Because they disregarded the righteousness from God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to God’s righteousness.

But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down

But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?

But all did not obey the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message?

But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did:

Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the inhabited world.

But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said:

I will make you jealous
of those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation
that lacks understanding.

And Isaiah says boldly:

I was found
by those who were not looking for Me;
I revealed Myself
to those who were not asking for Me.

I ask, then, has God rejected His people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel?

But what was God’s reply to him? I have left 7,000 men for Myself who have not bowed down to Baal.

Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.

What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,

I ask, then, have they stumbled in order to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.

do not brag that you are better than those branches. But if you do brag—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.

True enough; they were broken off by unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.

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

And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again.

So that you will not be conceited, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery: A partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function,

Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes.

Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.

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

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval.

For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.

Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience.

Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

The commandments:

Do not commit adultery;
do not murder;
do not steal;
do not covet;

and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself.

The night is nearly over, and the daylight is near, so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Let us walk with decency, as in the daylight: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy.

One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not criticize one who does, because God has accepted him.

Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, yet he thanks God.

Therefore, let us no longer criticize one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in your brother’s way.

For if your brother is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy that one Christ died for by what you eat.

Therefore, do not let your good be slandered,

for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what he eats.

It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble.

Do you have a conviction? Keep it to yourself before God. The man who does not condemn himself by what he approves is blessed.

But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from a conviction, and everything that is not from a conviction is sin.

Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.

For even the Messiah did not please Himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.

For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed,

My aim is to evangelize where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation,

but, as it is written:

Those who were not told about Him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.

who risked their own necks for my life. Not only do I thank them, but so do all the Gentile churches.

for such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.

so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize—not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.

For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached.

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

When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom.

My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit,

so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.

However, we do speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.

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.

Brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready,

because you are still fleshly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and living like unbelievers?

For whenever someone says, “I’m with Paul,” and another, “I’m with Apollos,” are you not unspiritual people?

For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. The One who evaluates me is the Lord.

I’m not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children.

Now some are inflated with pride, as though I were not coming to you.

But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the talk but the power of those who are inflated with pride.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

It is widely reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles—a man is living with his father’s wife.

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast permeates the whole batch of dough?

Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old yeast or with the yeast of malice and evil but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.

But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.

For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside?

If any of you has a legal dispute against another, do you dare go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?

Or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest cases?

Don’t you know that we will judge angels—not to mention ordinary matters?

I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between his brothers?

Therefore, to have legal disputes against one another is already a moral failure for you. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather be cheated?

Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality,

“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be brought under the control of anything.

“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both of them. The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not!

Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh.

Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

Now in response to the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have relations with a woman.”

A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.

Do not deprive one another sexually—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

I say the following as a concession, not as a command.

But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with desire.

I command the married—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to leave her husband.

But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to leave his wife.

But I (not the Lord) say to the rest: If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not leave her.

Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave her husband.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.

Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised.