For I have a strong desire to see you, and to give you some grace of the spirit, so that you may be made strong;

You may be certain, my brothers, that it has frequently been in my mind to come to you (but till now I was kept from it), so that I might have some fruit from you in the same way as I have had it from the other nations.

Because the knowledge of God may be seen in them, God having made it clear to them.

For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing:

Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark.

And by them the glory of the eternal God was changed and made into the image of man who is not eternal, and of birds and beasts and things which go on the earth.

Because by them the true word of God was changed into that which is false, and they gave worship and honour to the thing which is made, and not to him who made it, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it.

Let us not do evil so that good may come (a statement which we are falsely said by some to have made), because such behaviour will have its right punishment.

What then? are we worse off than they? In no way: because we have before made it clear that Jews as well as Greeks are all under the power of sin;

And to make clear his righteousness now, so that he might himself be upright, and give righteousness to him who has faith in Jesus.

And he was given the sign of circumcision as a witness of the faith which he had before he underwent circumcision: so that he might be the father of all those who have faith, though they have not circumcision, and so that righteousness might be put to their account;

For if they who are of the law are the people who get the heritage, then faith is made of no use, and the word of God has no power;

(As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were.

Still, he did not give up faith in the undertaking of God, but was made strong by faith, giving glory to God,

But for us in addition, to whose account it will be put, if we have faith in him who made Jesus our Lord come back again from the dead,

Who was put to death for our evil-doing, and came to life again so that we might have righteousness.

Now it is hard for anyone to give his life even for an upright man, though it might be that for a good man someone would give his life.

But God has made clear his love to us, in that, when we were still sinners, Christ gave his life for us.

For if, when we were haters of God, the death of his Son made us at peace with him, much more, now that we are his friends, will we have salvation through his life;

That, as sin had power in death, so grace might have power through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We have been placed with him among the dead through baptism into death: so that as Christ came again from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, in the same way, might be living in new life.

For, if we have been made like him in his death, we will, in the same way, be like him in his coming to life again;

Being conscious that our old man was put to death on the cross with him, so that the body of sin might be put away, and we might no longer be servants to sin.

And being made free from sin you have been made the servants of righteousness.

But now, being free from sin, and having been made servants to God, you have your fruit in that which is holy, and the end is eternal life.

In the same way, my brothers, you were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, even to him who came again from the dead, so that we might give fruit to God.

But now we are free from the law, having been made dead to that which had power over us; so that we are servants in the new way of the spirit, not in the old way of the letter.

And I made the discovery that the law whose purpose was to give life had become a cause of death:

Was then that which is good, death to me? In no way. But the purpose was that sin might be seen to be sin by working death to me through that which is good; so that through the orders of the law sin might seem much more evil.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

So that what was ordered by the law might be done in us, who are living, not in the way of the flesh, but in the way of the Spirit.

But if the Spirit of him who made Jesus come again from the dead is in you, he who made Christ Jesus come again from the dead will in the same way, through his Spirit which is in you, give life to your bodies which now are under the power of death.

For every living thing was put under the power of change, not by its desire, but by him who made it so, in hope

That all living things will be made free from the power of death and will have a part with the free children of God in glory.

Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:

Or things on high, or things under the earth, or anything which is made, will be able to come between us and the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Before the children had come into existence, or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose and his selection might be effected, not by works, but by him whose purpose it is,

For the holy Writings say to Pharaoh, For this same purpose did I put you on high, so that I might make my power seen in you, and that there might be knowledge of my name through all the earth.

But, O man, who are you, to make answer against God? May the thing which is made say to him who made it, Why did you make me so?

And to make clear the wealth of his glory to vessels of mercy, which he had before made ready for glory,

Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation:

And Isaiah says without fear, Those who were not searching for me made discovery of me; and I was seen by those whose hearts were turned away from me.

Lord, they have put your prophets to death, and made waste your altars, and now I am the last, and they are searching for me to take away my life.

What then? That which Israel was searching for he did not get, but those of the selection got it and the rest were made hard.

As it was said in the holy Writings, God gave them a spirit of sleep, eyes which might not see, and ears which have no hearing, to this day.

And David says, Let their table be made a net for taking them, and a stone in their way, and a punishment:

Let their eyes be made dark so that they may not see, and let their back be bent down at all times.

So I say, Were their steps made hard in order that they might have a fall? In no way: but by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, so that they might be moved to envy.

Now, if their fall is the wealth of the world, and their loss the wealth of the Gentiles, how much greater will be the glory when they are made full?

For, if by their putting away, the rest of men have been made friends with God, what will their coming back again be, but life from the dead?

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, an olive-tree of the fields, were put in among them, and were given a part with them in the root by which the olive-tree is made fertile,

You will say, Branches were broken off so that I might be put in.

For it is my desire, brothers, that this secret may be clear to you, so that you may not have pride in your knowledge, that Israel has been made hard in part, till all the Gentiles have come in;

For God has let them all go against his orders, so that he might have mercy on them all.

And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God.

And having different qualities by reason of the grace given to us, such as the quality of a prophet, let it be made use of in relation to the measure of our faith;

And for this purpose Christ went into death and came back again, that he might be the Lord of the dead and of the living.

It is better not to take meat or wine or to do anything which might be a cause of trouble to your brother.

Now those things which were put down in writing before our time were for our learning, so that through quiet waiting and through the comfort of the holy Writings we might have hope.

Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision to give effect to the undertakings given by God to the fathers,

And so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercy; as it is said, For this reason I will give praise to you among the Gentiles, and I will make a song to your name.

To be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, doing the work of a priest in the good news of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles might be pleasing to God, being made holy by the Holy Spirit.

Making it my purpose not to take the good news where Christ was named, so that my work might not be resting on that of others;

But is now made clear; and by the writings of the prophets, by the order of the eternal God, the knowledge of it has been given to all the nations, so that they may come under the rule of the faith;