shall not the physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the law, judge you, who, though you have the letter of the law and circumcision, are transgressors of the law?

2:28  For he is not a Jew, who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh:

2:29  But he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the spirit, and not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Chapter 3

3:1  Then what advantage has the Jew? or what profit is there in circumcision?

3:2  Much in every way: First, because the oracles of God were entrusted to them.

3:3  What if some did not believe? shall their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?

3:4  God forbid: let God be true, even if every man is a liar; as it is written, That you might be justified in your words, and might overcome when you are judged.

3:5  But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous who takes vengeance? (I speak as a man)

3:6  God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?

3:7  But if, through my lie, the truthfulness of God brings him even greater glory; why am I still condemned as a sinner?

3:8  And why not say, (as we are slanderously reported as saying, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? Their condemnation is just.

3:9  What then? are we better than they? No, by no means: for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

3:10  As it is written, There is no one righteous, no, not one:

3:11  There is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks after God.

3:12  They have all left the way, together they have become unprofitable; there is no one who does good, no, not one.

3:13  Their throats are an open grave; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

3:14  Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

3:15  Their feet are swift to shed blood:

3:16  Destruction and misery are in their ways:

3:17  And the way of peace have they not known:

3:18  There is no fear of God before their eyes.

3:19  Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be held accountable to God.

3:20  Therefore, by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified in his sight: for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

3:21  But now the righteousness of God apart from the law has been manifested, though it is witnessed to by the law and the prophets;

3:22  This is the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe: for there is no difference:

3:23  For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;

3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

3:25  Whom God has set forth to be an atoning sacrifice through faith in his blood. He did this to declare his righteousness, for in the forbearance of God, he passed over sins of the past;

3:26  To declare at this present time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

3:27  Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what law? of works? No: but by the law of faith.

3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the law.

3:29  Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

3:30  Since God is one, and he shall justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith.

3:31  Do we then make the law void through faith? Not at all: rather, we establish the law.

Chapter 4

4:1  What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?

4:2  For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something of which to boast; but not before God.

4:3  For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

4:4  Now to the one who works, his reward is not counted as a gift, but as his due.

4:5  But to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.

4:6  Thus David speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

4:7  Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

4:8  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not count against him.

4:9  Is this blessedness upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised as well? for we say that faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.

4:10  How then was it credited? when he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

4:11  And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all those who believe without being circumcised; that righteousness might be credited to them as well:

4:12  And the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised, but who also walk in the steps of the faith that our father Abraham had while he was yet uncircumcised.

4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not given to Abraham, or to his descendants, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

4:14  For if those who are of the law are heirs, then faith is made void, and the promise is made invalid:

4:15  Because the law brings wrath: but where there is no law, there is no transgression.

4:16  Therefore it is by faith, that it might be by grace; so that the promise might be certain to all his descendants; not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

4:17  (As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations,) before him in whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead, and calls into being those things which are not.

4:18  Against all hope he believed, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall your descendants be.

4:19  And he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, now as good as dead, for he was about a hundred years old, or the deadness of Sarah's womb:

4:20  He did not waver through unbelief in the promise of God; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

4:21  And was fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

4:22  And therefore it was credited to him as righteousness.

4:23  Now it was not for him alone that these words were written, It was credited to him;

4:24  But also for us. It shall be credited to those of us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

4:25  He was delivered to death for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Chapter 5

5:1  Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

5:2  By whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

5:3  And not only this, but we also rejoice in tribulations: knowing that tribulation works perseverance;

5:4  And perseverance, character; and character, hope:

5:5  And hope does not disappoint; because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

5:6  For when we were still without strength, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

5:7  For one will hardly die for a righteous man: though perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

5:8  But God shows his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

5:9  Having been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.

5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, how much more, having being reconciled, shall we shall be saved by his life.

5:11  And not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received reconciliation.

5:12  Therefore, since through one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death spread to all men, for all have sinned:

5:13  For though sin was in the world before the law: sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the same way as Adam, who is the pattern of him who was to come.

5:15  But the free gift is not like the offence. For if through the offence of the one many died, how much more did the grace of God, and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to many.

5:16  And the effect of the gift is not like the effect of the one who sinned, judgment following one trespass and resulting in condemnation; but the free gift came following many offences and resulted in justification.

5:17  For if by one man's offence death reigned through that one; much more shall those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.

5:18  Therefore, as the offence of one brought judgment upon all men, resulting in condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one came justification that brings life for all men.

5:19  For just as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

5:20  The law entered, that offences might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more:

5:21  So that as sin has reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Chapter 6

6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

6:2  By no means. How shall we, who are dead to sin, live in it any longer?

6:3  Do you not know, that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

6:4  Therefore, we were buried with him by baptism into death: so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also might walk in newness of life.

6:5  For if we have been united with him by sharing a death like his, so shall we also share a resurrection like his:

6:6  Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should no longer be enslaved by sin.

6:7  For he who has died is freed from sin.

6:8  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

6:9  Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again: death no longer has power over him.

6:10  For in his death, he died to sin once for all: but in his life, he lives to God.

6:11  In the same way, consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

6:12  Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey its lusts.

6:13  Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness: but yield yourselves to God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

6:14  For sin shall not be your master: for you are not under the law, but under grace.

6:15  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? By no means.

6:16  Do you not know that if you yield yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are slaves of the one you obey; whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

6:17  But thanks be to God, that you who were once the slaves of sin, have obeyed from the heart that standard of teaching which was entrusted to you.

6:18  Being then set free from sin, you became the slaves of righteousness.

6:19  I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members as slaves to uncleanness and to ever increasing iniquity; so now yield your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to holiness.

6:20  For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

6:21  But what benefit did you get from those things of which you are now ashamed? for the result of those things is death.

6:22  But now, having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you gain the benefit that leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chapter 7

7:1  Do you not know, brethren, (for I speak to those who know the law,) that the law has jurisdiction over a person only as long as he lives?

7:2  For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law concerning her husband.

7:3  So then, if she marries another man while her husband lives, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband dies, she is free from that law; so that she is not an adulteress, though she marries another man.

7:4  Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the law through the body of Christ; so that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead that we might bring forth fruit for God.

7:5  For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin, which were aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bring forth fruit for death.

7:6  But now we have been released from the law, dead to that which held us bound; so that we serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? By no means. On the contrary, I would not have known sin, but by the law: for I would not have known about coveting unless the law had said, You shall not covet.

7:8  But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For without the law sin is dead.

7:9  For I was once alive without the law: but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died.

7:10  And the commandment, which was intended to bring life, I found to bring death.

7:11  For sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

7:12  Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good.

7:13  Then did that which is good bring death to me? By no means. But sin, that it might appear to be sin, worked death in me by that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.

7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold into bondage to sin.

7:15  I do not understand that which I do: for I do not do what I want to do; but what I hate is the very thing I do.

7:16  But if I do that which I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

7:17  Now then it is no longer I who does it, but sin which dwells in me.

7:18  For I know that in myself (that is, in my flesh,) no good thing dwells: for to desire what is right is present within me; but to perform what is right, this I cannot do.

7:19  For I do not do the good that I want: but the evil which I do not want, that is what I do.

7:20  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin which dwells in me.

7:21  So I find this law at work, that when I want to do good, evil is present with me.

7:22  For I delight in the law of God in my inner man:

7:23  But I see another law in the members of my body, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?

7:25  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with my mind I myself serve the law of God; but with my flesh the law of sin.

Chapter 8

8:1  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, as an offering for sin; condemning sin in the flesh:

8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk in the ways of the flesh, but in the ways of the Spirit.

8:5  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.

8:6  Now the mind set on the flesh is death; but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.

8:7  Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God: for it is not subject to the law of God, indeed it cannot be.

8:8  So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

8:9  But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.

8:10  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is alive because of righteousness.

8:11  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead shall also give life to your mortal bodies by his Spirit who dwells in you.

8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

8:13  For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if through the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live.

8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

8:15  For you have not received a spirit of bondage leading to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry out, Abba, Father.

8:16  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him.

8:18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.

8:19  For the creation waits in earnest expectation for the revealing of the sons of God.

8:20  For the creation was made subject to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of him who subjected it, in hope,

8:21  That the creation itself shall also be delivered from its bondage to corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

8:22  For we know that the whole creation groans in the pains of childbirth until now.

8:23  And not only the creation, but ourselves as well, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

8:24  For we are saved by this hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what man hopes for what he sees?

8:25  But if we hope for what we do not see, then we wait for it with patience.

8:26  Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness: for we do not know how to pray as we ought: but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

8:27  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.

8:29  For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

8:30  And whom he predestined, those he also called: and whom he called, those he also justified: and whom he justified, those he also glorified.

8:31  What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

8:32  He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also, with him, freely give us all things?

8:33  Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

8:34  Who is there to condemn? It is Christ who died, yes, and more than that, who was raised again, who is at the right hand of God, and who also intercedes for us.

8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

8:36  As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.

8:37  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chapter 9

9:1  I speak the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,

9:2  That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

9:3  For I could wish that I myself were accursed, cut off from Christ, for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

9:4  They are the Israelites; to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple worship, and the promises;

9:5  To them belong the fathers, and from them, according to the flesh, came Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

9:6  But it is not as though the word of God has had no effect. For they are not all Israel, who are descended from Israel:

9:7  Nor are they all the children of Abraham because they are descended from him: but, Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.

9:8  That is, It is not those who are the children of the flesh who are the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.

9:9  For this is the word of the promise, At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.

9:10  And not only this; but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our father Isaac;

9:11  (Though they were not yet born, and had done nothing good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to his choice might stand, not because of works, but because of him who calls;)

9:12  It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger.

9:13  As it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.

9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Not at all.

9:15  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  So then it does not depend on him who wills or runs, but on God who shows mercy.

9:17  For the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

9:18  Therefore, he has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he hardens whomever he wills.

9:19  You will say to me, Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?

9:20  But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Shall the thing formed say to the one who formed it, Why have you made me this way?

9:21  Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for noble use, and another for common use?

9:22  What if God, desiring to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with great patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction:

9:23  That he might make known the riches of his glory to the vessels of mercy, which he had prepared beforehand for glory,

9:24  Even us, whom he has called, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the Gentiles?

9:25  As he says also in Hosea, I will call them my people, who were not my people; and call her beloved, who was not beloved.

9:26  And it shall come to pass, 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.

9:27  Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel, Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant shall be saved:

9:28  For the Lord will execute his sentence upon the earth with speed and finality.

9:29  And as Isaiah said beforehand, Unless the Lord of hosts had left us descendants, we would have become as Sodom, and been made like Gomorrah.

9:30  What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who did not follow after righteousness, have attained righteousness, the righteousness which is by faith;

9:31  But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not fulfilled that law.

9:32  Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone;

9:33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock that will make them fall: but whoever believes in him shall never be put to shame.

Chapter 10

10:1  Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved.

10:2  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

10:3  For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.

10:4  For Christ is the end of the law, so that there may be righteousness for every one who believes.

10:5  Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, The man who practices these things shall live by them.

10:6  But the righteousness which is by faith speaks in this way, Do not say in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

10:7  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)

10:8  But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:

10:9  That if you shall confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.

10:10  For with the heart man believes and is made righteous; and with the mouth confesses and is saved.

10:11  For the scripture says, Whoever believes in him shall not be put to shame.

10:12  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord is Lord over all, bestowing his riches on all who call upon him.

10:13  For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

10:14  But how shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

10:15  And how shall they preach, unless they are sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!

10:16  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report?

10:17  So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

10:18  But I say, Have they not heard? Yes truly, for: Their voice went into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

10:19  But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses says, I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, by a foolish nation I will anger you.

10:20  And Isaiah is very bold, saying, I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.

10:21  But to Israel he says, All day long I have stretched forth my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.

Chapter 11

11:1  I say then, Has God cast away his people? By no means. For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

11:2  God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah? how he appealed to God against Israel, saying,

11:3  Lord, they have killed your prophets, and pulled down your altars; and I alone am left, and they seek my life.

11:4  But what is the answer God gives to him? I have kept for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

11:5  Even so, at this present time, there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

11:6  And if by grace, then it is no longer by works: otherwise grace is no longer grace.

11:7  What then? Israel has not obtained that which it sought; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

11:8  As it is written, God has given them the spirit of stupor, eyes that should not see, and ears that should not hear; down to this day.

11:9  And David says, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a retribution to them:

11:10  Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their backs forever.

11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled to fall beyond recovery? By no means: but rather through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.

11:12  Now if their fall means riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles; how much more will their fullness bring?

11:13  For I speak to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry:

11:14  That I might provoke to envy my own people, and might save some of them.

11:15  For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what shall their acceptance be, but life from the dead?

11:16  For if the piece of dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole lump is also holy: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

11:17  And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them, and with them partake in the rich root of the olive tree;

11:18  Do not boast over the branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

11:19  You will say, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.

11:20  That is true; because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand only by faith. Do not be conceited, but fear:

11:21  For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you.

11:22  Therefore behold the kindness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, kindness, if you continue in his kindness: otherwise you shall also be cut off.

11:23  And they also, if they do not persist in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.

11:24  For if you were cut off from an olive tree which is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted onto a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

11:25  Brethren, I would not have you be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that a hardening in part has happened to Israel, until the full number of Gentiles has come in.

11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, who shall banish ungodliness from Jacob:

11:27  For this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins.

11:28  Concerning the gospel, they are enemies of God, for your sakes: but concerning election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are never revoked.

11:30  For as you in times past have not obeyed God, yet have now obtained mercy because of their disobedience:

11:31  Even so they have now become disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they may now also obtain mercy.

11:32  For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

11:34  For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been his counsellor?

11:35  Or who has first given to him, that he might be repaid?

11:36  For from him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Chapter 12

12:1  Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship.

12:2  And do not be conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect.

12:3  For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according to the measure of faith God has given him.

12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function:

12:5  So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually are members one of another.

12:6  Having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, according to the proportion of our faith;

12:7  If service, in our serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;

12:8  Or he who exhorts, in exhortation: he who gives, with generosity; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

12:9  Let love be genuine. Abhor that which is evil; cling to that which is good.

12:10  Be devoted to one another with brotherly love; honour one another more than yourselves;

12:11  Not lacking in zeal; aglow with the spirit; serving the Lord;

12:12  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; faithful in prayer;

12:13  Contributing to the saints who are in need; practicing hospitality.

12:14  Bless those who persecute you: bless, and do not curse.

12:15  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

12:16  Be in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own conceits.

12:17  Do not repay any man evil for evil, but take thought of those things that are right in the sight of all men.

12:18  If it is possible, as much as it lies with you, live peaceably with all men.

12:19  Dearly beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place for the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.

12:20  Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire upon his head.

12:21  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Chapter 13

13:1  Let every man be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority but from God: and those authorities that exist have been ordained by God.

13:2  Therefore, whoever resists the authorities, resists the ordinance of God: and those who resist shall bring condemnation upon themselves.

13:3  For rulers are not a terror for those who do good works, but to those who do evil. Do you want to have no fear of the one in authority? do that which is good, and you shall have his praise:

13:4  For he is a minister of God for your good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God to execute wrath upon the one who does evil.

13:5  Therefore you must be subject, not only to avoid wrath, but also for conscience sake.

13:6  For this reason you also pay taxes: for they are God's ministers, attending continually to this very service.

13:7  Therefore, give to all men what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; revenue to whom revenue; respect to whom respect; honour to whom honour.

13:8  Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he who loves others has fulfilled the law.

13:9  For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet; and any other commandments, are summed up in this saying, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

13:10  Love does no wrong to a neighbour: therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

13:11  And besides that, you know the hour, that it is now high time to awaken from sleep: for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.

13:12  The night is far gone, the day is at hand: therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

13:13  Let us conduct ourselves properly, as in the day; not in carousing and drunkenness, not in debauchery and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.

13:14  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its lusts.

Chapter 14

14:1  Accept him who is weak in the faith, and do not dispute over his opinions.

14:2  For one believes that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.

14:3  Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat; and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats: for God has accepted him.

14:4  Who are you to judge another man's servant? to his own master he stands or falls. And he shall be upheld: for the Lord is able to make him stand.

14:5  One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.

14:6  He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord; He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, abstains for the Lord, and gives God thanks.

14:7  For none of us lives for himself, and none of us dies for himself.

14:8  For if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord: therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

14:9  For to this end Christ both died, and rose to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

14:10  Why do you judge your brother? or why do you despise your brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.

14:11  For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

14:12  So then, every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.

14:13  Therefore, let us not judge one another any more: but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or an obstacle in a brother's way.

14:14  I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

14:15  But if your brother is hurt because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

14:16  Therefore, do not let your good be spoken of as evil:

14:17  For the kingdom of God is not food and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

14:18  For he who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God, and approved by men.

14:19  Therefore, let us follow after the things which make for peace, and things which edify one another.

14:20  Do not destroy the work of God for food. All things indeed are pure; but it is wrong for a man to cause another to fall by what he eats.

14:21  It is good not to eat meat, or to drink wine, or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

14:22  Do you have a conviction? keep it for yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in that thing which he approves.

14:23  But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith: and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Chapter 15

15:1  We then who are strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

15:2  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good, to edify him.

15:3  For even Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of those who reproached you fell upon me.

15:4  For whatever things were written in the past were written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope.

15:5  Now may the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus:

15:6  That you may with one heart and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:7  Therefore welcome one another, as Christ welcomed us to the glory of God.

15:8  Now I say that Christ became a minister to the circumcised for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers:

15:9  And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.

15:10  And again he says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.

15:11  And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; and praise him, all you people.

15:12  And again, Isaiah says, The root of Jesse shall come, and he shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles hope.

15:13  Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

15:14  And I myself am also convinced about you, my brethren, that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another.

15:15  Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as a reminder, because of the grace given to me by God,

15:16  That I should be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, in the priestly service of the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

15:17  Therefore, through Jesus Christ I have reason to glory in my work for God.

15:18  For I will not dare to speak of any work except what Christ has done through me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,

15:19  Through the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

15:20  So I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:

15:21  But as it is written, Those who were not told of him shall see: and those who have not heard shall understand.

15:22  This is why I have been often hindered from coming to you.

15:23  But now, having no more opportunity for work in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you;

15:24  I hope to see you on my way to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

15:25  But now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints.

15:26  For it has pleased those of Macedonia and Achaia to make a contribution for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem.

15:27  It has truly pleased them to do this; and indeed they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is to minister to them in material things.

15:28  Therefore, when I have completed this, and have made certain they have received this fruit, I will come visit you on my way to Spain.

15:29  And I am sure that, when I come to you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of Christ.

15:30  Now I urge you, brethren, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;

15:31  That I may be delivered from those who do not believe in Judaea; and that my service for Jerusalem may be accepted by the saints;

15:32  That I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may together with you be refreshed.

15:33  The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Chapter 16

16:1  I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchreae:

16:2  That you receive her in the Lord, in a manner befitting the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may have need of you: for she has been a help to many, and to myself as well.

16:3  Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus:

16:4  Who have for my life risked their own necks: to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

16:5  Also greet the church that is in their house. Greet my well-beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ.

16:6  Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour upon you.

16:7  Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

16:8  Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

16:9  Greet Urban, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.

16:10  Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who are of Aristobulus' household.

16:11  Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

16:12  Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who laboured much in the Lord.

16:13  Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

16:14  Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren who are with them.

16:15  Greet Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

16:16  Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

16:17  Now I urge you, brethren, take note of those who cause divisions and difficulties, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them.

16:18  For they do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own bellies; and by smooth words and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the simple.

16:19  For your obedience is known to all, and therefore I am glad on your behalf: yet I would have you be wise regarding that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

16:20  And the God of peace shall soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

16:21  Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, greet you.

16:22  I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

16:23  Gaius, host to me and the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

16:24  [The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]

16:25  Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages past,

16:26  But now has been made manifest, and through the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith:

16:27  To the only wise God, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.