Chapter 3

011:011 I ask, however, "Have they stumbled so as to be finally ruined?" No, indeed; but by their lapse salvation has come to the Gentiles in order to arouse the jealousy of the descendants of Israel;

011:012 and if their lapse is the enriching of the world, and their overthrow the enriching of the Gentiles, will not still greater good follow their restoration?

011:013 But to you Gentiles I say that, since I am an Apostle specially sent to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry,

011:014 trying whether I can succeed in rousing my own countrymen to jealousy and thus save some of them.

011:015 For if their having been cast aside has carried with it the reconciliation of the world, what will their being accepted again be but Life out of death?

011:016 Now if the firstfruits of the dough are holy, so also is the whole mass; and if the root of a tree is holy, so also are the branches.

011:017 And if some of the branches have been pruned away, and you, although you were but a wild olive, have been grafted in among them and have become a sharer with others in the rich sap of the root of the olive tree,

011:018 beware of glorying over the natural branches. Or if you are so glorying, do not forget that it is not you who uphold the root: the root upholds you.

011:019 "Branches have been lopped off," you will say, "for the sake of my being grafted in."

011:020 This is true; yet it was their unbelief that cut them off, and you only stand through your faith.

011:021 Do not be puffed up with pride. Tremble rather--for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.

011:022 Notice therefore God's kindness and God's severity. On those who have fallen His severity has descended, but upon you His kindness has come, provided that you do not cease to respond to that kindness. Otherwise you will be cut off also.

011:023 Moreover, if they turn from their unbelief, they too will be grafted in. For God is powerful enough to graft them in again;

011:024 and if you were cut from that which by nature is a wild olive and contrary to nature were grafted into the good olive tree, how much more certainly will these natural branches be grafted on their own olive tree?

011:025 For there is a truth, brethren, not revealed hitherto, of which I do not wish to leave you in ignorance, for fear you should attribute superior wisdom to yourselves--the truth, I mean, that partial blindness has fallen upon Israel until the great mass of the Gentiles have come in;

011:026 and so all Israel will be saved. As is declared in Scripture, "From Mount Zion a Deliverer will come: He will remove all ungodliness from Jacob;

011:027 and this shall be My Covenant with them; when I have taken away their sins."

011:028 In relation to the Good News, the Jews are God's enemies for your sakes; but in relation to God's choice they are dearly loved for the sake of their forefathers.

011:029 For God does not repent of His free gifts nor of His call;

011:030 but just as you were formerly disobedient to Him, but now have received mercy at a time when they are disobedient,

011:031 so now they also have been disobedient at a time when you are receiving mercy; so that to them too there may now be mercy.

011:032 For God has locked up all in the prison of unbelief, that upon all alike He may have mercy.

011:033 Oh, how inexhaustible are God's resources and God's wisdom and God's knowledge! How impossible it is to search into His decrees or trace His footsteps!

011:034 "Who has ever known the mind of the Lord, or shared His counsels?"

011:035 "Who has first given God anything, so as to receive payment in return?"

011:036 For the universe owes its origin to Him, was created by Him, and has its aim and purpose in Him. To Him be the glory throughout the Ages! Amen.

012:001 I plead with you therefore, brethren, by the compassionsof God, to present all your faculties to Him as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to Him. This with you will be an act of reasonable worship.

012:002 And do not follow the customs of the present age, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your minds, so that you may learn by experience what God's will is-- that will which is good and beautiful and perfect.

012:003 For through the authority graciously given to me I warn every individual among you not to value himself unduly, but to cultivate sobriety of judgement in accordance with the amount of faith which God has allotted to each one.

012:004 For just as there are in the one human body many parts, and these parts have not all the same function;

012:005 so collectively we form one body in Christ, while individually we are linked to one another as its members.

012:006 But since we have special gifts which differ in accordance with the diversified work graciously entrusted to us, if it is prophecy, let the prophet speak in exact proportion to his faith;

012:007 if it is the gift of administration, let the administrator exercise a sound judgement in his duties.

012:008 The teacher must do the same in his teaching; and he who exhorts others, in his exhortation. He who gives should be liberal; he who is in authority should be energetic and alert; and he who succours the afflicted should do it cheerfully.

012:009 Let your love be perfectly sincere. Regard with horror what is evil; cling to what is right.

012:010 As for brotherly love, be affectionate to one another; in matters of worldly honour, yield to one another.

012:011 Do not be indolent when zeal is required. Be thoroughly warm-hearted, the Lord's own servants,

012:012 full of joyful hope, patient under persecution, earnest and persistent in prayer.

012:013 Relieve the necessities of God's people; always practise hospitality.

012:014 Invoke blessings on your persecutors--blessings, not curses.

012:015 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

012:016 Have full sympathy with one another. Do not give your mind to high things, but let humble ways content you. Do not be wise in your own conceits.

012:017 Pay back to no man evil for evil. Take thought for what is right and seemly in every one's esteem.

012:018 If you can, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with all the world.

012:019 Do not be revengeful, my dear friends, but give way before anger; for it is written, "`Revenge belongs to Me: I will pay back,' says the Lord."

012:020 On the contrary, therefore, if your enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, quench his thirst. For by doing this you will be heaping burning coals upon his head.

012:021 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome the evil with goodness.

013:001 Let every individual be obedient to those who rule over him; for no one is a ruler except by God's permission, and our present rulers have had their rank and power assigned to them by Him.

013:002 Therefore the man who rebels against his ruler is resisting God's will; and those who thus resist will bring punishment upon themselves.

013:003 For judges and magistrates are to be feared not by right-doers but by wrong-doers. You desire--do you not?--to have no reason to fear your ruler. Well, do the thing that is right, and then he will commend you.

013:004 For he is God's servant for your benefit. But if you do what is wrong, be afraid. He does not wear the sword to no purpose: he is God's servant--an administrator to inflict punishment upon evil-doers.

013:005 We must obey therefore, not only in order to escape punishment, but also for conscience' sake.

013:006 Why, this is really the reason you pay taxes; for tax-gatherers are ministers of God, devoting their energies to this very work.

013:007 Pay promptly to all men what is due to them: taxes to those to whom taxes are due, toll to those to whom toll is due, respect to those to whom respect is due, honour to those to whom honour is due.

013:008 Owe nothing to any one except mutual love; for he who loves his fellow man has satisfied the demands of Law.

013:009 For the precepts, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," "Thou shalt do no murder," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not covet," and all other precepts, are summed up in this one command, "Thou shalt love thy fellow man as much as thou lovest thyself."

013:010 Love avoids doing any wrong to one's fellow man, and is therefore complete obedience to Law.

013:011 Carry out these injunctions because you know the critical period at which we are living, and that it is now high time, to rouse yourselves from sleep; for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first became believers.

013:012 The night is far advanced, and day is about to dawn. We must therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness, and clothe ourselves with the armour of Light.

013:013 Living as we do in broad daylight, let us conduct ourselves becomingly, not indulging in revelry and drunkenness, nor in lust and debauchery, nor in quarrelling and jealousy.

013:014 On the contrary, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for gratifying your earthly cravings.

014:001 I now pass to another subject. Receive as a friend a man whose faith is weak, but not for the purpose of deciding mere matters of opinion.

014:002 One man's faith allows him to eat anything, while a man of weaker faith eats nothing but vegetables.

014:003 Let not him who eats certain food look down upon him who abstains from it, nor him who abstains from it find fault with him who eats it; for God has received both of them.

014:004 Who are you that you should find fault with the servant of another? Whether he stands or falls is a matter which concerns his own master. But stand he will; for the Master can give him power to stand.

014:005 One man esteems one day more highly than another; another esteems all days alike. Let every one be thoroughly convinced in his own mind.

014:006 He who regards the day as sacred, so regards it for the Master's sake; and he who eats certain food eats it for the Master's sake, for he gives thanks to God; and he who refrains from eating it refrains for the Master's sake, and he also gives thanks to God.

014:007 For not one of us lives to himself, and not one dies to himself.

014:008 If we live, we live to the Lord: if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

014:009 For this was the purpose of Christ's dying and coming to life-- namely that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living.

014:010 But you, why do you find fault with your brother? Or you, why do you look down upon your brother? We shall all stand before God to be judged;

014:011 for it is written, "`As I live,' says the Lord, `to Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall make confession to God.'"

014:012 So we see that every one of us will give account of himself to God.

014:013 Therefore let us no longer judge one another; but, instead of that, you should come to this judgement--that we must not put a stumbling-block in our brother's path, nor anything to trip him up.

014:014 As one who lives in union with the Lord Jesus, I know and am certain that in its own nature no food is `impure'; but if people regard any food as impure, to them it is.

014:015 If your brother is pained by the food you are eating, your conduct is no longer controlled by love. Take care lest, by the food you eat, you lead to ruin a man for whom Christ died.

014:016 Therefore do not let the boon which is yours in common be exposed to reproach.

014:017 For the Kingdom of God does not consist of eating and drinking, but of right conduct, peace and joy, through the Holy Spirit;

014:018 and whoever in this way devotedly serves Christ, God takes pleasure in him, and men highly commend him.

014:019 Therefore let us aim at whatever makes for peace and mutual upbuilding of character.

014:020 Do not for food's sake be throwing down God's work. All food is pure; but a man is in the wrong if his food is a snare to others.

014:021 The right course is to forego eating meat or drinking wine or doing anything that tends to your brother's fall.

014:022 As for you and your faith, keep your faith to yourself in the presence of God. The man is to be congratulated who does not pronounce judgement on himself in what his actions sanction.

014:023 But he who has misgivings and yet eats meat is condemned already, because his conduct is not based on faith; for all conduct not based on faith is sinful.

015:001 As for us who are strong, our duty is to bear with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not seek our own pleasure.

015:002 Let each of us endeavour to please his fellow Christian, aiming at a blessing calculated to build him up.

015:003 For even the Christ did not seek His own pleasure. His principle was, "The reproaches which they addressed to Thee have fallen on me."

015:004 For all that was written of old has been written for our instruction, so that we may always have hope through the power of endurance and the encouragement which the Scriptures afford.

015:005 And may God, the giver of power of endurance and of that encouragement, grant you to be in full sympathy with one another in accordance with the example of Christ Jesus,

015:006 so that with oneness both of heart and voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

015:007 Habitually therefore give one another a friendly reception, just as Christ also has received you, and thus promote the glory of God.

015:008 My meaning is that Christ has become a servant to the people of Israel in vindication of God's truthfulness--in showing how sure are the promises made to our forefathers--

015:009 and that the Gentiles also have glorified God in acknowledgment of His mercy. So it is written, "For this reason I will praise Thee among the Gentiles, and sing psalms in honour of Thy name."

015:010 And again the Psalmist says, "Be glad, ye Gentiles, in company with His People."

015:011 And again, "Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and let all the people extol Him."

015:012 And again Isaiah says, "There shall be the Root of Jesse and One who rises up to rule the Gentiles. On Him shall the Gentiles build their hopes."

015:013 May God, the giver of hope, fill you with continual joy and peace because you trust in Him--so that you may have abundant hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

015:014 But as to you, brethren, I am convinced--yes, I Paul am convinced-- that, even apart from my teaching, you are already full of goodness of heart, and enriched with complete Christian knowledge, and are also competent to instruct one another.

015:015 But I write to you the more boldly--partly as reminding you of what you already know--because of the authority graciously entrusted to me by God,

015:016 that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, doing priestly duties in connexion with God's Good News so that the sacrifice--namely the Gentiles--may be acceptable to Him, being (as it is) an offering which the Holy Spirit has made holy.

015:017 I can therefore glory in Christ Jesus concerning the work for God in which I am engaged.

015:018 For I will not presume to mention any of the results that Christ has brought about by other agency than mine in securing the obedience of the Gentiles by word or deed,

015:019 with power manifested in signs and marvels, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. But--to speak simply of my own labours-- beginning in Jerusalem and the outlying districts, I have proclaimed without reserve, even as far as Illyricum, the Good News of the Christ;

015:020 making it my ambition, however, not to tell the Good News where Christ's name was already known, for fear I should be building on another man's foundation.

015:021 But, as Scripture says, "Those shall see, to whom no report about Him has hitherto come, and those who until now have not heard shall understand."

015:022 And it is really this which has again and again prevented my coming to you.

015:023 But now, as there is no more unoccupied ground in this part of the world, and I have for years past been eager to pay you a visit,

015:024 I hope, as soon as ever I extend my travels into Spain, to see you on my way and be helped forward by you on my journey, when I have first enjoyed being with you for a time.

015:025 But at present I am going to Jerusalem to serve God's people,

015:026 for Macedonia and Greece have kindly contributed a certain sum in relief of the poor among God's people, in Jerusalem.

015:027 Yes, they have kindly done this, and, in fact, it was a debt they owed them. For seeing that the Gentiles have been admitted in to partnership with the Jews in their spiritual blessings, they in turn are under an obligation to render sacred service to the Jews in temporal things.

015:028 So after discharging this duty, and making sure that these kind gifts reach those for whom they are intended, I shall start for Spain, passing through Rome on my way there;

015:029 and I know that when I come to you it will be with a vast amount of blessing from Christ.

015:030 But I entreat you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love which His Spirit inspires, to help me by wrestling in prayer to God on my behalf,

015:031 asking that I may escape unhurt from those in Judaea who are disobedient, and that the service which I am going to Jerusalem to render may be well received by the Church there,

015:032 in order that if God be willing I may come to you with a glad heart, and may enjoy a time of rest with you.

015:033 May God, who gives peace be with you all! Amen.

016:001 Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the Church at Cenchreae,

016:002 that you may receive her as a fellow Christian in a manner worthy of God's people, and may assist her in any matter in which she may need help. For she has indeed been a kind friend to many, including myself.

016:003 Greetings to Prisca and Aquila my fellow labourers in the work of Christ Jesus--

016:004 friends who have endangered their own lives for mine. I am grateful to them, and not I alone, but all the Gentile Churches also.

016:005 Greetings, too, to the Church that meets at their house. Greetings to my dear Epaenetus, who was the earliest convert to Christ in the province of Asia;

016:006 to Mary who has laboured strenuously among you;

016:007 and to Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen, who once shared my imprisonment. They are of note among the Apostles, and are Christians of longer standing than myself.

016:008 Greetings to Ampliatus, dear to me in the Lord;

016:009 to Urban, our fellow labourer in Christ, and to my dear Stachys.

016:010 Greetings to Apella, that veteran believer; and to the members of the household of Aristobulus.

016:011 Greetings to my countryman, Herodion; and to the believing members of the household of Narcissus.

016:012 Greetings to those Christian workers, Tryphaena and Tryphosa; also to dear Persis, who has laboured strenuously in the Lord's work.

016:013 Greetings to Rufus, who is one of the Lord's chosen people; and to his mother, who has also been a mother to me.

016:014 Greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and to the brethren associated with them;

016:015 to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister and Olympas, and to all God's people associated with them.

016:016 Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the Churches of Christ send greetings to you.

016:017 But I beseech you, brethren, to keep a watch on those who are causing the divisions among you, and are leading others into sin, in defiance of the instruction which you have received; and habitually to shun them.

016:018 For men of that stamp are not bondservants of Christ our Lord, but are slaves to their own appetites; and by their plausible words and their flattery they utterly deceive the minds of the simple.

016:019 Your fidelity to the truth is everywhere known. I rejoice over you, therefore, but I wish you to be wise as to what is good, and simple-minded as to what is evil.

016:020 And before long, God the giver of peace will crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

016:021 Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you greetings, and so do my countrymen Lucius, Jason and Sosipater.

016:022 I, Tertius, who write this letter, send you Christian greetings.

016:023 Gaius, my host, who is also the host of the whole Church, greets you. So do Erastus, the treasurer of the city, and Quartus our brother.

016:024 []

016:025 To Him who has it in His power to make you strong, as declared in the Good News which I am spreading, and the proclamation concerning Jesus Christ, in harmony with the unveiling of the Truth which in the periods of past Ages remained unuttered,

016:026 but has now been brought fully to light, and by the command of the God of the Ages has been made known by the writings of the Prophets among all the Gentiles to win them to obedience to the faith--

016:027 to God, the only wise, through Jesus Christ, even to Him be the glory through all the Ages! Amen.