So then it is not a question of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy.

So then he has mercy on whom he will, and whom he will, he hardens.

Then you will say to me. "Why does he still go on finding fault? Who can withstand his will?"

"Nay, but who are you, O man, that replies to God? Shall the thing formed say unto him who formed it, "Why did you do me like this?"

And in regard to Israel, Isaiah exclaims. Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sands of the sea, it is but a remnant of those who shall be saved;

What then shall we say? That Gentiles who never pursed righteousness have overtaken it, even the righteousness of faith?

For because they were ignorant of God's righteousness, and sought to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.

But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way. Say not in thine heart, "Who shall ascend to heaven?"??hat is, to bring Christ down;

But what does it say? The word is near thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the very word of faith which we preach;

The Scriptures say, Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.

So faith comes from a message heard, and the message comes from the teaching of Christ.

But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses says. I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation; Against a Gentile nation, void of understanding, will I anger you.

According as it is written, God has given them a spirit of slumber, Eyes that they should not see, Ears that they should not hear, unto this day.

Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, And bow thou down their backs forever.

I ask then, "Have they stumbled so as to fall?" No indeed; but by their lapse salvation has come unto Gentiles, "to provoke Israel to jealousy."

For to you who are Gentiles I say that since I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry,

Now if the first-fruits of the dough Abraham and the Patriarchs are holy, so also is the whole mass their descendants. And if the root of a tree Abraham is holy, so also are the branches his descendants.

"Branches have been broken off," you say, "that I might be grafted in."

Fix your gaze, therefore, on the goodness and the severity of God; towards those who fell, severity, but towards you, God's goodness, if you continue stedfast in his goodness; otherwise you, too, will be cut off.

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written. The deliver will come from Zion, He will banish all ungodliness from Jacob;

In relation to the gospel, the Jews are God's enemies for your sake; but in relation to the election, they are dearly loved for their forefather's sake.

For no change of purpose can annul God's free gift and call.

even so they also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy.

Who has first given to Him, So as to receive payment in return?

And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

For, through the grace that was given to me, I tell every man among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think, as to think soberly, according to the measure of faith which God has given him.

so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and we are severally members of one another.

If it be possible, so far as it lies with you, be at peace with all men.

Never revenge yourself, beloved, but leave the field clear for God's wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

On the contrary, therefore, If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will be heaping burning coals on his head.

For rulers are no terror to good deeds, but to evil. Would you be fearless of the ruler's authority? Do what is good, and you will have his praise.

For the ruler is God's minister appointed for your good. But if you are a wrong-doer, be afraid; he does not carry the sword to no purpose; he is God's servant, appointed to vengeance upon the guilty.

This too, is the reason why you pay taxes; because the authorities are ministers of God's service, attending continually upon this very thing.

For the Law which says, Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and whatever other commandment there be??s all summed up in this one saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

If we live, we live unto our Lord; if we die, we die unto our Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we belong to our Lord.

So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.

So let us no longer pass judgment on one another; rather let this be your judgment, that no one put a stumbling-block in his brother's way, nor any cause of falling.

Therefore do not let what is right, so far as you are concerned, be evil spoken of.

So then let is eagerly pursue the things that make for peace and the upbuilding of each other.

Do not, for the sake of food, be tearing down God's work. All food indeed is ceremonially clean, but a man is in the wrong if his food proves a stumbling-block.

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

For I say that Christ has been made a minister of the Circumcision the people of Israel, in vindication of God's truth, so that he may confirm the promises given to our forefathers;

and so that the Gentiles also should praise God for his mercy, as it is written, Therefore I will offer praise to thee among the Gentiles, And sing to thy name.

I act as priest of the gospel of God; so that the Gentiles, when offered before him, may be an acceptable sacrifice, because consecrated by the Holy Spirit.

through the might of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit. So that beginning at Jerusalem and its environs, I have proclaimed without reserve the gospel of Christ, even as far as Illyricum.

My ambition has been, however, to preach the gospel where Christ's name was not already known, so that I might not build upon another man's foundation.

This is why I have been so hindered from coming to you.

whenever I go to Spain, I am hoping to see you on my way there, and to be set forward by you on my way there, and to be set forward by you on my journey thither, after I have enjoyed your company for a little while.

Salute Trypheana and Tryphosa, who are ever toiling in the Lord. Salute dear Persis, who has toiled terribly in the Lord's service.

I say this, for the tidings of your obedience have been told throughout the world. On your own behalf, then, I rejoice; but I want you to be wise unto the good, but innocents in evil.

Timothy, my fellow worker, salutes you; so do my fellow countrymen Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater.

Gaius, my host, and the host of the church, salutes you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, salutes you, and so does brother Quartus.

but now has been brought to light, and by command of the eternal God made known to the Gentiles by the scriptures of the Prophets, so that the Gentiles might hold obedience of the faith.

so that you lack no divine gift, while you are waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He will also keep you perfectly stedfast unto the end, so that you will be unreproveable in the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For it has been plainly told me concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe's people, that there are dissensions among you.

so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

No, God has chosen the world's folly to confound its philosophy; and the world's weakness to confound its strength.

The world's base things has God chosen, and the things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are;

so that no mortal man should glory in his presence.

so that as Scripture says, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.

And when I came to you, brothers, I came not to proclaim God's great secret purpose in fine language of philosophy;

No, it is God's wisdom that I utter, that hidden wisdom which God had decreed before the world began, unto our glory.

Nay, as it is written. Eye has not seen, Nor ear heard, Neither have entered into man's heart The things which God has prepared For those who love him.

For what man knows the depths of man except the man's own inner Spirit? Even so, also, the Spirit of God knows the deeps profound of God.

The unspiritual man rejects the teachings of God's Spirit; for him it is folly. He cannot understand it, for it is spiritually discerned,

So neither is he who planted anything, nor he who watered, but God alone, who is making the seed grow.

For we are God's fellow workers; and you are God's field, you are God's building.

On that foundation, if a man proceeds to build gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each man's work will be made manifest.

The Day will disclose it, for it dawns in fire, and the fire will test each man's work, of what quality it is.

If any man's work??he building he has made??tands the test, he will be rewarded.

If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, as it were through the flames.

Do you not know what you are God's sanctuary, and that the Spirit of God is dwelling within you?

If any one tear down God's sanctuary, God will tear him down; for the sanctuary of God is holy, and that is what you are.

Let no one deceive himself. If any one of you supposes that he is wise in the philosophy of the present age, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise.

For the philosophy of this world is foolishness in God's sight. It is written, He snares the wise in their own craftiness,

So let no one make boast in men. For all things are yours;

and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

So make no hasty judgment until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make plain the purpose of men's hearts. Then each man's due praise will come to him from God.

But you, forsooth, are already full, are you? You are already rich? Without us you are already reigning? Yes, and I would that you did reign, so that we also might reign with you.

For Christ's sake we are fools, but you are quite philosophic in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong; you are honorable, but we are outcast.

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and such immorality as is not even among the heathen??hat a man has taken his father's wife!

Then get rid of the old leaven, so that you may be like a new lump, as you are now unleavened. For our Paschal Lamb has already been sacrificed, Christ himself.

So let us keep the unending feast, not with any old leaven, neither with leaven of malice and vice, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

But what I wrote was that you were not to associate with any so-called brother who is immoral, or avaricious, or idolatrous, or abusive, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. No, with such persons do not even sit at table.

I say this to shame you. Is it so that there is not among you a single wise man, capable of deciding between a man and his brother?

Indeed, to say nothing more, the fact that you have lawsuits with one another is altogether a defect in you. Why not rather suffer injustice? Why not rather endure being cheated?

but because there is so much immorality let each man have his own wife; and let each women have her own husband.

Do not refuse one another, unless it is only temporary and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, lest through your lack of self-control Satan begin to tempt you to sin.

But to the unmarried, and the widows, I say that it is well for them to remain as I am.

But to those already married my commandment is??nd not mine, but the Lord's??hat a wife is not to leave her husband;

So, was any man called, being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was any man called when he was uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised.

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands in everything.

For the slave who has been called in the Lord is the Lord's freedman; and in the same way, the free man who is called is Christ's slave.

I have no command from the Lord to give you concerning unmarried women; but I give you my opinion, and it is that of a man who, through the Lord's mercy, is deserving of your confidence.

Indeed, brothers, the time that remains to us has been shortened; so let those who have wives live as if they had none,

So I want you to be free from all anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the Lord's business, how he may please the Lord;

Again, the woman who is widow, or the maid, is anxious about the Lord's business, how she may be pure in body and in mind; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how she may please her husband.

It is in your own interest that I say this; not that I may entangle you in a snare, but that I may help you to serve the Lord with fitting and undistracted service.

If, however, a father feels that he is not treating his virgin daughter in a seemly manner, in leaving her unmarried beyond the flower of her age, and so the matter is urgent, let him do what she desires; he commits no sin. Let the marriage take place.