A Living Sacrifice
12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,1 by the mercies of God, to lpresent your bodies as a mliving sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.2 2 nDo not be conformed to this world,3 but be otransformed by the prenewal of your mind, that by testing you may qdiscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.4
Gifts of Grace
3 For by rthe grace given to me I say to everyone among you snot to tthink of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each uaccording to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 vFor as in one body we have many members,5 and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so wwe, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having xgifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: yif prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,6 with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with zcheerfulness.
Marks of the True Christian
9 Let love be agenuine. bAbhor what is evil; chold fast to what is good. 10 dLove one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing ehonor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be ffervent in spirit,7 serve the Lord. 12 gRejoice in hope, hbe patient in tribulation, ibe constant in prayer. 13 jContribute to the needs of the saints and kseek to show hospitality.
14 lBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 mRejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 nLive in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.8 Never be wise in your own sight. 17 oRepay no one evil for evil, but pgive thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, qlive peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, rnever avenge yourselves, but leave it9 to the wrath of God, for it is written, s“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, t“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Submission to the Authorities
13 Let every person be subject uto the governing authorities. For vthere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an wavenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of xconscience. 6 For because of this you also ypay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, zhonor to whom honor is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for athe one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, b“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: c“You shall dlove your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the efulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to fwake from sleep. For gsalvation is hnearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 iThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the jworks of darkness and kput on the armor of light. 13 lLet us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But mput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its ndesires.
Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another
14 As for the one who is oweak in faith, welcome him, but not to pquarrel over opinions. 2 qOne person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and rlet not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 sWho are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master1 that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 tOne person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, usince he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For vnone of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, wwe live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord xboth of the dead and of the living.
10 yWhy do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the zjudgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,
a“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess2 to God.”
12 So then each of us will bgive an account of himself to God.
Do Not Cause Another to Stumble
13 Therefore clet us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a dstumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that enothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean ffor anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are gno longer walking in love. hBy what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For ithe kingdom of God is jnot a matter of eating and drinking kbut of righteousness and lpeace and mjoy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is nacceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us opursue what makes for peace and for mutual pupbuilding.
20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. qEverything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.3 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But rwhoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. sFor whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.4
The Example of Christ
15 We who are strong have an obligation to tbear with the failings of the uweak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us vplease his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For wChrist did not please himself, but as it is written, x“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days ywas written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to zlive in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles
8 For I tell you that aChrist became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
b“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”
10 And again it says,
c“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
d“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him.”
12 And again Isaiah says,
e“The froot of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all gjoy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,1 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to hinstruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of ithe grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus jto the Gentiles in the priestly service of the kgospel of God, so that lthe offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what mChrist has accomplished through me to nbring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 oby the power of signs and wonders, pby the power of the Spirit of God—so that qfrom Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, rnot where Christ has already been named, lest I sbuild on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written,
t“Those who have never been told of him will see,
and those who have never heard will understand.”
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
22 This is the reason why uI have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 vI hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem wbringing aid to the saints. 26 xFor Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For yif the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,2 I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing3 of Christ.
30 zI appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the alove of the Spirit, bto cstrive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be ddelivered from the eunbelievers in Judea, and that my service ffor Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and gbe hrefreshed in your company. 33 May the iGod of peace be with you all. Amen.
Personal Greetings
16 jI commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at kCenchreae, 2 that you may lwelcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
3 Greet mPrisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who nrisked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also othe church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert2 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my pfellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers5 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 qGreet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
Final Instructions and Greetings
17 rI appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who scause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own tappetites,6 and by usmooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For vyour obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and winnocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon xcrush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
21 yTimothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22 zI Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 aGaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.7
Doxology
25 bNow to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept csecret for long ages 26 but has now been ddisclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the eobedience of faith— 27 fto the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
