Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have some harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

For since the creation of the world his invisible nature, even his eternal power and deity, has been clearly seen, being understood by the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge another; for in whatever point you pass judgment on him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.

All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

When Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a breaker of the law.

What if some did not have faith? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?

What then? Are we Jews any better off? Certainly not; for we have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin.

All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be reckoned to them.

(as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they did.

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

through whom we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of the glory of God.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved through him from the wrath of God.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.

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

Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

and, having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is holiness and its end, eternal life.

Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit to God.

But now, by dying to what once held us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."

But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to him.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

For this is what the promise said: "About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son."

For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"

Does not the potter have right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

And as Isaiah said: "Unless the Lord of hosts had left us children, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah."

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith;

Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not according to knowledge.

How then can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without a preacher?

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?"

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."

But Isaiah is very bold and says, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me."

But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."

"Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life."

But what is God's reply to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."

So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? Certainly not! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.

Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,

so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy.

For God has bound all men over to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.

For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function,

Repay no one evil for evil, but have regard for what is noble in the sight of all.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will have praise from him.

The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself for what he approves.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

But I have written very boldly to you on some points, so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God,

Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

And so I have made it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another man's foundation,

but as it is written: "They shall see who have not been told of him, and those who have not heard shall understand."

This is the reason why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

But now, since I no longer have any place for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you,

I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through, and to be helped by you on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

They were pleased to do it, and indeed they are in debt 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.

When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered to them this fruit, I shall go on by way of you to Spain.

I urge you, brethren, to take note of those who cause divisions and difficulties, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; avoid them.