This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

For this is what the promise declared: "About a year from now I will return and Sarah will have a son."

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

But who indeed are you -- a mere human being -- to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

But about Israel he says, "All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!"

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

For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins."

Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God -- what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head.

For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants devoted to governing.

For the commandments, "Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet," (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

And do this because we know the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers.

For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

For the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people.

and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name."

And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person's foundation,

This is the reason I was often hindered from coming to you.

For they were pleased to do this, and indeed they are indebted to the Jerusalem saints. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are obligated also to minister to them in material things.

Therefore after I have completed this and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set out for Spain by way of you,

I, Tertius, who am writing this letter, greet you in the Lord.

Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, "I am with Paul," or "I am with Apollos," or "I am with Cephas," or "I am with Christ."

Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?

Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing.

None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise.

For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness."

One should think about us this way -- as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges me is the Lord.

For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

And you are proud! Shouldn't you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you?

For even though I am absent physically, I am present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did this, just as though I were present.

turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

In no way did I mean the immoral people of this world, or the greedy and swindlers and idolaters, since you would then have to go out of the world.

I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians?

Instead, does a Christian sue a Christian, and do this before unbelievers?

But you yourselves wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters!

Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

I say this as a concession, not as a command.

I wish that everyone was as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that.

To the married I give this command -- not I, but the Lord -- a wife should not divorce a husband

Nevertheless, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches.

And I say this, brothers and sisters: The time is short. So then those who have wives should be as those who have none,

those who use the world as though they were not using it to the full. For the present shape of this world is passing away.

I am saying this for your benefit, not to place a limitation on you, but so that without distraction you may give notable and constant service to the Lord.

With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that "an idol in this world is nothing," and that "there is no God but one."

But this knowledge is not shared by all. And some, by being accustomed to idols in former times, eat this food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, because it is weak, is defiled.

But be careful that this liberty of yours does not become a hindrance to the weak.

If you sin against your brothers or sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

For this reason, if food causes my brother or sister to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause one of them to sin.

This is my defense to those who examine me.

Am I saying these things only on the basis of common sense, or does the law not say this as well?

If others receive this right from you, are we not more deserving? But we have not made use of this right. Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason for boasting, because I am compelled to do this. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if I do it unwillingly, I am entrusted with a responsibility.

But if someone says to you, "This is from a sacrifice," do not eat, because of the one who told you and because of conscience --

For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.

Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me."

For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup.

but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,

It is written in the law: "By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me," says the Lord.

The secrets of his heart are disclosed, and in this way he will fall down with his face to the ground and worship God, declaring, "God is really among you."

If someone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed.

For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.

For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. But when it says "everything" has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him.

Every day I am in danger of death! This is as sure as my boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God -- I say this to your shame!

Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

also to submit to people like this, and to everyone who cooperates in the work and labors hard.

For they refreshed my spirit and yours. So then, recognize people like this.

I, Paul, send this greeting with my own hand.

For our reason for confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives and sincerity which are from God -- not by human wisdom but by the grace of God -- we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more toward you.

And with this confidence I intended to come to you first so that you would get a second opportunity to see us,

Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? Or do I make my plans according to mere human standards so that I would be saying both "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time?

And I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours.

This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him,

so that now instead you should rather forgive and comfort him. This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair.

For this reason also I wrote you: to test you to see if you are obedient in everything.

But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away.

But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds,

Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged.

among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.

For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling,

For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died.

I do not say this to condemn you, for I told you before that you are in our hearts so that we die together and live together with you.

For see what this very thing, this sadness as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what deep concern, what punishment! In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

And they did this not just as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

Thus we urged Titus that, just as he had previously begun this work, so also he should complete this act of kindness for you.

But as you excel in everything -- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness and in the love from us that is in you -- make sure that you excel in this act of kindness too.