Category: Romans

1 Therefore, I say: Has God driven away his people? Let it not be so! For I, too, am an Israelite of the offspring of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

2 God has not driven away his people, whom he foreknew. And do you not know what Scripture says in Elijah, how he calls upon God against Israel?

3 “Lord, they have slain your Prophets. They have overturned your altars. And I alone remain, and they are seeking my life.”

4 But what is the Divine response to him? “I have retained for myself seven thousand men, who have not bent their knees before Baal.”

5 Therefore, in the same way, again in this time, there is a remnant that has been saved in accord with the choice of grace.

6 And if it is by grace, then it is not now by works; otherwise grace is no longer free.

7 What is next? What Israel was seeking, he has not obtained. But the elect have obtained it. And truly, these others have been blinded,

8 just as it was written: “God has given them a spirit of reluctance: eyes that do not perceive, and ears that do not hear, even until this very day.”

9 And David says: “Let their table become like a snare, and a deception, and a scandal, and a retribution for them.

10 Let their eyes be obscured, so that they may not see, and so that they may bow down their backs always.”

11 Therefore, I say: Have they stumbled in such a way that they should fall? Let it not be so! Instead, by their offense, salvation is with the Gentiles, so that they may be a rival to them.

12 Now if their offense is the riches of the world, and if their diminution is the riches of the Gentiles, how much more is their fullness?

13 For I say to you Gentiles: Certainly, as long as I am an Apostle to the Gentiles, I will honor my ministry,

14 in such a way that I might provoke to rivalry those who are my own flesh, and so that I may save some of them.

15 For if their loss is for the reconciliation of the world, what could their return be for, except life out of death?

16 For if the first-fruit has been sanctified, so also has the whole. And if the root is holy, so also are the branches.

17 And if some of the branches are broken, and if you, being a wild olive branch, are grafted on to them, and you become a partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive tree,

18 do not glorify yourself above the branches. For though you glory, you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

19 Therefore, you would say: The branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted on.

20 Well enough. They were broken off because of unbelief. But you stand on faith. So do not choose to savor what is exalted, but instead be afraid.

21 For if God has not spared the natural branches, perhaps also he might not spare you.

22 So then, notice the goodness and the severity of God. Certainly, toward those who have fallen, there is severity; but toward you, there is the goodness of God, if you remain in goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

23 Moreover, if they do not remain in unbelief, they will be grafted on. For God is able to graft them on again.

24 So if you have been cut off from the wild olive tree, which is natural to you, and, contrary to nature, you are grafted on to the good olive tree, how much more shall those who are the natural branches be grafted on to their own olive tree?

25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery (lest you seem wise only to yourselves) that a certain blindness has occurred in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has arrived.

26 And in this way, all of Israel may be saved, just as it was written: “From Zion shall arrive he who delivers, and he shall turn impiety away from Jacob.

27 And this will be my covenant for them, when I will take away their sins.”

28 Certainly, according to the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But according to the election, they are most beloved for the sake of the fathers.

29 For the gifts and the call of God are without regret.

30 And just as you also, in times past, did not believe in God, but now you have obtained mercy because of their unbelief,

31 so also have these now not believed, for your mercy, so that they might obtain mercy also.

32 For God has enclosed everyone in unbelief, so that he may have mercy on everyone.

33 Oh, the depths of the richness of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable are his ways!

34 For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?

35 Or who first gave to him, so that repayment would be owed?

36 For from him, and through him, and in him are all things. To him is glory, for all eternity. Amen.

1 And so, I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind.

2 And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.

3 For I say, through the grace that has been given to me, to all who are among you: Taste no more than it is necessary to taste, but taste unto sobriety and just as God has distributed a share of the faith to each one.

4 For just as, within one body, we have many parts, though all the parts do not have the same role,

5 so also we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one is a part, the one of the other.

6 And we each have different gifts, according to the grace that has been given to us: whether prophecy, in agreement with the reasonableness of faith;

7 or ministry, in ministering; or he who teaches, in doctrine;

8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, in simplicity; he who governs, in solicitude; he who shows mercy, in cheerfulness.

9 Let love be without falseness: hating evil, clinging to what is good,

10 loving one another with fraternal charity, surpassing one another in honor:

11 in solicitude, not lazy; in spirit, fervent; serving the Lord;

12 in hope, rejoicing; in tribulation, enduring; in prayer, ever-willing;

13 in the difficulties of the saints, sharing; in hospitality, attentive.

14 Bless those who are persecuting you: bless, and do not curse.

15 Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Weep with those who are weeping.

16 Be of the same mind toward one another: not savoring what is exalted, but consenting in humility. Do not choose to seem wise to yourself.

17 Render to no one harm for harm. Provide good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men.

18 If it is possible, in so far as you are able, be at peace with all men.

19 Do not defend yourselves, dearest ones. Instead, step aside from wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is mine. I shall give retribution, says the Lord.”

20 So if an enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in doing so, you will heap burning coals upon his head.

21 Do not allow evil to prevail, instead prevail over evil by means of goodness.

1 Let every soul be subject to higher authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those who have been ordained by God.

2 And so, whoever resists authority, resists what has been ordained by God. And those who resist are acquiring damnation for themselves.

3 For leaders are not a source of fear to those who work good, but to those who work evil. And would you prefer not to be afraid of authority? Then do what is good, and you shall have praise from them.

4 For he is a minister of God for you unto good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid. For it is not without reason that he carries a sword. For he is a minister of God; an avenger to execute wrath upon whomever does evil.

5 For this reason, it is necessary to be subject, not solely because of wrath, but also because of conscience.

6 Therefore, you must also offer tribute. For they are the ministers of God, serving him in this.

7 Therefore, render to all whatever is owed. Taxes, to whom taxes is due; revenue, to whom revenue is due; fear, to whom fear is due; honor, to whom honor is due.

8 You should owe nothing to anyone, except so as to love one another. For whoever loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

9 For example: You shall not commit adultery. You shall not kill. You shall not steal. You shall not speak false testimony. You shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

10 The love of neighbor does no harm. Therefore, love is the plenitude of the law.

11 And we know the present time, that now is the hour for us to rise up from sleep. For already our salvation is closer than when we first believed.

12 The night has passed, and the day draws near. Therefore, let us cast aside the works of darkness, and be clothed with the armor of light.

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the daylight, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and sexual immorality, not in contention and envy.

14 Instead, be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in its desires.

1 But accept those who are weak in faith, without disputing about ideas.

2 For one person believes that he may eat all things, but if another is weak, let him eat plants.

3 He who eats should not despise him who does not eat. And he who does not eat should not judge him who eats. For God has accepted him.

4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? He stands or falls by his own Lord. But he shall stand. For God is able to make him stand.

5 For one person discerns one age from the next. But another discerns unto every age. Let each one increase according to his own mind.

6 He who understands the age, understands for the Lord. And he who eats, eats for the Lord; for he gives thanks to God. And he who does not eat, does not eat for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.

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

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 belong to the Lord.

9 For Christ died and rose again for this purpose: that he might be the ruler of both the dead and the living.

10 So then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

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

12 And so, each one of us shall offer an explanation of himself to God.

13 Therefore, we should no longer judge one another. Instead, judge this to a greater extent: that you should not place an obstacle before your brother, nor lead him astray.

14 I know, with confidence in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in and of itself. But to him who considers anything to be unclean, it is unclean to him.

15 For if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are not now walking according to love. Do not allow your food to destroy him for whom Christ died.

16 Therefore, what is good for us should not be a cause of blasphemy.

17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but rather justice and peace and joy, in the Holy Spirit.

18 For he who serves Christ in this, pleases God and is proven before men.

19 And so, let us pursue the things that are of peace, and let us keep to the things that are for the edification of one another.

20 Do not be willing to destroy the work of God because of food. Certainly, all things are clean. But there is harm for a man who offends by eating.

21 It is good to refrain from eating meat and from drinking wine, and from anything by which your brother is offended, or led astray, or weakened.

22 Do you have faith? It belongs to you, so hold it before God. Blessed is he who does not judge himself in that by which he is tested.

23 But he who discerns, if he eats, is condemned, because it is not of faith. For all that is not of faith is sin.

1 But we who are stronger must bear with the feebleness of the weak, and not so as to please ourselves.

2 Each one of you should please his neighbor unto good, for edification.

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

4 For whatever was written, was written to teach us, so that, through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures, we might have hope.

5 So may the God of patience and solace grant you to be of one mind toward one another, in accord with Jesus Christ,

6 so that, together with one mouth, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 For this reason, accept one another, just as Christ also has accepted you, in the honor of God.

8 For I declare that Christ Jesus was the minister of circumcision because of the truth of God, so as to confirm the promises to the fathers,

9 and that the Gentiles are to honor God because of his mercy, just as it was written: “Because of this, I will confess you among the Gentiles, O Lord, and I will sing to your name.”

10 And again, he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, along with his people.”

11 And again: “All Gentiles, praise the Lord; and all peoples, magnify him.”

12 And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse, and he shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, and in him the Gentiles shall hope.”

13 So may the God of hope fill you with every joy and with peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope and in the virtue of the Holy Spirit.

14 But I am also certain about you, my brothers, that you also have been filled with love, completed with all knowledge, so that you are able to admonish one another.

15 But I have written to you, brothers, more boldly than to the others, as if calling you to mind again, because of the grace which has been given to me from God,

16 so that I may be a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, sanctifying the Gospel of God, in order that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and may be sanctified in the Holy Spirit.

17 Therefore, I have glory in Christ Jesus before God.

18 So I dare not speak of any of those things which Christ does not effect through me, unto the obedience of the Gentiles, in word and deed,

19 with the power of signs and wonders, by power of the Holy Spirit. For in this way, from Jerusalem, throughout its surroundings, as far as Illyricum, I have replenished the Gospel of Christ.

20 And so I have preached this Gospel, not where Christ was known by name, lest I build upon the foundation of another,

21 but just as it was written: “Those to whom he was not announced shall perceive, and those who have not heard shall understand.”

22 Because of this also, I was greatly hindered in coming to you, and I have been prevented until the present time.

23 Yet truly now, having no other destination in these regions, and having already had a great desire to come to you over the past many years,

24 when I begin to set out on my journey to Spain, I hope that, as I pass by, I may see you, and I may be guided from there by you, after first having borne some fruit among you.

25 But next I will set out for Jerusalem, to minister to the saints.

26 For those of Macedonia and Achaia have decided to make a collection for those of the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem.

27 And this has pleased them, because they are in their debt. For, since the Gentiles have become partakers of their spiritual things, they also ought to minister to them in worldly things.

28 Therefore, when I have completed this task, and have consigned to them this fruit, I shall set out, by way of you, to Spain.

29 And I know that when I come to you I shall arrive with an abundance of the blessings of the Gospel of Christ.

30 Therefore, I beg you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and though the love of the Holy Spirit, that you assist me with your prayers to God on my behalf,

31 so that I may be freed from the unfaithful who are in Judea, and so that the oblation of my service may be acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem.

32 So may I come to you with joy, through the will of God, and so may I be refreshed with you.

33 And may the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

1 Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is in the ministry of the church, which is at Cenchreae,

2 so that you may receive her in the Lord with the worthiness of the saints, and so that you may be of assistance to her in whatever task she will have need of you. For she herself has also assisted many, and myself also.

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus,

4 who have risked their own necks on behalf of my life, for whom I give thanks, not I alone, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;

5 and greet the church at their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is among the first-fruits of Asia in Christ.

6 Greet Mary, who has labored much among you.

7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and fellow captives, who are noble among the Apostles, and who were in Christ prior to me.

8 Greet Ampliatus, most beloved to me in the Lord.

9 Greet Urbanus, our helper in Christ Jesus, and Stachys, my beloved.

10 Greet Apelles, who has been tested in Christ.

11 Greet those who are from the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodian, my kinsman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

12 Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, most beloved, who has labored much in the Lord.

13 Greet Rufus, elect in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brothers who are with them.

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

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

17 But I beg you, brothers, to take note of those who cause dissensions and offenses contrary to the doctrine that you have learned, and to turn away from them.

18 For ones such as these do not serve Christ our Lord, but their inner selves, and, through pleasing words and skillful speaking, they seduce the hearts of the innocent.

19 But your obedience has been made known in every place. And so, I rejoice in you. But I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple in what is evil.

20 And may the God of peace quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21 Timothy, my fellow laborer, greets you, and Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius, my host, and the entire church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother.

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

25 But to him who is able to confirm you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, in accord with the revelation of the mystery which has been hidden from time immemorial,

26 (which now has been made clear through the Scriptures of the Prophets, in accord with the precept of the eternal God, unto the obedience of faith) which has been made known among all the Gentiles:

27 to God, who alone is wise, through Jesus Christ, to him be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.