For I desire to see you, in order that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, in order to strengthen you,

For from the creation of the world, his invisible [attributes], both his eternal power and deity, are discerned clearly, being understood in the things created, so that they are without excuse.

And just as they did not see fit {to recognize God}, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do the things [that are] not proper,

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? God, who inflicts wrath, [is] not unjust, [is he]? (I am speaking according to a human perspective.)

And [why] not (as we are slandered, and as some affirm that we say), "Let us do evil, in order that good may come [of it]? Their condemnation is just!

in the forbearance of God, for the demonstration of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just and the one who justifies the [person] by faith in Jesus.

What then shall we say [that] Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has found?

For what does the scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness."

Therefore, [is] this blessing for {those who are circumcised}, or also for {those who are uncircumcised}? For we say, "Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness."

And he received the sign of circumcision [as] a seal of the righteousness by faith which [he had] {while uncircumcised}, so that he could be the father of all who believe {although they are uncircumcised}, so that righteousness could be credited to them,

Because of this, [it is] by faith, in order that [it may be] according to grace, so that the promise may be secure to all the descendants, not only to those of the law, but also to those of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

who against hope believed in hope, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was said, "so will your descendants be."

And not being weak in faith, he considered his own body as good as dead, [because he] was approximately a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb.

Because of this, just as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned.

For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not charged to one's account [when there] is no law.

Consequently therefore, as through one trespass [came] condemnation to all people, so also through one righteous deed [came] justification of life to all people.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.

so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What therefore shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, in order that grace may increase?

Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we may live {a new way of life}.

So also you, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that [you] obey its desires,

(I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you presented your members [as] slaves to immorality and lawlessness, [leading] to lawlessness, so now present your members [as] slaves to righteousness, [leading] to sanctification.

Therefore as a result, if she belongs to another man [while] her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress [if she] belongs to another man.

So then, my brothers, you also were brought to death with respect to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

But now we have been released from the law, [because we] have died [to that] by which we were bound, so that we may serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter [of the law].

What then shall we say? [Is] the law sin? May it never be! But I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness if the law had not said, "Do not covet."

So then, the law [is] holy, and the commandment [is] holy and righteous and good.

Thanks [be] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself with my mind am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh [I am enslaved] to the law of sin.

because the mindset of the flesh [is] enmity toward God, for [it is] not subjected to the law of God, for [it is] not able [to do so],

So then, brothers, we are obligated not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

and if children, also heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer together [with him] so that we may also be glorified together [with him].

But if we hope for what we do not see, we await [it] eagerly with patient endurance.

because [those] whom he foreknew, he also predestined [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers.

What then shall we say about these [things]? If God [is] for us, who [can be] against us?

Who will bring charges against God's elect? God [is] the one who justifies.

What then shall we say? [There is] no injustice with God, [is there]? May it never be!

For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very [reason] I have raised you up, so that I may demonstrate my power in you, and so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

Therefore you will say to me, "Why then does he still find fault? For who has resisted his will?

On the contrary, O man, who are you who answers back to God? Will what is molded say to the one who molded [it], "Why did you make me like this"?

And [he did so] in order that he could make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory,

And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "[Even] if the number of the sons of Israel is like the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved,

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness--even the righteousness [that is] by faith.

But the righteousness from faith speaks like this: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down),

But what does it say? "The word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim),

But I say, they have not heard, have they? On the contrary, "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world."

But I say, Israel did not know, did they? First, Moses says, "I will provoke you [to jealousy] by [those who are] not a nation; by a senseless nation I will provoke you [to anger]."

Therefore I say, God has not rejected his people, has he? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, from the descendants of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

But what does the divine response say to him? "I have left for myself seven thousand people who have not bent the knee to Baal."

So in this way also at the present time, there is a remnant {selected by grace}.

just as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, until this very day."

let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see, and cause their backs to bend {continually}."

I say then, they did not stumble so that they fell, [did they]? May it never be! But by their trespass, salvation [has come] to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them [to jealousy].

Now if the first fruits [are] holy, [so] also [is] the [whole] batch of dough, and if the root [is] holy, [so] also [are] the branches.

Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, [although you] were a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a sharer of the root of the olive tree's richness,

Then you will say, "Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in."

See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity upon those who have fallen, but upon you the kindness of God--if you continue in his kindness, for otherwise you also will be cut off.

For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you will not be wise {in your own sight}, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,

and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written, "The deliverer will come out of Zion; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

so also these have now been disobedient for your mercy, in order that they also may now be shown mercy.

And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what [is] the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone who is among you not to think more highly of yourself than what one ought to think, but to think {sensibly}, as God has apportioned a measure of faith to each one.

Do not take revenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to [God's] wrath, for it is written, "Vengeance [is] mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

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 [cause of] terror for a good deed, but for bad [conduct]. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what [is] good, and you will have praise from it,

for it is God's servant to you for what [is] good. But if you do what [is] bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God's servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does [what is] bad.

For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore whether we live [or] whether we die, we are the Lord's.

So each one of us will give an account concerning himself.

So then, let us pursue {what promotes peace} and {what edifies one another}.

But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not [do so] from faith, and everything that [is] not from faith is sin.

so that with one mind you may glorify with one mouth the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For I say, Christ has become a servant of the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God, in order to confirm the promises to the fathers,

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But I have written to you more boldly on [some] points, so as to remind you [again] because of the grace that has been given to me by God,

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and [traveling] around as far as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

And so, having as my ambition to proclaim the gospel where Christ has not been named, in order that I will not build on the foundation belonging to someone else,

but just as it is written, "[Those] to whom [it was] not announced concerning him will see, and [those] who have not heard will understand."

whenever I travel to Spain. For I hope [while I] am passing through to see you and to be sent on my way by you, whenever I have first enjoyed your [company] for a while.

For they were pleased [to do so], and they are obligated to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual [things], they ought also to serve them in material [things].

so that, coming to you with joy by the will of God, I may rest with you.