Worsley - Romans

Chapter 1

1:1  Paul a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,

1:2  separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures) concerning his Son,

1:3  who was of the seed of David according to the flesh,

1:4  but powerfully declared to be the Son of God, according to the spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ our Lord;

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

1:6  among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ;

1:7  to all that are in Rome beloved of God, called and holy: grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:8  And first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is celebrated through the whole world:

1:9  for God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how incessantly I make mention of you always in my prayers,

1:10  intreating if I may now at length have a prosperous journey by the will of God, to come unto you.

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

1:12  that is to say, that being among you we may be comforted together by the faith of each, both yours and mine.

1:13  And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that I often purposed to come unto you, (but have been hindered hitherto) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the other Gentiles.

1:14  For I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the learned and the unlearned:

1:15  therefore am I ready, as much as in me lies, to preach the gospel to you also that are at Rome.

1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, both Jew and Greek:

1:17  for the righteousness of God is therein 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 ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who withhold the truth in unrighteousness;

1:19  for what is to be known of God is manifest among them, for God hath manifested it to them.

1:20  Inasmuch as from the first creation of the world, the invisible things of Him, even his eternal power and Godhead, are, if attended to, clearly seen in his works:

1:21  so that they are inexcusable; because having thus known God they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thankful; but were infatuated by their own reasonings, and their heart being void of understanding was darkened.

1:22  Pretending to be wise they Became fools:

1:23  and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for an image like to corruptible man, and birds, and beasts, and reptiles.

1:24  Wherefore God also gave them up to impurity, in the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies among themselves;

1:25  who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

1:26  Therefore God gave them up to infamous passions: for even their women changed the natural use into that which is unnatural,

1:27  and the men likewise, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust to one another, men with men committing shame, and receiving in themselves the recompence of their error which they deserved.

1:28  And as they were not careful to acknowledge God, God gave them up to an undiscerning mind to do things that were not fit to be done:

1:29  being filled with all injustice, lewdness, wickedness, covetousness, malignity; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and every evil habit; whisperers,

1:30  slanderers, haters of God, injurious, haughty, proud, inventers of mischief, undutiful to parents, void of understanding,

1:31  covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, and unmerciful:

1:32  who though they knew the just judgement of God, (that they who commit such practises are worthy of death) yet not only do these very things, but also countenance and encourage others in the practice of them.

Chapter 2

2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whoever thou art, that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost the same things.

2:2  But we know that the judgement of God is according to truth against those that do such things.

2:3  And thinkest thou, O man, who judgest those that do such things, and dost the same, that thou shalt escape the judgement of God?

2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

2:5  But by thy hardness and impenitence of heart thou art treasuring up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgement of God,

2:6  who will render to every one according to his works:

2:7  to them, who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, and honor, and immortality, eternal life:

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

2:9  Tribulation and anguish shall be upon every soul of man that worketh evil, both of the Jew, and of the Gentile:

2:10  but glory, and honor, and peace to every one that worketh good, both to the Jew, and to the Greek:

2:11  for there is no respect of persons 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 not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified:

2:14  for when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the duties of the law, these though they have not the law, are a law to themselves,

2:15  and shew the work of the law written on their hearts, their conscience witnessing together with it, and their own thoughts either accusing, or excusing them,)

2:16  in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

2:17  Behold thou art called a Jew, and restest on the law, and boastest in God,

2:18  and knowest his will, and approvest things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

2:19  and art persuaded that thou art a guide of the blind,

2:20  a light to them that are in the darkness, an instructor of the simple, a teacher of babes, having the form of the knowledge and of the truth which is in the law.

2:21  Thou then, who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou, that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

2:22  Thou, that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou, that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

2:23  Thou, that boastest in the law, dost thou by transgression of the law dishonour God?

2:24  for through you the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles, as it is written.

2:25  For circumcision indeed is profitable, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is become uncircumcision.

2:26  Therefore if the uncircumcised keep the righteous precepts of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be accounted to him for circumcision?

2:27  and shall not the uncircumcision that is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law? for he is not a Jew, who is only so in appearance;

2:28  nor is that circumcision, which is only in appearance, in the flesh;

2:29  but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter: whose praise is not from men, but from God.

Chapter 3

3:1  What then is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?

3:2  Much, every way: chiefly, because they were intrusted with the oracles of God.

3:3  For what if some did not believe? shall their incredulity make the faithfulness of God of no effect?

3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be acknowledged true, though every man be a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, and mightest overcome, when thou judgest.

3:5  "But if our unrighteousness confirm the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is not God unrighteous, who inflicteth his wrath?" (I speak as a man) God forbid:

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

3:7  "But, say you, if the truth of God hath abounded unto his glory through my falshood, why yet am I also judged as a sinner?

3:8  and why may we not do evil that good may come?"---as we are injuriously charged, and as some affirm that we say; whose condemnation is just.

3:9  "What then are we the better?" Not at all, in point of justification; for we have before proved that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin: as it is written,

3:10  "There is none righteous, no not one;

3:11  there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God.

3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are become unprofitable, there is none that practiseth goodness, no not one.

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

3:14  whose 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 they have not known; and the fear of God is not before their eyes."

3:18  Now we know that whatsoever the law saith,

3:19  it saith to those under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world obnoxious to the justice of God.

3:20  Wherefore by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before Him: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

3:21  But now, without the law, righteousness before God is manifested, being attested by the law and the prophets;

3:22  and this righteousness of God is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all believers; for there is no difference;

3:23  for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;

3:24  being justified freely by his grace, because of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

3:25  whom God hath appointed to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness, in the remission of past sins, according to the forbearance of God;

3:26  for a demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at this time: that He might be just, and the justifier of him, that believeth 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, without the works of the law:

3:29  or is He the God of the Jews only, and not also of the Gentiles?

3:30  surely of the Gentiles also: seeing it is one God who will justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision also through faith.

3:31  Do we then make the law of none effect through faith? God forbid: yea we establish the law.

Chapter 4

4:1  What shall we say then that Abraham our father obtained according to the flesh?

4:2  for if Abraham were justified by works, he hath something to boast of; but this he hath not before God:

4:3  for what saith the scripture? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."

4:4  Now to him that worketh the reward is not reckoned as a favor, but as a debt:

4:5  but to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

4:6  As David also describeth the blessedness of the man to whom: God imputeth righteousness without works, saying,

4:7  "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered:

4:8  blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin."

4:9  Now is this blessedness upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? for we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.

4:10  How then was it accounted to him? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

4:11  And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had in uncircumcision: that he might be the father of all that believe though not circumcised, that righteousness may be imputed to them also:

4:12  and the father of circumcision to those, who not only are of the circumcision, but also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision.

4:13  For the promise made to Abraham, or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world, was not by the law, but by the righteousness of faith:

4:14  for if they only that are of the law be heirs, faith is made useless, and the promise is become of no effect.

4:15  Now the law worketh wrath; for where there is no law, there is no transgression.

4:16  And therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, that so the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

4:17  (as it is written, "I have made thee a father of many nations,") in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not as if they were:

4:18  who against hope believed, with hope, that he should be the father of many nations, according to that which was said unto him, "So shall thy seed be."

4:19  And not being weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, being about an hundred years old; nor the deadness of Sarah's womb.

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

4:21  and being fully persuaded, that what was promised He was able to perform:

4:22  and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

4:23  Now it was not written on his account only, that it was imputed to him:

4:24  but for our sakes also, to him it will be imputed, as we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead:

4:25  who was delivered 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  through whom also we have admission by faith into this grace in which we stand, and boast in hope of the glory of God.

5:3  And not only so, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience,

5:4  and patience experience,

5:5  and experience hope, and this hope maketh us not ashamed; because the love of God is diffused in our hearts by the holy Spirit that is given to us.

5:6  For when we were yet without strength, Christ died in due season for the ungodly.

5:7  Whereas one would hardly die for a just man, though perhaps for a good man one might dare even to die.

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

5:9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him.

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

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

5:12  Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for to that all have sinned:

5:13  for sin was in the world before the law. Now sin is not imputed where there is no law;

5:14  and yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is the type of Him that was to come.

5:15  But not as the offence, so also is the free gift: for if through the offence of one many died, much more hath the grace of God, and the gift bestowed by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

5:16  For the gift is not as the sentence was by one that sinned; for the sentence is passed from one offence to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences to justification.

5:17  For if, by the offence of one, death reigned through one, much more they who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life through one, even Jesus Christ.

5:18  Therefore as by the offence of one the effect of it was upon all men to condemnation: so also by the righteousness of one, the effect was upon all men to justification of life.

5:19  For as by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners; so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.

5:20  Now the law made some entrance, that the offence might appear to abound; but where sin abounded, grace hath superabounded; that as sin had reigned in death,

5:21  so grace might reign through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Chapter 6

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

6:2  God forbid! how shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

6:3  Know ye not, that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death?

6:4  Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life:

6:5  for if we have been planted together in the resemblance of his death, so shall we be also of his resurrection.

6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we might no longer be inslaved to sin:

6:7  for he that is thus dead with Christ, is delivered from sin.

6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him:

6:9  knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more power over Him: for as He died, He died once for all on account of sin;

6:10  but as He liveth, He liveth unto God.

6:11  So also do ye reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to obey it in the lusts thereof.

6:13  Neither yield your bodies as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.

6:14  For sin shall have no power over you, inasmuch as ye 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?

6:16  God forbid! Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves servants to obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey? either of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

6:17  But thanks be to God, that ye who were servants of sin, have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you:

6:18  and being set free from sin, ye are become the servants of righteousness.

6:19  I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh: as ye have yielded your bodies servants to impurity and iniquity to work iniquity; so now present your bodies servants to righteousness, unto holiness.

6:20  For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

6:21  What fruit therefore had ye then in the things, which ye are now ashamed of? for the end of those things is death.

6:22  But now being set free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

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

Chapter 7

7:1  Are ye ignorant, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law) that the law hath power over a man, only so long as it liveth?

7:2  For a married woman is bound by the law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband die, she is discharged from the law of her husband.

7:3  Therefore while her husband is living, she shall be called an adulteress if she become another man's: but if her husband be dead, she is free from the law; so that she is not an adulteress, though she become another man's.

7:4  And thus, my brethren, ye also are dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye might become another's, even his who is raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.

7:5  For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions while we were under the law operated in our bodies so as to bring forth fruit unto death.

7:6  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead by which we were bound, that we might serve God in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7:7  What shall we say then? is the law sin? God forbid! Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust to be sinful, if the law had not said, "Thou shalt not covet."

7:8  But sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence: for without the law sin was dead.

7:9  And I was heretofore alive without the law: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died:

7:10  and the commandment which was intended to life, I found to be unto death.

7:11  For sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it slew me.

7:12  So that the law is holy; and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

7:13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid! But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good: that sin might be shewn by the commandment to be exceeding sinful.

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

7:15  For that which I do, I allow not: for I do not that which I would; but what I hate, this I do.

7:16  And if I do that which I would not, I consent to the law that it is good:

7:17  but now I am no more the doer of it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

7:18  For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good: for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not.

7:19  For I do not the good that I would; but the evil which I would not, this I do.

7:20  Now if I do that which I would not, I am no more the doer of it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

7:21  I find then a kind of law, that when I would do good, evil besets me.

7:22  For I delight in the law of God, as to the inward man:

7:23  but I perceive another law in my body warring against the law of my mind, and captivating me to the law of sin, which is in my body.

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

7:25  The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with my mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Chapter 8

8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.

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

8:3  For that which was impossible for the law to do, and in which it was weak through the corruption of the flesh, God by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sacrifice for sin, hath done; that is, hath condemned sin in the flesh:

8:4  that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.

8:5  For they who are after the flesh, mind the things of the flesh; but they who are led by the Spirit, do mind spiritual things.

8:6  Now to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace:

8:7  because the carnal mind is an enemy to God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be:

8:8  and they who are carnal, cannot please God.

8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if the Spirit of God dwelleth in you: but if any one hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

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

8:11  And if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwelleth in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead, will also restore your mortal bodies to life, by his Spirit that now dwelleth in you.

8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:

8:13  for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if by the Spirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

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

8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

8:16  So that the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

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

8:18  And I account the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be set against the glory that shall be revealed to us.

8:19  For the earnest expectation of the world is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God:

8:20  (for the world was subjected to vanity, not willingly, but through him who made it subject:)

8:21  in hope that they also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

8:22  For we know that the whole world groaneth, and doth as it were travail in pain together even to this day.

8:23  And not only others, but those also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of our body.

8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen, is not hope; for what any one sees, how doth he yet hope for?

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

8:26  And the Spirit likewise helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for, as we ought: but the Spirit itself intercedes for us with unutterable groans.

8:27  And He that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit; for he intercedeth for the saints according to the will of God.

8:28  And we know that all things co-operate for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose;

8:29  for those whom he foreknew, He also predetermined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be as the first-born among many brethren: and whom He before ordained, these He also called;

8:30  and whom He called, these he also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

8:31  What shall we say then to these things? if God be for us, who can be against us?

8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?

8:33  Who shall lay any accusation against the elect of God? will God, who justifieth us?

8:34  Who is he that condemneth? Is it Christ, that died for us? yea rather, that is risen again, who is also at the right hand of God, and who maketh intercession for us?

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

8:36  (as it is written, "for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter:")

8:37  but in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

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

8:39  nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chapter 9

9:1  I say the truth in Christ, I lye not, (my conscience bearing me witness in the holy Ghost,)

9:2  that I have great grief and continual sorrow in my heart:

9:3  for I could wish that I myself were made a curse after the manner of Christ, for my brethren, my kindred according to the flesh;

9:4  who are Israelites, whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the form of divine worship, and the promises:

9:5  whose are the fathers, and of whom, as to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all God blessed for ever. Amen.

9:6  Not that the word of God hath failed. For they are not all Israel, who are descended from Israel.

9:7  Nor because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children of promise: but "in Isaac shall thy seed be called."

9:8  That is, not the children of the flesh are the children of God, but the children of the promise are accounted for the seed.

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

9:10  and not to her only; but Rebecca also being with child by our father Isaac,

9:11  (when the children were not yet born, nor had done either good or evil, that the purpose of God according to his choice might abide, not on account of works, but of Him that calleth,) it was said to her, the elder shall serve the younger:

9:12  as it is written,

9:13  "I loved Jacob and I hated Esau."

9:14  What shall we say then? Is there injustice in God?

9:15  God forbid! For He saith 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 is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

9:17  And the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, for this very purpose have I raised thee up, that I may shew forth my power in thee, and that my name may be declared through all the earth.

9:18  So then He hath mercy on whom He pleaseth, and whom He will, He hardeneth.

9:19  Thou wilt say then, Why doth he yet blame us? who hath resisted his will?

9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou, that disputest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?

9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, out of the same mass to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor?

9:22  And what if God, though resolved to shew his displeasure at last, and to make known his power, yet bore with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?

9:23  and that He might make known the riches of his glory in the vessels of mercy, which He hath prepared for glory?

9:24  whom He hath also called, even us, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles.

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

9:26  And in the place where it was said to them, Ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God.

9:27  And Esaias crieth out concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant shall be saved.

9:28  For in finishing the account and cutting it short in righteousness, the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.

9:29  And as Esaias said before, "Except the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and we had been made like unto Gomorrah."

9:30  What shall we say then? that the Gentiles, who sought not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith;

9:31  but Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness: why?

9:32  because they sought it not by faith, but by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone;

9:33  as it is written, "Behold I lay in Sion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence:" and again, "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed."

Chapter 10

10:1  Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may 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 the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness which is of God.

10:4  For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to every believer.

10:5  For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, "That the man who doth those things shall live by them."

10:6  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh thus, "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven, (that is, to bring Christ down) or,

10:7  who shall descend into the deep, (that is, to

10:8  bring up Christ from the dead)" but what saith it? "The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart." This is the word of faith which we preach: that if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,

10:9  and believe in thine heart, that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him, shall not be ashamed.

10:12  For there is no difference of Jew and Greek: for He being Lord of all is bountiful to all that call upon Him.

10:13  For whosoever 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 on him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

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

10:16  But all have not obeyed the gospel: for Esaias saith, "Lord, who hath believed our report?"

10:17  So that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

10:18  But I say, Have they not heard? Verily their sound is gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

10:19  But I say again, Did not Israel know this? when first Moses saith, "I will move you to jealousy by those who are not a people, I will provoke you to anger by a foolish nation:"

10:20  and Esaias positively affirms, "I was found of them that sought me not, I was made manifest to them that asked not after me:"

10:21  and saith to Israel, "All the day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people."

Chapter 11

11:1  I say then, Hath God cast off his people? God forbid! for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

11:2  God hath not cast off his people, whom He foreknew. Do ye not know what the scripture saith of Elias? how he complains to God against Israel,

11:3  saying, "Lord, they have slain thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life."

11:4  But what saith the oracle of God to him? "I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal."

11:5  And so in the present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

11:6  And if by grace, it is no more of works: for then grace is no longer grace. But if of works, it is no more grace: for then work is no longer work.

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

11:8  (according as it is written, God hath given them a spirit of slumber, that their eyes could not see and their ears could not hear,) even unto this day.

11:9  And David saith, Let their table become a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling-block, and a recompence unto them.

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

11:11  Say I then, Have they stumbled, that they should fall irrecoverably? God forbid! but this I say, that by their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles to excite them to emulation.

11:12  Now if their fall be the riches of the world, and their diminution be the riches of the Gentiles, how much more will their fulness be?

11:13  For I speak to you Gentiles: inasmuch indeed as I am the apostle of the Gentiles,

11:14  I extol my office, that if possible I may excite to emulation my brethren according to the flesh, and may save some of them:

11:15  for if the rejecting of them be the reconciling of the world, what will the receiving them again be but life from the dead?

11:16  Now if the first-fruits be holy, so is the whole heap: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

11:17  But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou a wild-olive wert grafted in among them, and art made a partaker together with them of the root and fatness of the olive; boast not against the branches:

11:18  and if thou boastest, remember thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

11:19  Wilt thou say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in?

11:20  Well; they were broken off for their infidelity, and thou standest by faith: therefore be not high-minded but fear.

11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, neither would He spare thee.

11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: towards them that fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness; if thou continue in his goodness: for else thou also shalt be cut off.

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

11:24  For if thou wert cut out of the wild olive, which was natural to thee, and contrary to nature were grafted into a good olive; how much more shall these who are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive-tree?

11:25  For I would not have you, brethren, to be ignorant of this mystery, (least ye should be wise in your own eyes) that blindness in part is befallen Israel, till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, "The deliverer shall come out of Sion, and shall turn away impiety from Jacob:

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

11:28  As to the gospel indeed they are enemies on your account, but as to the election they are beloved on account of the fathers.

11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

11:30  For as ye were heretofore disobedient to God, but have now obtained mercy in their disobedience:

11:31  so these also in your mercy have now been disobedient, that they themselves might be the objects of mercy.

11:32  For God hath included them all in the charge of 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 judgements, and his ways not to be traced out!

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

11:35  Or who hath first given to Him? and it shall be returned.

11:36  For of Him, and through Him, and for Him, are all things. To Him be glory for ever. Amen.

Chapter 12

12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and well-pleasing to God, as your rational service.

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

12:3  For by the grace conferred on me I charge every one among you, not to think of himself above what he ought to think: but to think with sobriety, according as God hath divided to every man the measure of faith.

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

12:5  so we who are many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of each other.

12:6  But having different gifts, according to the grace conferred upon us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith:

12:7  or ministry, let us attend to the ministry: or he that teacheth, on teaching: or he that exhorteth, on exhortation:

12:8  he that distributeth, let him do it with integrity: he that presideth, with diligence: he that sheweth mercy, with chearfulness.

12:9  Let love be unfeigned. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good;

12:10  be tenderly affected with brotherly love to each other, in honor preferring one another:

12:11  not slothful in business: fervent in spirit: serving the Lord.

12:12  Rejoicing in hope, patient under affliction, persevering in prayer,

12:13  communicating to the necessities of the saints, given to hospitality.

12:14  Bless them that persecute you: bless them, I say, and do not curse them.

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

12:16  Be alike affected to each other: not aiming at high things, but accommodating yourselves to persons of low rank. Be not wise in your own conceit.

12:17  Render to no one evil for evil: behaving honorably in the sight of all men.

12:18  If it be possible, as much as ye can, live peaceably with all men.

12:19  Avenge not yourselves, my beloved; but rather give place to the wrath of others: for it is written, "Vengeance belongeth to me, I will recompence, saith the Lord."

12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

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

Chapter 13

13:1  Let every soul be subject to the powers that are over them: for there is no such power but from God: the powers that are over men, are appointed by God.

13:2  So that he who resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive condemnation.

13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wouldest thou then not be afraid of the civil power? do what is good, and thou shalt have praise from it:

13:4  for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou dost evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is also the minister of God, as an avenger to execute his wrath upon the malefactor.

13:5  Wherefore it is necessary to submit, not only on account of punishment, but also of conscience.

13:6  For you pay them tribute also for this reason; because they are God's ministers, continually attending hereunto.

13:7  Render therefore to all what is their due: tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, reverence to whom reverence, honor to whom honor.

13:8  Owe no one any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth others hath fulfilled the law:

13:9  for this command, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet, and every other social precept, is summed up in this, namely, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

13:10  Love worketh no evil to our neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

13:11  And this let us observe, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.

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

13:13  Let us behave decently as being in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lasciviousness, not in strife and envying.

13:14  But put on the Lord Jesus, and make not provision for the flesh to gratify its irregular desires.

Chapter 14

14:1  Receive him that is weak in the faith, but not to disputes about doubtful matters:

14:2  for one believeth that he may eat any food; another, who is weak, liveth upon herbs.

14:3  Let not him, that eateth, despise him that eateth not; and let not him, that eateth not, censure him that eateth: for God hath received him.

14:4  Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? To his own master he standeth or falleth: yea, he shall be established; for God is able to establish him.

14:5  One preferreth some days to others; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every one be fully satisfied in his own mind.

14:6  He that regardeth a day regardeth it to the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, in deference to the Lord he doth not regard it. So he, that eateth all sorts of food, eateth to the Lord; for he giveth God thanks for it; and he that eateth not of some kinds of food, in deference to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks for the rest.

14:7  For none of us liveth to himself, and no one dieth to himself:

14:8  but if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

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

14:10  But why dost thou censure thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? since we shall all stand before the tribunal of Christ;

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

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

14:13  Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, not to lay a stumbling-block or scandal before a brother.

14:14  I know and have been taught by the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself: only to him that thinketh any thing unclean, to him it is unclean.

14:15  But if thy brother be grieved by thy food, thou dost not herein walk in love. Do not by thy food destroy him, for whom Christ died.

14:16  Let not your liberty then be evil-spoken of: for the kingdom of God consists not in meat and drink;

14:17  but in righteousness and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost: for he,

14:18  that in these serveth Christ, is acceptable to God, and approved by men.

14:19  Let us then pursue peace, and mutual edification.

14:20  Do not for the sake of meat destroy thy brother who is the work of God: all things indeed are pure; but to the man that eateth with offence it is evil.

14:21  It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do any thing at which thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or weakened.

14:22  Thou who hast faith, have it to thyself before God: and happy is he that condemneth not himself in what he alloweth himself to do.

14:23  But he that hath any scruple, is condemned if he eat; because he doth it not with faith: and whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.

Chapter 15

15:1  Now we that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves:

15:2  but let every one of us please our neighbor for his good, to his edification.

15:3  For Christ also pleased not himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of them that reproached thee, fell upon me."

15:4  For whatever things were written heretofore, were written for our instruction; that we through patience and the consolation of the scriptures might have hope.

15:5  And may the God of patience and consolation grant you the like mutual affection to each other, according to the example of Christ Jesus:

15:6  that with one mind and one mouth ye may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:7  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ hath received us, to the glory of God.

15:8  Now Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the manifestation of 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 will I celebrate Thee among the Gentiles, and sing praises unto thy name."

15:10  And again he saith, "Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people."

15:11  And again, "Praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise Him, all ye people."

15:12  And again Esaias saith, "There shall be a root of Jesse, and one that shall rise to rule over the Gentiles: in Him shall the Gentiles trust."

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

15:14  And I myself am indeed persuaded concerning you, my brethren, that ye are full of goodness, being filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another.

15:15  However, I have written to you, brethren, somewhat the more freely, in reminding you of your duty; because of the favor bestowed upon me by God,

15:16  that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, administring the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the holy Spirit.

15:17  I have therefore matter of glorying in Christ Jesus, as to the things of God.

15:18  For I shall not go about to speak of any thing, but what Christ hath wrought by me, (to gain the obedience of the Gentiles,) both in word and deed:

15:19  through the efficacy of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round as far as to Illyricum, I have fully declared the gospel of Christ:

15:20  being studious however so to preach the gospel, not where Christ had been named, least I should build upon another man's foundation;

15:21  but as it is written, They, to whom nothing was said concerning Him, shall see, and they who have not heard, shall understand.

15:22  And thus I have been much hindered from coming to you:

15:23  but now having no more to detain me in these parts, and having had a great desire for many years to come to you, when I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you:

15:24  for I hope to see you as I pass by, and to be brought forward by you on my way thither, after I have first had some enjoyment of you.

15:25  But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.

15:26  For the Macedonians and Achaians have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem.

15:27  It pleased them, I say, and they are indeed their debtors; for if the Gentiles have partook of their spiritual things, they ought also to be helpful to them in carnal ones.

15:28  Therefore when I have dispatched this, and sealed this fruit of love to them, I will come by you into Spain.

15:29  And I know that when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

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

15:31  that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea; and that this my service at Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints:

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

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

Chapter 16

16:1  I recommend to you Phebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea:

16:2  that ye receive her in the Lord as becometh saints, and assist her in whatever affair she may have need of you; for she also hath been a helper of many others, as well as of myself.

16:3  Salute Priscilla and Aquila my fellow-laborers in Christ Jesus:

16:4  (who for my life exposed their own; to whom not I only give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles:)

16:5  and the church in their house. Salute my beloved Epenetus, who is the first-fruits of Achaia unto Christ.

16:6  Salute Mary, who took much pains on our account.

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

16:8  Salute Amplias my beloved in the Lord. Salute Urbanus, our fellow-laborer in Christ,

16:9  and my beloved Stachys.

16:10  Salute Apelles, a man approved in Christ.

16:11  Salute those of the family of Aristobulus. Salute Herodion my kinsman. Salute those of the family of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

16:12  Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who are labouring in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, who hath laboured much in the Lord.

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

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

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

16:16  Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

16:17  Now I exhort you, brethren, to mark those who cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned:

16:18  and avoid them; for such people serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by a soothing address and good words deceive the hearts of the innocent.

16:19  For your obedience is come to the knowledge of all: and therefore I rejoice on your account; but yet I would have you wise to that which is good, and simple as to that which is evil.

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

16:21  Timothy my fellow-laborer, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you.

16:22  I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.

16:23  Gaius my host, and that of the whole church saluteth you. Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, and our brother Quartus saluteth you.

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

16:25  Now to Him that is able to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, (conformable to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret in former times,

16:26  but is now manifested, and made known to all nations by the writings of the prophets, according to the appointment of the eternal God,

16:27  for the obedience of faith) to the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.