The Holy Bible

[11:1] I ask, then: Did God reject his own people? Certainly not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

[11:2] God has not rejected his people, whom he chose from the beginning. You know what the scripture says in the passage where Elijah pleads with God against Israel:

[11:3] “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me.”

[11:4] What answer did God give him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not worshiped the false god Baal.”

[11:5] It is the same way now: there is a small number left of those whom God has chosen because of his grace.

[11:6] His choice is based on his grace, not on what they have done. For if God's choice were based on what people do, then his grace would not be real grace.

[11:7] What then? The people of Israel did not find what they were looking for. It was only the small group that God chose who found it; the rest grew deaf to God's call.

[11:8] As the scripture says, “God made their minds and hearts dull; to this very day they cannot see or hear.”

[11:9] And David says, “May they be caught and trapped at their feasts; may they fall, may they be punished!

[11:10] May their eyes be blinded so that they cannot see; and make them bend under their troubles at all times.”

[11:11] I ask, then: When the Jews stumbled, did they fall to their ruin? By no means! Because they sinned, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make the Jews jealous of them.

[11:12] The sin of the Jews brought rich blessings to the world, and their spiritual poverty brought rich blessings to the Gentiles. Then, how much greater the blessings will be when the complete number of Jews is included!

[11:13] I am speaking now to you Gentiles: As long as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I will take pride in my work.

[11:14] Perhaps I can make the people of my own race jealous, and so be able to save some of them.

[11:15] For when they were rejected, all other people were changed from God's enemies into his friends. What will it be, then, when they are accepted? It will be life for the dead!

[11:16] If the first piece of bread is given to God, then the whole loaf is his also; and if the roots of a tree are offered to God, the branches are his also.

[11:17] Some of the branches of the cultivated olive tree have been broken off, and a branch of a wild olive tree has been joined to it. You Gentiles are like that wild olive tree, and now you share the strong spiritual life of the Jews.

[11:18] So then, you must not despise those who were broken off like branches. How can you be proud? You are just a branch; you don't support the roots—the roots support you.

[11:19] But you will say, “Yes, but the branches were broken off to make room for me.”

[11:20] That is true. They were broken off because they did not believe, while you remain in place because you do believe. But do not be proud of it; instead, be afraid.

[11:21] God did not spare the Jews, who are like natural branches; do you think he will spare you?

[11:22] Here we see how kind and how severe God is. He is severe toward those who have fallen, but kind to you—if you continue in his kindness. But if you do not, you too will be broken off.

[11:23] And if the Jews abandon their unbelief, they will be put back in the place where they were; for God is able to do that.

[11:24] You Gentiles are like the branch of a wild olive tree that is broken off and then, contrary to nature, is joined to a cultivated olive tree. The Jews are like this cultivated tree; and it will be much easier for God to join these broken-off branches to their own tree again.

[11:25] There is a secret truth, my friends, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God.

[11:26] And this is how all Israel will be saved. As the scripture says, “The Savior will come from Zion and remove all wickedness from the descendants of Jacob.

[11:27] I will make this covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

[11:28] Because they reject the Good News, the Jews are God's enemies for the sake of you Gentiles. But because of God's choice, they are his friends because of their ancestors.

[11:29] For God does not change his mind about whom he chooses and blesses.

[11:30] As for you Gentiles, you disobeyed God in the past; but now you have received God's mercy because the Jews were disobedient.

[11:31] In the same way, because of the mercy that you have received, the Jews now disobey God, in order that they also may now receive God's mercy.

[11:32] For God has made all people prisoners of disobedience, so that he might show mercy to them all.

[11:33] How great are God's riches! How deep are his wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain his decisions? Who can understand his ways?

[11:34] As the scripture says, “Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give him advice?

[11:35] Who has ever given him anything, so that he had to pay it back?”

[11:36] For all things were created by him, and all things exist through him and for him. To God be the glory forever! Amen.

[12:1] So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.

[12:2] Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

[12:3] And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you.

[12:4] We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions.

[12:5] In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body.

[12:6] So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it according to the faith that we have;

[12:7] if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach;

[12:8] if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully.

[12:9] Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.

[12:10] Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another.

[12:11] Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion.

[12:12] Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.

[12:13] Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.

[12:14] Ask God to bless those who persecute you—yes, ask him to bless, not to curse.

[12:15] Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep.

[12:16] Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise.

[12:17] If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good.

[12:18] Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody.

[12:19] Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.”

[12:20] Instead, as the scripture says: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame.”

[12:21] Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.

[13:1] Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God's permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.

[13:2] Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; and anyone who does so will bring judgment on himself.

[13:3] For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of those in authority? Then do what is good, and they will praise you,

[13:4] because they are God's servants working for your own good. But if you do evil, then be afraid of them, because their power to punish is real. They are God's servants and carry out God's punishment on those who do evil.

[13:5] For this reason you must obey the authorities—not just because of God's punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.

[13:6] That is also why you pay taxes, because the authorities are working for God when they fulfill their duties.

[13:7] Pay, then, what you owe them; pay them your personal and property taxes, and show respect and honor for them all.

[13:8] Be under obligation to no one—the only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obeyed the Law.

[13:9] The commandments, “Do not commit adultery; do not commit murder; do not steal; do not desire what belongs to someone else”—all these, and any others besides, are summed up in the one command, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

[13:10] If you love others, you will never do them wrong; to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.

[13:11] You must do this, because you know that the time has come for you to wake up from your sleep. For the moment when we will be saved is closer now than it was when we first believed.

[13:12] The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.

[13:13] Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day—no orgies or drunkenness, no immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealousy.

[13:14] But take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop paying attention to your sinful nature and satisfying its desires.

[14:1] Welcome those who are weak in faith, but do not argue with them about their personal opinions.

[14:2] Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in the faith eats only vegetables.

[14:3] The person who will eat anything is not to despise the one who doesn't; while the one who eats only vegetables is not to pass judgment on the one who will eat anything; for God has accepted that person.

[14:4] Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who will decide whether they succeed or fail. And they will succeed, because the Lord is able to make them succeed.

[14:5] Some people think that a certain day is more important than other days, while others think that all days are the same. We each should firmly make up our own minds.

[14:6] Those who think highly of a certain day do so in honor of the Lord; those who will eat anything do so in honor of the Lord, because they give thanks to God for the food. Those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God.

[14:7] We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only.

[14:8] If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

[14:9] For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead.

[14:10] You then, who eat only vegetables—why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything—why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him.

[14:11] For the scripture says, “As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me, and everyone will confess that I am God.”

[14:12] Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God.

[14:13] So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make others stumble or fall into sin.

[14:14] My union with the Lord Jesus makes me certain that no food is of itself ritually unclean; but if you believe that some food is unclean, then it becomes unclean for you.

[14:15] If you hurt others because of something you eat, then you are no longer acting from love. Do not let the food that you eat ruin the person for whom Christ died!

[14:16] Do not let what you regard as good get a bad name.

[14:17] For God's Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives.

[14:18] And when you serve Christ in this way, you please God and are approved by others.

[14:19] So then, we must always aim at those things that bring peace and that help strengthen one another.

[14:20] Do not, because of food, destroy what God has done. All foods may be eaten, but it is wrong to eat anything that will cause someone else to fall into sin.

[14:21] The right thing to do is to keep from eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that will make other believers fall.

[14:22] Keep what you believe about this matter, then, between yourself and God. Happy are those who do not feel guilty when they do something they judge is right!

[14:23] But if they have doubts about what they eat, God condemns them when they eat it, because their action is not based on faith. And anything that is not based on faith is sin.

[15:1] We who are strong in the faith ought to help the weak to carry their burdens. We should not please ourselves.

[15:2] Instead, we should all please other believers for their own good, in order to build them up in the faith.

[15:3] For Christ did not please himself. Instead, as the scripture says, “The insults which are hurled at you have fallen on me.”

[15:4] Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.

[15:5] And may God, the source of patience and encouragement, enable you to have the same point of view among yourselves by following the example of Christ Jesus,

[15:6] so that all of you together may praise with one voice the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.