in the full assurance that God was able to do what he had promised.

Still death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned as Adam had, in the face of an express command. So Adam foreshadowed the one who was to come.

so that just as sin had reigned through death, mercy might reign through uprightness and bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then what shall we conclude? That the Law is sin? Certainly not! Yet, if it had not been for the Law, I should never have learned what sin was; I should not have known what it was to covet if the Law had not said, "You must not covet."

For those whom he had marked out from the first he predestined to be made like his Son, so that he should be the eldest of many brothers;

For before the children were born or had done anything either good or bad, in order to carry out God's purpose of selection, which depends not on what men do but on his calling them,

As Isaiah foretold, "If the Lord of Hosts had not left us children, We would have been like Sodom, and have resembled Gomorrah!"

But I ask, had they no opportunity to hear it? On the contrary, "Their voices have gone all over the earth, And their words to the ends of the world."

God has not repudiated his people, which he had marked out from the first. Do you not know what the Scripture says in speaking of Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel?

For just as you once disobeyed God, but now have had mercy shown you because they disobeyed,

In all this it has been my ambition to preach the good news only where Christ's name was unknown, so as not to build on foundations other men had laid.

But now there is no more work for me in this part of the world, and as I have had a great desire for many years to come to see you,

For since in God's providence the world with all its wisdom did not come to know God, God chose, through the folly of the gospel message, to save those who had faith in him.

So, for my part, brothers, I could not treat you as spiritual persons; I had to treat you just as creatures of flesh and blood, as babies in Christian living.

Let no one of you deceive himself. If any one of you imagines that he is wiser than the rest of you, in what this world calls wisdom, he had better become a fool, so as to become really wise.

For who sees anything special in you? And what have you got that you have not been given? But if it has been given you, why do you boast as though it had not been?

Are you satisfied already? Have you become rich already? Have you entered your kingdom without waiting for us? I wish you had entered it, so that we might share it with you!

To this day we have gone hungry, thirsty, and ill-clad; we have had rough usage, we have had no home,

But there is so much immorality that every man had better have a wife of his own, and every woman a husband of her own.

But this I do say, brothers. The appointed time has grown very short. From this time on those who have wives should live as though they had none,

But I have not availed myself of any of these rights. And I am not writing this now so that I may become an illustration of this; I had rather die than do that. No one shall deprive me of this boast of mine.

It is no superhuman temptation that you have had. And God can be depended on, not to let you be tried beyond your strength, but when temptation comes, to give you a way out of it, so that you can withstand it.

and any woman who offers prayer or explains the will of God bareheaded disgraces her head, for it is just as though she had her head shaved.

For I passed on to you, as of first importance, the account I had received, that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures foretold,

When you forgive a man, I forgive him too. For anything I had to forgive has been forgiven on your account, and as in the very presence of Christ,

and not only by his coming, but by the comfort you had given him, for he told me how you longed to see me, how sorry you were, and how you took my part, which made me happier still.

For even if I did hurt your feelings with that letter, I cannot regret it; even if I did regret it, when I saw that the letter had hurt your feelings perhaps for a while,

I am glad of it now; not because you had your feelings hurt, but because having them hurt led you to repent, for you took it as God meant you to do, so that you should not lose anything at all through me.

If I did express some pride in you to him, I have had no reason to be ashamed of it, but just as all I said to you was true, my boasting before Titus has also proved true.

This has led me to urge Titus to complete the arrangements he had formerly begun among you for this gracious undertaking.

Such people had better understand that when I arrive and take action I will do just as I say I will in my letters when I am far away.

It is no strain for me to do this, as it might be for people who had never got so far, for I was the first to come all the way to you with the good news of the Christ.

When I was at Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the city gates watched in order to catch me,

For what is there in which the other churches had the better of you, except in the fact that I would not permit myself to be a burden to you? You must forgive me that wrong!

and how I surpassed many of my own age among my people in my devotion to Judaism, I was so fanatically devoted to what my forefathers had handed down.

And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit

or going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off to Arabia, and on my return came back to Damascus.

to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again.

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.

You senseless Galatians! Who has bewitched you, when you had Jesus Christ shown crucified right before your eyes?

Just as Abraham had faith in God and it was credited to him as uprightness.

Is the Law then contrary to God's promises? By no means. For if a law had been given that could have brought life, uprightness would really have come through law.

For the Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by the free woman.

But God is so rich in mercy that because of the great love he had for us,

For he has made us, creating us through our union with Christ Jesus for the life of goodness which God had predestined us to live.

At that time you had no connection with Christ, you were aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the agreements about God's promise; with no hope and no God in all the world.

What does "he went up" mean, except that he had first gone down to the under parts of the earth?

not with mere external service, as though you had only men to please, but like slaves of Christ, carrying out the will of God.

Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

When he had assumed human form, he still further humbled himself and carried his obedience so far as to die, and to die upon the cross.

I was very glad, as a Christian, to have your interest in me revive again after so long; for you have always been interested, but you have had no opportunity to show it.

You who are slaves must always obey your earthly masters, not with mere external service, as though you had only men to please, but with sincerity of heart, because you fear the Lord.

Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does Barnabas' cousin Mark. (About him you have had instructions; if he comes to see you, make him welcome.)

We had just been through ill-treatment and insults at Philippi, as you remember, but, in the face of great opposition, we took courage by the help of our God, and told you God's good news.

That was the kind of affection we had for you, which made us ready to share with you not only God's good news but our own lives too, because you were so dear to us.

For you, brothers, followed the example of God's churches in Judea that are in union with Christ Jesus, for you in your turn had to bear the same ill-treatment from your neighbors as they did from the Jews,

Not that I had not a right to my support, but to give you in my own conduct an example to imitate.

though I once used to abuse, persecute, and insult him. But he had mercy on me, because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief,

but God had mercy on me in order that in my case as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display his perfect patience, as an example to those who would later believe in him and find eternal life.

keeping hold of faith and a good conscience. For some people have let that go and have had their faith ruined,

If you point this out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, living on the principles of the faith and the excellent teaching you have had.

He saved us and called us to a consecrated life, not for anything we had done, but of his own accord and out of the mercy which he bestowed upon us ages ago through Christ Jesus,

I have had a part in the great contest, I have run my race, I have preserved my faith.

he saved us, not for any upright actions we had performed, but from his own mercy, through the bath of regeneration and renewal by the holy Spirit,

but in these latter days he has spoken to us in a Son, whom he had destined to possess everything, and through whom he had made the world.

and free from their slavery men who had always lived in fear of death.

And so he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might prove a compassionate high priest as well as one faithful in his service to God, in order to forgive the people's sins.

For we are true partners with Christ if we really keep the conviction that we had at first unshaken to the very end.

For who was it that heard him speak and yet provoked him? Was it not all those who had escaped from Egypt under Moses' leadership?

And who was it with whom God was angry forty whole years? Was it not with those who had sinned, who dropped dead in the desert?

And who was it to whom God made oath that they should not be admitted to his Rest, if it was not to those who had disobeyed him?

For we have had good news preached to us, just as they did, but the message they heard did them no good because they did not agree through faith with what they heard.

Since then it is still true that somebody will be admitted to it, and those who had a gospel preached to them before were not admitted because of their disobedience,

For if Joshua had really brought them rest God would not afterward have spoken of another day.

For it is impossible to arouse people to a fresh repentance when they have once for all come into the light and had a taste of the gift from heaven, and shared in the holy Spirit

And so after waiting patiently, he received what God had promised him.

But this man, whose ancestry is not connected with theirs, collected tithes from Abraham himself, and gave his blessing to the man who had received the promises from God.

Now if anything final had been really accomplished through the Levitical priesthood, for even the giving of the Law was based upon it, what further need would there have been of appointing a different priest of the priesthood of Melchizedek, instead of choosing one of the priesthood of Aaron?

The old priests too had to be numerous, because death prevented their continuing in office.

For if that first agreement had been perfect, there would have been no occasion for a second one.

For when Moses had told all the regulations of the Law to all the people, he took calves' and goats' blood, along with water, crimson wool, and a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled the roll of the Law and all the people,

By such means, therefore, these things that were only copied from the originals in heaven had to be purified, but the heavenly originals themselves required far better sacrifices than these.

for then he would have had to suffer death over and over, ever since the creation of the world. But, as it is, once for all at the close of the age he has appeared, to put an end to sin by his sacrifice.

Otherwise, would they not have ceased to offer these sacrifices, because those who offered them, having once been purified, would have had no further consciousness of sin?

But you must remember those early days when after you had received the light you had to go through a great struggle with persecution,

For you showed sympathy with those who were in prison, and you put up with it cheerfully when your property was taken from you, for you knew that you had in yourselves a greater possession that was lasting.

Faith caused Enoch to be taken up from the earth without experiencing death; he could not be found, because God had taken him up. For before he was taken up there is evidence that he pleased God,

Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him.

Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it.

All these people lived all their lives in faith, and died without receiving what had been promised; they only saw it far ahead and welcomed the sight of it, recognizing that they themselves were only foreigners and strangers here on earth.

And if it had been the country from which they had come to which their thoughts turned back, they would have found an opportunity to return to it.

Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son,

of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!"

Faith made the walls of Jericho fall, after they had marched around them each day for seven days.

Faith saved Rahab the prostitute from being destroyed with those who disobeyed God, because she had given a friendly welcome to the scouts.

Women had their dead restored to them by resurrection. Others endured torture, and refused to accept release, that they might rise again to the better life.

Still others had to endure taunts and blows, and even fetters and prison.

Yet though they all gained God's approval by their faith, they none of them received what he had promised,

for God had resolved upon something still better for us, that they might not reach the fulfilment of their hopes except with us.

For you know how, when he afterward wished to claim the blessing, he was refused it, although he begged for it with tears, for he had no opportunity to repent of what he had done.