I say then, did the Jews trip [over Jesus] just so they could fall [away from God]? Certainly not! [There was another reason]: Instead, it was by means of their sin that salvation was made available to the Gentiles, so that the Jews might become jealous of them [i.e., causing them to want what the Gentiles now had].

And, if their falling away has enriched the world, and their failure has enriched the Gentiles, how much more will result from their full restoration!

if by any means I shall provoke to jealousy them which are my flesh, and shall save some from among them.

For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

But some of the branches [of a cultivated olive tree] were broken off [i.e., God's rejection of the Jews] and you [Gentiles], representing a wild olive tree [branch], were grafted into it. So then, you [Gentiles] were able to benefit from the roots and sap of the olive tree, along with the Jews.

Well said! They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith. Do not think arrogant [thoughts], but be afraid.

Moreover, if they turn from their unbelief, they too will be grafted in. For God is powerful enough to graft them in again;

For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier will it be to graft these who are the natural branches back into [the original parent stock of] their own olive tree?

I would not that this secret should be hid from you my brethren, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits: that partly blindness is happened in Israel, until the fullness of the gentiles be come in.

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

And this is the covenant from me to them, when I shall have taken away their sins.

From the standpoint of the gospel, the Jews [at present] are enemies [of God] for your sake [which is for your benefit], but from the standpoint of God’s choice [of the Jews as His people], they are still loved by Him for the sake of the fathers.

[Note: The following are rhetorical questions raised from their reading of the Old Testament]. For who has known [what goes on in] the Lord's mind? Or, who has been His advisor?

Or, who has first given to him, and received from him a recompense?

For from Him [all things originate] and through Him [all things live and exist] and to Him are all things [directed]. To Him be glory and honor forever! Amen.

so collectively we form one body in Christ, while individually we are linked to one another as its members.

Love is to be sincere and active [the real thing—without guile and hypocrisy]. Hate what is evil [detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness]; hold on tightly to what is good.

In your diligence be free from sloth. Be glowing in spirit. Slave for the master.

If possible from you, keeping peace with all men,

Let every soul be subject to the authorities that are above him. For there is no authority except from God; and those that exist are set up by God.

So then, the one who resists authority resists the ordinance [which is] from God, and those who resist will receive condemnation on themselves.

For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:

wherefore you ought to submit not only from an apprehension of punishment, but

from a principle of conscience. for this is the reason why you also pay tribute, because under God, they are continually

In all cases pay what is due from you--tribute where tribute is due, taxes where taxes are due, respect where respect is due, and honor where honor is due.

Be in debt to no man ??apart from the debt of love one to another. He who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law.

And [do] this [because you] know the time, that [it is] already the hour for you to wake up from sleep. For our salvation [is] nearer now than when we believed.

Let not him who eats certain food look down upon him who abstains from it, nor him who abstains from it find fault with him who eats it; for God has received both of them.

Who are you to make yourself a judge of another man's servant? it is to his master that he is responsible for good or bad. Yes, his place will be safe, because the Lord is able to keep him from falling.

One man judgeth one day different from another day: another judgeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

He who regards the day as sacred, so regards it for the Master's sake; and he who eats certain food eats it for the Master's sake, for he gives thanks to God; and he who refrains from eating it refrains for the Master's sake, and he also gives thanks to God.

So, we should stop judging one another any more. But instead, you people should determine not to put anything in your brother's way [to cause him] to trip or fall [away from God].

For God's kingdom is not a matter of what people eat or drink, but [instead, it is a matter] of doing what is right, having peace [of heart] and having [inner] joy, which come from the Holy Spirit.

Do not destroy God's work [i.e., someone's life] for the sake of something to eat. All foods are truly clean [ceremonially]; however, it is wrong for a person to eat something when it causes another person to fall [away from God].

[So], it is better [for you] not to eat bread, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything [else] that could cause your brother to fall [away from God].

But he who is uncertain [about eating a particular thing] is condemned if he eats, because he is not acting from faith. Whatever is not from faith is sin [whatever is done with doubt is sinful].

Christ certainly did not please himself, but, as it is written, The reproaches of those who denounced Thee have fallen upon me. ??4 All such words were written of old for our instruction, that by remaining stedfast and drawing encouragement from the scriptures we may cherish hope.

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.

May God, from whom steadfastness and encouragement come, give you such harmony with one another, in following the example of Christ Jesus,

Now, I say, that Jesus Christ, as a minister, was of the circumcision for the sake of the truth of God, in order to con firm the promises made to the fathers,

Again Isaiah says,

“There shall be a root of Jesse,
He who arises to rule [as King] over the Gentiles,
In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”

But as to you, brethren, I am convinced-- yes, I Paul am convinced--that, even apart from my teaching, you are already full of goodness of heart, and enriched with complete Christian knowledge, and are also competent to instruct one another.

Howbeit, the more boldly, have I written unto you, - in some measure, as bringing it back to your minds, - by reason of the favour given unto me from God, -

For I will not [even] presume to speak of anything except what Christ has done through me [as an instrument in His hands], resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles [to the gospel], by word and deed,

Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.

And now having no more place in these climes, and having an anxious desire to come to you from many years.

I am hoping to see you when I travel to Spain. And I also hope to receive help from you in getting there [i.e., to Spain], after enjoying a brief visit with you.

and I know that when I come to you it will be with a vast amount of blessing from Christ.

That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;

that you may receive her in the Lord [with love and hospitality], as God’s people ought to receive one another. And that you may help her in whatever matter she may require assistance from you, for she has been a helper of many, including myself.

They risked their own lives for me, so not only I, but also all the Gentile churches [i.e., people converted from among the Gentiles] are grateful to them [for this].

Greet also the church that meets in their home.
Greet my dear friend Epaenetus, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.

Salute Apelles, a man reliable in Christ. Salute the men from those of Aristobulus.

Salute Herodian my kinsman. Salute those from the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which ye learned: and turn away from them.

Turn away from them. For men of that stamp are not the slaves of Christ, but are slaves to their own appetites. By their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent.

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

but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience that springs from faith

To the same God, which alone is wise, be praise through Jesus Christ for ever Amen. {To the Romans. Sent from Corinth by Phoebe, she that was the minister unto the congregation at Cenchreae}

From: Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.

From Paul, who has been called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, And from Sosthenes, our Brother.

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

As the testimony of Jesus Christ was made firm in you:

who will also keep you stedfast to the very End, so that you will be free from reproach on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.

I give praise to God that not one of you had baptism from me, but Crispus and Gaius;

so as to keep anyone from saying that you were baptized in my name.

And I gave baptism to the house of Stephanas; but I am not certain that any others had baptism from me.

My mission from Christ was not to baptize, but to tell the Good News; not, however, in the language of philosophy, lest the cross of the Christ should be robbed of its meaning.

[This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].

Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth.

to prevent any mortal man from boasting in the presence of God.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:

And I did not use persuasive words of [human] wisdom in my message and preaching, but they were [accompanied by] a demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power [from God]. [Note: This "demonstration" could have included the evidence of miraculous spiritual gifts which Paul utilized while there in Corinth. See 14:18].

but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom once hidden [from man, but now revealed to us by God, that wisdom] which God predestined before the ages to our glory [to lift us into the glory of His presence].

But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.

These disclosures we impart, not in the set phrases of human philosophy, but in words the Spirit teaches, giving spiritual truth a spiritual form.

But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

For we are, God's, fellow-workmen: ye are, God's, farm, God's building.

In virtue of my commission from God, I laid the foundation of the house like an expert master-builder. It remains for another to build on this foundation. Whoever he is, let him be careful how he builds.

But if anyone's work is burned up [i.e., does not survive the judgment], he will experience loss [i.e., of his converts], but he himself will [still] be saved, like a person escaping from the fire [i.e., of a burning building, which consumes his efforts].

Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God.

Now I have applied these things [that is, the analogies about factions] to myself and Apollos for your benefit, believers, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written [in Scripture], so that none of you will become arrogant and boast in favor of one [minister or teacher] against the other.

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

Already ye are having been filled, already ye were rich, apart from us ye did reign, and I would also ye did reign, that we also with you may reign together,

to this very day we suffer both hunger, thirst, and penury: we are buffeted from place to place, as vagabonds:

We wear ourselves out from working with our own hands. When insulted, we bless. When persecuted, we endure.

For though you have ten thousand teachers in the Christian life, you certainly could not have many fathers. For it was I myself who became your father through your union with Christ Jesus, which resulted from my telling you the good news.

I will come to you before long, if the Lord wills, and then I will find out from these puffed up creatures not what their talk but what their power amounts to.

we have it from all quarters, that incest is practis'd among you, and such as is not among the Gentiles, that of a man's having his father's wife.

And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

For I, though absent [from you] in body but present in spirit, have already passed judgment on him who has committed this [act], as if I were present.

to turn such a person over to Satan for his body to be destroyed [Note: This probably refers to his removal from their fellowship. See verse 2], in order for his spirit to be saved in the day of the Lord [i.e., the judgment day]. [Note: This implies that his removal from their fellowship will have produced a genuine repentance before that time].

Get rid of the old yeast so that you may be dough of a new kind; for in fact you *are* free from corruption. For our Passover Lamb has already been offered in sacrifice--even Christ.

Therefore let us keep our festival not with old yeast nor with the yeast of what is evil and mischievous, but with bread free from yeast--the bread of transparent sincerity and of truth.

not that in this world you are to keep wholly aloof from such as they, any more than from people who are avaricious and greedy of gain, or from worshippers of idols. For that would mean that you would be compelled to go out of the world altogether.

But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

So if you have lawsuits dealing with matters of this life, are you appointing those as judges [to hear disputes] who are of no account in the church?

So far from doing this, you yourselves do wrong and take your brothers' property.