Romans 16

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Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14 As for mthe one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. nOne person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and olet not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. pWho 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.

qOne person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. rEach one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since she gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For tnone of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, uwhether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ vdied and lived again, that he might be Lord both wof the dead and of the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For wwe will all stand before xthe judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,

yAs I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall confess2 to God.

12 So then zeach of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

13 aTherefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide bnever to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus cthat nothing is unclean in itself, dbut it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, eyou are no longer walking in love. fBy what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 gSo do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 hFor the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but iof righteousness and jpeace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is kacceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us lpursue what makes for peace and for mmutual upbuilding.

20 nDo not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. oEverything is indeed clean, but pit is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 qIt 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. rBlessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.4

The Example of Christ

15 sWe who are strong thave an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. uLet each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For vChrist did not please himself, but as it is written, wThe reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. For xwhatever was written in former days was written for our yinstruction, that through endurance and through zthe encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you ato live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify bthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

For I tell you that Christ cbecame a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order dto confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order ethat the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

fTherefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and sing to your name.

10 And again it is said,

gRejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.

11 And again,

hPraise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples extol him.

12 And again Isaiah says,

ijThe root of Jesse will come,

even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;

kin him will the Gentiles hope.

13 May the God of hope fill you with all ljoy 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 mI myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,1 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with nall knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, obecause of the grace given me by God 16 to be pa minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles qin the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that rthe offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have sreason to be proud of tmy work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except uwhat Christ has accomplished through me vto bring the Gentiles to obedienceby word and deed, 19 wby the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of Godso that xfrom Jerusalem and all the way around yto Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, zlest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written,

aThose 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 bI 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 csince I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go dto Spain, and eto be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, fI am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For gMacedonia 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 hthey owe it to them. For if 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 ifor 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 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by jthe love of the Spirit, kto strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 lthat I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that mmy service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and nbe refreshed in your company. 33 May othe God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at pCenchreae, that you qmay welcome 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.

Greet rPrisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also sthe church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was tthe first convert2 to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my ufellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those vwho 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 wGreet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Final Instructions and Greetings

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles xcontrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; yavoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ztheir own appetites,6 and aby smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For byour obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you cto be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 dThe God of peace ewill soon crush Satan under your feet. fThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21 gTimothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 I Tertius, hwho wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 iGaius, 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 jNow to him who is able to strengthen you kaccording to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, laccording to the revelation of the mystery mthat was kept secret for nlong ages 26 but ohas now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, pto bring about the obedience of faith 27 to qthe only wise God rbe glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

1 Corinthians Illustration

1 Corinthians

Greeting

Paul, acalled bby the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those csanctified in Christ Jesus, dcalled to be saints together with all those who in every place ecall upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

I fgive thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way gyou were enriched in him in all hspeech and all knowledge even as ithe testimony about Christ was confirmed among you so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you jwait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, kwho will sustain you to the end, lguiltless min the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. nGod is faithful, by whom you were called into the ofellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

10 I appeal to you, brothers,1 by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no pdivisions among you, but that you be united qin the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is rquarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that seach one of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow tApollos, or I follow uCephas, or I follow Christ. 13 vIs Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you wbaptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except xCrispus and yGaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also zthe household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and anot with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

18 For the word of the cross is bfolly to cthose who are perishing, but to us dwho are being saved it is ethe power of God. 19 For it is written,

fI will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.

20 gWhere is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? hHas not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach2 to save those who believe. 22 For iJews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ jcrucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ kthe power of God and lthe wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: mnot many of you were wise according to worldly standards,3 not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But nGod chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; oGod chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even pthings that are not, to qbring to nothing things that are, 29 so rthat no human being4 might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him5 you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us swisdom from God, trighteousness and usanctification and vredemption, 31 so that, as it is written, wLet the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

And I, when I came to you, brothers,1 xdid not come proclaiming to you ythe testimony2 of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except zJesus Christ and him crucified. And aI was with you bin weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of cthe Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men3 but din the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

Yet among ethe mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not fa wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, gwho are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, hwhich God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of ithe rulers of this age understood this, for jif they had, they would not have crucified kthe Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

lWhat no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has mprepared nfor those who love him

10 these things oGod has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even pthe depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts qexcept the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now rwe have received not sthe spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this tin words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, uinterpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.4

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are vfolly to him, and whe is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The xspiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 yFor who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But zwe have the mind of Christ.