For he determined beforehand that those whom he foreknew should be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

And those whom he before appointed, he also called; and those whom he called, he also accepted as righteous; and those whom he accepted as righteous, he also glorified.

For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

who are Israelites; whom God adopted as sons, whose was the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of the sanctuary, and the promises;

whose are the fathers, and from whom, as to the flesh, was the Christ. He who is over all, God, be blessed for ever! Amen.

That is, not the children by natural descent are children of God, but the children to whom the promise is made are accounted as the offspring.

For he saith to Moses, "On whom I have mercy, on him will I have mercy; and on whom I have compassion, on him will I have compassion."

So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and hardeneth whom he will.

whom he also called, even us, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the gentiles?

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

I say then, Hath God cast off his people? Far be it I For I myself am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

"Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have dug down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they are seeking my life."

For I am speaking to you gentiles; inasmuch as I am the apostle of the gentiles, I magnify my office,

Render to all what is due to them; tribute, to whom tribute is due; custom, to whom custom; fear, to whom fear; honor, to whom honor.

I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him that accounteth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

For if on account of food thy brother is made to mourn, thou art no longer walking according to love. Do not with thy food destroy him for whom Christ died.

But I myself am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye are even of yourselves full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

but, as it is written: "They, to whom no tidings concerning him came, shall see; and they that have not heard shall understand."

But now I am going to Jerusalem on a service of relief to the saints.

who for my life laid down their own necks; to whom not I alone give thanks, but also all the churches of the gentiles;

to God, the only wise, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever! Amen.

God is faithful, by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

What I mean is this, that each of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

And I baptized also the household of Stephanas; I am not aware that I baptized any one besides.

For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not [like common] men?

Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but ministers through whom ye believed, and that as the Lord gave to each?

for though I am conscious to myself of nothing wrong, yet not by this am I cleared of blame; but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

I write not these things to shame you, but I am warning you as my beloved children.

What will ye? Am I to come to you with a rod, or in love, and the spirit of mildness?

I say also to the unmarried and the widows, it is good for them to remain as I am;

The wife is bound to her husband as long as he liveth; but if her husband die, she is free to marry whom she will, only in the Lord.

yet to us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we to him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.

For through thy knowledge he that is weak perisheth,the brother for whom Christ died!

Wherefore, if food cause my brother to fall, I will eat no flesh for ever, lest I cause my brother to fall. Am I not free?

Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord?

If I am not an apostle to others, yet surely I am to you; for the seal of my apostleship are ye in the Lord.

Or am I alone and Barnabas bound to labor with our own hands?

Is it on mans authority that I am saying these things, or doth not the Law too say the same?

For in preaching the gospel, I have nothing to glory in; for I am under a necessity to do so; yea, woe is to me, if I preach not the gospel!

Now these things happened to them as warnings, and were recorded for our admonition, to whom the ends of the ages have come.

If I partake with thankfulness, why am I to be evil spoken of in a matter for which I give thanks?

What! have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God, and shame those who have nothing? What am I to say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you.

If the foot say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it for this reason not of the body?

And if the ear say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it for this reason not of the body?

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.

For now we see in a mirror, obscurely; but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall fully know even as I also am fully known.

If any one thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him know surely that the directions I am writing to you are the Lords;

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.

For I am the least of the apostles, one not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

And we are also found false witnesses concerning God; because we testified concerning God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if so be that the dead rise not.

And when I am with you, I will send with letters whomever you may approve to carry your bounty to Jerusalem;

Now I will come to you, when I have passed through Macedonia; for I am about to pass through Macedonia;

For I am unwilling to see you now in passing; for I hope to stay some time with you if the Lord permit.

Now if Timothy come, see that he be with you without fear; for he is laboring in the work of the Lord, as I am;

let no one therefore despise him. But conduct him on in peace, that he may come to me; for I am waiting for him with the brethren.

I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus; for what was lacking on your part, they supplied;

who delivered us from such peril of death, and is delivering; in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us,

But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also; for what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes I forgave it in the person of Christ,

in whom the God of this world blinded the understandings of the unbelieving, so that they cannot behold the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

I am not saying this to condemn you; for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die with you and to live with you.

Great is my confidence toward you, great is my glorying on your account; I am filled with comfort, I overflow with joy in all our trouble.

for if in anything I have boasted to him of you, I am not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting, which we made before Titus, was found to be truth;

And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have often in many things proved to be zealous, but now much more zealous through the great confidence which he hath in you.

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I, who present indeed am lowly among you, but am bold toward you when absent;

but I entreat you, that I may not when I am present be bold with that confidence wherewith I think of being bold towards some, who think of us as walking according to the flesh.

For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth.

For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I espoused you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ;

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye did not receive, or another gospel, which ye did not accept, well might ye bear with it.

For I suppose that I am in no respect behind the very foremost apostles.

And though I am rude in speech, yet I am not in knowledge; but this did we in every respect manifest to you in all things.

I say it to my reproach, that we were weak; but in whatever any one is bold, (I speak in folly,) I am bold also.

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abrams offspring? So am I.

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as beside myself,) I am more; in labors more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often;

Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is in danger of stumbling, and I do not burn?

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I am not lying.

Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then am I strong.

I have become a fool; it is ye that compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the very foremost apostles, though I am nothing.

Behold, I am ready to come to you this third time, and I will not be a charge to you; for I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more I love you, the less I am loved.

Did I make gain of you by any of those whom I have sent to you?

This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

to whom be the glory for ever and ever! Amen.

For do I now seek the favor of men, or of God? Or am I endeavoring to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Now as to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I do not lie.

to whom not even for an hour did we yield by the required subjection, that the truth of the gospel might still remain with you.

To what end then was the Law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise belongeth, having been ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.

Brethren, I beseech you, become as I am, for I also have become as ye are; ye injured me in nothing.

But it is good to be an object of zeal in what is good always, and not only when I am present with you.

My children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you,

I could wish indeed to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am in perplexity about you.

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.

in whom we have the redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

in whom we also obtained the inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,

in whom ye also, after having heard the word of truth, the glad tidings of your salvation, in whom, I say, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit that was promised,

among whom even we all had our way of life in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others;

in whom all the building, fitly framed together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord;

in whom ye also are built together into a dwellingplace of God in the Spirit.

To me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to make known among the gentiles the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of Christ,