since all have sinned and continue to fall short of God's glory.

I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.

And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good.

Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in union with the Messiah Jesus our Lord.

If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that the Messiah died for us while we were still sinners.

Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well.

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

For God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth.

Every person must be subject to the governing authorities, for no authority exists except by God's permission. The existing authorities have been established by God,

Consequently, faith results from listening, and listening results through the word of the Messiah.

As it is written, "Not even one person is righteous.

For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes his eternal power and divine nature have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse.

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into union with the Messiah Jesus were baptized into his death?

What should we say, then? Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

You, however, are not under the control of the human nature but under the control of the Spirit, since God's Spirit lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, he does not belong to him.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers.

In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, since we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words,

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

For all who are led by God's Spirit are God's children.

What, then, can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Therefore, through baptism we were buried with him into his death so that, just as the Messiah was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, we too may live an entirely new life.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.

For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural.

You, too, are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus the Messiah.

For everything that was written long ago was written to instruct us, so that we might have hope through the endurance and encouragement that the Scriptures give us.

But now, apart from the Law, God's righteousness is revealed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets

For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, the Messiah died for the ungodly.

For by the grace given to me I ask every one of you not to think of yourself more highly than you should think, rather to think of yourself with sober judgment on the measure of faith that God has assigned each of you.

regarding his Son. He was a descendant of David with respect to his humanity

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

By his grace they are justified freely through the redemption that is in the Messiah Jesus,

From: Paul, a servant of Jesus the Messiah, called to be an apostle and set apart for God's gospel,

Your love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on those who practice these things and then do them yourself, do you think you will escape God's judgment?

Yet before their children had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's plan of election might continue to operate

Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

How, then, can people call on someone they have not believed? And how can they believe in someone they have not heard about? And how can they hear without someone preaching?

in my prayers at all times, asking that somehow by God's will I may at last succeed in coming to you.

For in the gospel God's righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith."

For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

Who will separate us from the Messiah's love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a violent death do this?

For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel about his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you

Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and sinful enticements that oppose the teaching you have learned. Stay away from them,

Do not owe anyone anything except to love one another. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law.

O how deep are God's riches, and wisdom, and knowledge! How unfathomable are his decisions and unexplainable are his ways!

Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their fall means riches for the gentiles, how much more will their full participation mean!

Therefore, God will not justify any human being by means of the actions prescribed by the Law, for through the Law comes the full knowledge of sin.

Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the gentiles.

First of all, I thank my God through Jesus the Messiah for all of you, because the news about your faith is being reported throughout the world.

whom God offered as a place where atonement by the Messiah's blood would occur through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because he had waited patiently to deal with sins committed in the past.

Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Cry with those who are crying.

For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lusts of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another.

We have different gifts based on the grace that was given to us. So if your gift is prophecy, use your gift in proportion to your faith.

Now may God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of arguing over differences of opinion.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them.

For I want to let you know about this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are: Stubbornness has come to part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes to faith.

There is no difference between Jew and Greek, because they all have the same Lord, who gives richly to all who call on him.

That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God's Law because it is powerless to do so.

In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us.

Now that we have been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved from wrath through him!

For we have many parts in one body, but these parts do not all have the same function.

Now if we are children, we are heirs heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Therefore, you have no excuse every one of you who judges. For when you pass judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, practice the very same things.

We know that our old natures were crucified with him so that our sin-laden bodies might be rendered powerless and we might no longer be slaves to sin.

Or are you unaware of his rich kindness, forbearance, and patience, that it is God's kindness that is leading you to repent?

And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then the one who raised the Messiah from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you.

Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, "Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord."

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am merely human, sold as a slave to sin.

Now we know that whatever the Law says applies to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

What, then, does this mean? Are we Jews any better off? Not at all! For we have already accused everyone, both Jews and Greeks, of being under the power of sin.

But what does it say? "The message is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart." This is the message about faith that we are proclaiming:

Be devoted to each other with mutual affection. Excel at showing respect for each other.

For the creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God's children,

God's righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah for all who believe. For there is no distinction among people,

Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.

Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess in the church at Cenchrea.

For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity, he condemned sin by being incarnate,

The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won't he?

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

I am telling the truth because I belong to the Messiah I am not lying, and my conscience confirms it by means of the Holy Spirit.

For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the actions prescribed by the Law.

That is why I am so eager to proclaim the gospel to you who live in Rome, too.

For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved.

and was declared by the resurrection from the dead to be the powerful Son of God according to the spirit of holiness Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.

He was sentenced to death because of our sins and raised to life to justify us.

Why, then, do you criticize your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God.

For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life!

To focus our minds on the human nature leads to death, but to focus our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace.

Of course not! Otherwise, how could God judge the world?

What should we say, then? Is the Law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn't have become aware of sin if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn't have known what it means to covet if the Law had not said, "You must not covet."

For God's kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit.

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

For sin will not have mastery over you, because you are not under Law but under grace.

They exchanged God's truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Now to the one who is able to strengthen you with my gospel and the message that I preach about Jesus, the Messiah, by revealing the secret that was kept hidden from long ago

For the Spirit's law of life in the Messiah Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death.

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God about the Jews is that they would be saved.

However, to someone who does not work, but simply believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

So I ask, "God has not rejected his people, has he?" Of course not! I am an Israeli myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

What, then, are we to say about Abraham, our human ancestor?

For if you live according to human nature, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you continuously put to death the activities of the body, you will live.

Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done.

However, not only the creation, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit also groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written, "You are right when you speak, and win your case when you go into court."

For all things are from him, by him, and for him. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.

Be joyful in hope, patient in trouble, and persistent in prayer.

In the same way, you too must continuously consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but living for God through the Messiah Jesus.

Now we who are strong ought to be patient with the weaknesses of those who are not strong and must stop pleasing ourselves.

Don't you realize, brothers for I am speaking to people who know the Law that the Law can press its claims over a person only as long as he is alive?

For we know that all the rest of creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with all people.

In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

In the same way, even though we are many people, we are one body in the Messiah and individual parts connected to each other.

Do not pay anyone back evil for evil, but focus your thoughts on what is right in the sight of all people.

Consequently, just as one offense resulted in condemnation for everyone, so one act of righteousness results in justification and life for everyone.

One person decides in favor of one day over another, while another person decides that all days are the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind:

This is necessary because you know the times it's already time for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we became believers.

Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Therefore, God's choice does not depend on a person's will or effort, but on God himself, who shows mercy.

For if, through one man, death ruled because of that man's offense, how much more will those who receive such overflowing grace and the gift of righteousness rule in life because of one man, Jesus the Messiah!

For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out.

For a person is not a Jew because of his appearance, nor is circumcision something just external and physical.

I don't understand what I am doing. For I don't practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate.

For whenever gentiles, who do not possess the Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law.

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

Consequently, brothers, we are not with respect to human nature, that is under an obligation to live according to human nature.

Bless those who persecute you. Keep on blessing them, and never curse them.

Therefore, do not let sin rule your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires.

Through him we received grace and a commission as an apostle to bring about faithful obedience among all the gentiles for the sake of his name.

To: Everyone in Rome, loved by God and called to be holy. May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

To the Israelis belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah descended, who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen.

Though claiming to be wise, they became fools

For just as through one man's disobedience many people were made sinners, so also through one man's obedience many people will be made righteous.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is infected by death?

For the Messiah is the culmination of the Law as far as righteousness is concerned for everyone who believes.

Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and do not obey your flesh and its desires.

Now it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all Israelis truly belong to Israel,

Therefore, in the Messiah Jesus I have the right to boast about my work for God.

But the person who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act in faith; and anything that is not done in faith is sin.

What advantage, then, does the Jew have, or what value is there in circumcision?

Now the Law crept in so that the offense would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased even more,

For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

For if their rejection results in reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance bring but life from the dead?

Therefore, let's no longer criticize each other. Instead, make up your mind not to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness produced by faith.

Now may God, the source of endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other as you follow the Messiah Jesus,

in the hope that I can make my people jealous and save some of them.

For if through my falsehood God's truthfulness glorifies him even more, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

But if the Messiah is in you, your bodies are dead due to sin, but the spirit is alive due to righteousness.

And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Therefore, accept one another, just as the Messiah accepted you, for the glory of God.

For when he died, he died once and for all as far as sin is concerned. But now that he is alive, he lives for God.

For they are God's servants, working for your good.

For he will repay everyone according to what that person has done:

And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are those who bring the good news!"

For the commandments, "You must not commit adultery; you must not murder; you must not steal; you must not covet," and every other commandment are summed up in this statement: "You must love your neighbor as yourself."

But because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart you are reserving wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

Supply the needs of the saints. Extend hospitality to strangers.

I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are filled with goodness and full of all the knowledge you need to be able to instruct each other.

Therefore, let's keep on pursuing those things that bring peace and that lead to building up one another.

Let's behave decently, as people who live in the light of day. No wild parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, quarreling, or jealousy!

Stop offering the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have been brought from death to life and the parts of your body as instruments of righteousness to God.

because the creation has become subject to futility, though not by anything it did. The one who subjected it did so in the certainty

But God's free gift is not like Adam's offense. For if many people died as the result of one man's offense, how much more have God's grace and the free gift given through the kindness of one man, Jesus the Messiah, been showered on many people!

Love never does anything that is harmful to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the Law.

But thank God that, though you were once slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching with which you were entrusted!

For God's gifts and calling never change.

Live in harmony with each other. Do not be arrogant, but associate with humble people. Do not think that you are wiser than you really are.

Who will accuse God's elect? It is God who justifies!

Consequently, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Never be lazy in showing such devotion. Be on fire with the Spirit. Serve the Lord.

Now if we have died with the Messiah, we believe that we will also live with him,

In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion.

The Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will never be ashamed."

foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.

Now to someone who works, wages are not considered a gift but an obligation.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you!

If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches.

What, then, does this mean? Should we go on sinning because we are not under Law but under grace? Of course not!

I am speaking to you gentiles. Because I am an apostle to the gentiles, I magnify my ministry

As it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations." Abraham acted in faith when he stood in the presence of God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that don't yet exist.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace by which we have been established, and we boast because of our hope in God's glory.

For if we have become united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

For all who have sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.

But if this is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of actions. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

Do we, then, abolish the Law by this faith? Of course not! Instead, we uphold the Law.

Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the Law, and boast about God,

according to his calling and not by actions), Rebecca was told, "The older child will serve the younger one."

In the same way, my brothers, through the Messiah's body you also died as far as the Law is concerned, so that you may belong to another person, the one who was raised from the dead, and may bear fruit for God.

And so I ask, "They have not stumbled so as to fall, have they?" Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the gentiles to make the Jews jealous.

and I died. I found that the very rule that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

because such people are not serving the Messiah our Lord, but their own desires. By their smooth talk and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

For sin, seizing the opportunity provided by the rule, deceived me and used it to kill me.

How blessed is the person whose sins the Lord will never charge against him!"

slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents,

Certainly sin was in the world before the Law was given, but no record of sin is kept when there is no Law.

For the person who serves the Messiah in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people.

Then you will say, "Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted in."

For I am bold enough to tell you only about what the Messiah has accomplished through me in bringing gentiles to obedience. By my words and actions,

For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly will not spare you, either.

do not boast about being better than the other branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

That's right! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you remain only because of faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid!

but wrath and fury for those who in their selfish pride refuse to believe the truth and practice wickedness instead.

Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

Now does this blessedness come to the circumcised alone, or also to the uncircumcised? For we say, "Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness."

by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of the Messiah from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum.

This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors.

But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who practices doing good, initially for Jews but also for Greeks as well,

There will be suffering and anguish for every human being who practices doing evil, for Jews first and for Greeks as well.

After all, if you were cut off from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree!

Under what circumstances was it credited? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised? He had not yet been circumcised, but was uncircumcised.

Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.

Nor can the free gift be compared to what came through the man who sinned. For the sentence that followed one man's offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift brought justification, even after many offenses.

so that, just as sin ruled by bringing death, so also grace might rule by bringing justification that results in eternal life through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.

Their throats are open graves. With their tongues they deceive. The venom of poisonous snakes is under their lips.

Rather, as it is written, "Those who were never told about him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."

Now if I practice what I don't want to do, I am admitting that the Law is good.

They have not learned the path to peace.

What benefit did you get from doing those things you are now ashamed of? For those things resulted in death.

Ruin and misery characterize their lives.

But now, having no further opportunities in these regions, I want to come to you, as I've desired to do for many years.

They run swiftly to shed blood.

They don't fear God.

If the Jews do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in.

As the Scripture says in Hosea, "Those who are not my people I will call my people, and the one who was not loved I will call my loved one.

As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.

Now that I am on my way to Spain, I hope to see you when I come your way and, after I have enjoyed your company for a while, to be sent on by you.

endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

Now we know that God's judgment against those who act like this is based on truth.

As for the faith you do have, have it as your own conviction before God. How blessed is the person who has no reason to condemn himself because of what he approves!

He is also the ancestor of the circumcised those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

and know his will, and approve of what is best because you have been instructed in the Law;

Gaius, who is host to me and the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.

God has not rejected his people whom he chose long ago. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel?

May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you!

I, Tertius, who penned this letter, greet you in the Lord.

So when I have completed this task and have put my seal on this contribution of theirs, I will visit you on my way to Spain.

For just as you disobeyed God in the past but now have received his mercy because of their disobedience,

Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and keep their backs forever bent."

and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness,

For when you were slaves of sin, you were "free" as far as righteousness was concerned.

as you teach others, do you fail to teach yourself? As you preach against stealing, do you steal?

because the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have been eager to share their resources with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

As you forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? As you abhor idols, do you rob temples?

Do not destroy God's action for the sake of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make another person stumble because of what you eat.

an instructor of ignorant people, and a teacher of infants because you have the full content of knowledge and truth in the Law

But if I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.

So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, his uncircumcision will be regarded as circumcision, won't it?

The man who is uncircumcised physically but who keeps the Law will condemn you who break the Law, even though you have the written Law and circumcision.

As it is written, "God's name is being blasphemed among the gentiles because of you."

"Lord, they have killed your prophets and demolished your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life."

If your gift is serving, devote yourself to serving others. If it is teaching, devote yourself to teaching others.

As you boast about the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law?

For if those who were given the Law are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless,

His faith did not weaken when he thought about his own body (which was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old) or about Sarah's inability to have children,