The Gospel to the Gentiles (ROM 15:7-13)

[15:7] Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you.

[15:8] For I tell you that Christ's life of service was on behalf of the Jews, to show that God is faithful, to make his promises to their ancestors come true,

[15:9] and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says, “And so I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to you.”

[15:10] Again it says, “Rejoice, Gentiles, with God's people!”

[15:11] And again, “Praise the Lord, all Gentiles; praise him, all peoples!”

[15:12] And again, Isaiah says, “A descendant of Jesse will appear; he will come to rule the Gentiles, and they will put their hope in him.”

[15:13] May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul's Reason for Writing So Boldly (ROM 15:14-21)

[15:14] My friends: I myself feel sure that you are full of goodness, that you have all knowledge, and that you are able to teach one another.

[15:15] But in this letter I have been quite bold about certain subjects of which I have reminded you. I have been bold because of the privilege God has given me

[15:16] of being a servant of Christ Jesus to work for the Gentiles. I serve like a priest in preaching the Good News from God, in order that the Gentiles may be an offering acceptable to God, dedicated to him by the Holy Spirit.

[15:17] In union with Christ Jesus, then, I can be proud of my service for God.

[15:18] I will be bold and speak only about what Christ has done through me to lead the Gentiles to obey God. He has done this by means of words and deeds,

[15:19] by the power of miracles and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. And so, in traveling all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have proclaimed fully the Good News about Christ.

[15:20] My ambition has always been to proclaim the Good News in places where Christ has not been heard of, so as not to build on a foundation laid by someone else.

[15:21] As the scripture says, “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”

Paul's Plan to Visit Rome (ROM 15:22-33)

[15:22] And so I have been prevented many times from coming to you.

[15:23] But now that I have finished my work in these regions and since I have been wanting for so many years to come to see you,

[15:24] I hope to do so now. I would like to see you on my way to Spain, and be helped by you to go there, after I have enjoyed visiting you for a while.

[15:25] Right now, however, I am going to Jerusalem in the service of God's people there.

[15:26] For the churches in Macedonia and Achaia have freely decided to give an offering to help the poor among God's people in Jerusalem.

[15:27] That decision was their own; but, as a matter of fact, they have an obligation to help them. Since the Jews shared their spiritual blessings with the Gentiles, the Gentiles ought to use their material blessings to help the Jews.

[15:28] When I have finished this task and have turned over to them all the money that has been raised for them, I shall leave for Spain and visit you on my way there.

[15:29] When I come to you, I know that I shall come with a full measure of the blessing of Christ.

[15:30] I urge you, friends, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that the Spirit gives: join me in praying fervently to God for me.

[15:31] Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to God's people there.

[15:32] And so I will come to you full of joy, if it is God's will, and enjoy a refreshing visit with you.

[15:33] May God, our source of peace, be with all of you. Amen.

Personal Greetings (ROM 16:1-16)

[16:1] I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, who serves the church at Cenchreae.

[16:2] Receive her in the Lord's name, as God's people should, and give her any help she may need from you; for she herself has been a good friend to many people and also to me.

[16:3] I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in the service of Christ Jesus;

[16:4] they risked their lives for me. I am grateful to them—not only I, but all the Gentile churches as well.

[16:5] Greetings also to the church that meets in their house. Greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first in the province of Asia to believe in Christ.

[16:6] Greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for you.

[16:7] Greetings also to Andronicus and Junia, fellow Jews who were in prison with me; they are well known among the apostles, and they became Christians before I did.

[16:8] My greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the fellowship of the Lord.

[16:9] Greetings also to Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ's service, and to Stachys, my dear friend.

[16:10] Greetings to Apelles, whose loyalty to Christ has been proved. Greetings to those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.

[16:11] Greetings to Herodion, a fellow Jew, and to the Christians in the family of Narcissus.

[16:12] My greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work in the Lord's service, and to my dear friend Persis, who has done so much work for the Lord.

[16:13] I send greetings to Rufus, that outstanding worker in the Lord's service, and to his mother, who has always treated me like a son.

[16:14] My greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the other Christians with them.

[16:15] Greetings to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, to Olympas and to all of God's people who are with them.

[16:16] Greet one another with the kiss of peace. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.

Final Instructions (ROM 16:17-23)

[16:17] I urge you, my friends: watch out for those who cause divisions and upset people's faith and go against the teaching which you have received. Keep away from them!

[16:18] For those who do such things are not serving Christ our Lord, but their own appetites. By their fine words and flattering speech they deceive innocent people.

[16:19] Everyone has heard of your loyalty to the gospel, and for this reason I am happy about you. I want you to be wise about what is good, but innocent in what is evil.

[16:20] And God, our source of peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

[16:21] Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings; and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, fellow Jews.

[16:22] I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, send you Christian greetings.

[16:23] My host Gaius, in whose house the church meets, sends you his greetings; Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

Concluding Prayer of Praise (ROM 16:25-27)

[16:25] Let us give glory to God! He is able to make you stand firm in your faith, according to the Good News I preach about Jesus Christ and according to the revelation of the secret truth which was hidden for long ages in the past.

[16:26] Now, however, that truth has been brought out into the open through the writings of the prophets; and by the command of the eternal God it is made known to all nations, so that all may believe and obey.

[16:27] To the only God, who alone is all-wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever! Amen.

(1CO 1:1-3)

[1:1] From Paul, who was called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes—

[1:2] To the church of God which is in Corinth, to all who are called to be God's holy people, who belong to him in union with Christ Jesus, together with all people everywhere who worship our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

[1:3] May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Blessings in Christ (1CO 1:4-9)

[1:4] I always give thanks to my God for you because of the grace he has given you through Christ Jesus.

[1:5] For in union with Christ you have become rich in all things, including all speech and all knowledge.

[1:6] The message about Christ has become so firmly established in you

[1:7] that you have not failed to receive a single blessing, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

[1:8] He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be faultless on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[1:9] God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Divisions in the Church (1CO 1:10-17)

[1:10] By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my friends, to agree in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely united, with only one thought and one purpose.

[1:11] For some people from Chloe's family have told me quite plainly, my friends, that there are quarrels among you.

[1:12] Let me put it this way: each one of you says something different. One says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Peter”; and another, “I follow Christ.”

[1:13] Christ has been divided into groups! Was it Paul who died on the cross for you? Were you baptized as Paul's disciples?

[1:14] I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius.

[1:15] No one can say, then, that you were baptized as my disciples. (

[1:16] Oh yes, I also baptized Stephanas and his family; but I can't remember whether I baptized anyone else.)

[1:17] Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the Good News, and to tell it without using the language of human wisdom, in order to make sure that Christ's death on the cross is not robbed of its power.

Christ the Power and the Wisdom of God (1CO 1:18-31)

[1:18] For the message about Christ's death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God's power.

[1:19] The scripture says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and set aside the understanding of the scholars.”

[1:20] So then, where does that leave the wise? or the scholars? or the skillful debaters of this world? God has shown that this world's wisdom is foolishness!

[1:21] For God in his wisdom made it impossible for people to know him by means of their own wisdom. Instead, by means of the so-called “foolish” message we preach, God decided to save those who believe.

[1:22] Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom.

[1:23] As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles;

[1:24] but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

[1:25] For what seems to be God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

[1:26] Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing.

[1:27] God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful.

[1:28] He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important.

[1:29] This means that no one can boast in God's presence.

[1:30] But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free.

[1:31] So then, as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.”