What, then, shall we say? That, they of the nations, who were not in pursuit of righteousness, have laid hold of righteousness, - a righteousness, however, which is by faith;

as the Scripture says: "See, I put on Zion a stone for causing people to stumble, a rock to trip them on, but no one who puts his faith in it will ever be put to shame."

For Moses says of the law-way to right standing with God that whoever can perform the law will live by it.

Whereas, the righteousness by faith, thus speaketh - Do not say in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring, Christ, down,

On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim:

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:

For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation.

Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame,

For [Joel 2:32 says], "Every person who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [i.e., whoever appeals to God through obedient faith in Christ]

But how, say you, shall they call on him on whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

And how can men preach unless they are sent to do so? As the Scripture says, "How beautiful are the feet of men who bring the glad news of His good things!"

But all did not obey the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message?

But I say: Have they not heard? Yea indeed, - into all the earth, hath gone forth their sound, and, unto the ends of the inhabited world, their declarations.

But I say: Hath, Israel, not come to know? First, Moses, saith - I, will provoke you to jealousy on account of a no-nation, on account of an undiscerning nation, will I make you very angry.

And Isaiah says boldly:

I was found
by those who were not looking for Me;
I revealed Myself
to those who were not asking for Me.

But to Israel he says: All day long I have spread out My hands to a disobedient and defiant people.

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

God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel?

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."

as the Scripture Says, "God has given them over to an attitude of insensibility, so that their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear, down to this very day."

And David says:

Let their feasting become a snare and a trap,
a pitfall and a retribution to them.

I say then - Did they stumble in order that they might fall? Far be it! But, by their fall, salvation hath come unto the nations, to the end of provoking them to jealousy.

But I say to you, Gentiles, in so far as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I make much of my position:

Thou wilt say, then - Branches were broken out in order that, I, might he grafted in.

and so in that way all Israel will be saved, just as the Scripture says: "From Zion the Deliverer will come; He will remove ungodliness from Jacob;

[A summary of Jer. 31:31-34 says], "And I [i.e., God] will make this Agreement with them [i.e., Jewish and Gentile believers] when I take away their sins."

For I say, through the favour which hath been given me, unto every one who is among you, - not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but so to think as to think soberly - as, unto each one, God hath dealt a measure of faith.

Bless them that persecute you: bless them, I say, and do not curse them.

Do not give punishment for wrongs done to you, dear brothers, but give way to the wrath of God; for it is said in the holy Writings, Punishment is mine, I will give reward, says the Lord.

But [Prov. 25:21-25 says], "Feed your enemy if he is hungry; give him something to drink if he is thirsty. For when you do this, it will be [like] heaping burning coals on his head." [i.e., it can cause him burning shame that can lead to his repentance and ultimate forgiveness].

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.

This I say, because you know the crisis that we have reached, for the time has already come for you to rouse yourselves from sleep; our Salvation is nearer now than when we accepted the Faith.

Who are you to criticize someone else's servant? It is for his own master to say whether he succeeds or fails; and he will succeed, for the Master can make him do so.

For it is said in the holy Writings, By my life, says the Lord, to me every knee will be bent, and every tongue will give worship to God.

Let it not be possible for men to say evil about your good:

Christ certainly did not please Himself; instead, as the Scripture says, "The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me."

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 for the heathen peoples to praise God for His mercy, as the Scripture says: "For this I will give thanks to you among the heathen, and will sing praises to your name."

And again he says, Take part, you Gentiles, in the joy of his people.

And again Isaiah says, There will be the root of Jesse, and he who comes to be the ruler over the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles put their hope.

For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed,

but, as the Scripture says: "They will see who were never told of Him, and they will understand who have not heard."

but now, I'say , I go unto Jerusalem, ministering unto the saints.

they have thought fit, I say, and they owed them as much. for if the Gentiles have participated of their spirituals, they are bound on their side to minister to them in their temporals.

It is my desire to say a good word for Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae:

And say a kind word to the church which is in their house. Give my love to my dear Epaenetus, who is the first fruit of Asia to Christ.

Give my love to Apelles, who has the approval of Christ. Say a kind word to those who are of the house of Aristobulus.

Give my love to Herodion, my relation. Say a kind word to those of the house of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

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.

to God, I say, who is only wise, be glory thro' Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

Now I make request to you, my brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will all say the same thing, and that there may be no divisions among you, so that you may be in complete agreement, in the same mind and in the same opinion.

That is, that some of you say, I am of Paul; some say, I am of Apollos; some say, I am of Cephas; and some say, I am Christ's.

So that no one may be able to say that you had baptism in my name.

As it says in the holy Writings, I will put an end to the wisdom of the wise, and will put on one side the designs of those who have knowledge.

so that, as the Scripture says, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

But as it says in the holy Writings, Things which the eye saw not, and which had not come to the ears or into the heart of man, such things as God has made ready for those who have love for him.

And these are the things which we say, not in the language of man's wisdom, but in words given to us by the Spirit, judging the things of the spirit by the help of the Spirit.

[Isa. 40:13 says], "For who knows [what is in] the Lord's mind? And who is capable of instructing Him? But we have the mind of Christ. [Note: The "we" may refer to the apostles, who had the gift of inspiration (See verse 12), or to all Christians who have spiritual discernment].

For when one says, I am of Paul; and another says, I am of Apollos; are you not talking like natural men?

For this world's wisdom is mere nonsense to God. For the Scripture says, "He who catches the wise with their own cunning,"

And again, it says [Psa. 94:11], "The Lord knows that the thoughts of 'wise people' are worthless."

Brothers, I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what the Scriptures say. Then you will stop boasting about one person at the expense of another.

but if the Lord pleases, I will visit you very soon; and then I shall try, not what these boasters can say, but what they can do:

when ye are assembled together with my spirit, by the power, I say,

to deliver him, I say, being such, to Satan for destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

But, as things are, I say that you are not to associate with any one who, although a Brother in name, is immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or abusive, or a drunkard, or grasping-no, not even to sit at table with such people.

Do you not know that we Christians are to sit in judgment on angels, to say nothing of the ordinary cases of life?

I say this to put you to shame. Is there not among you one wise man who may be able to give a decision between his brothers?

To say no more, it is a mark of moral failure among you to have lawsuits at all with one another. Why not rather suffer being wronged? Why not suffer being robbed?

Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh.

But this I say as my opinion, and not as an order of the Lord.

But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, It is good for them to be even as I am.

But to the rest I say, and not the Lord; If a brother has a wife who is not a Christian, and it is her desire to go on living with him, let him not go away from her.

I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.

But I say this, my brothers, the time is short; and from now it will be wise for those who have wives to be as if they had them not;

Now I say this for your profit; not to make things hard for you, but because of what is right, and so that you may be able to give all your attention to the things of the Lord.

But if any man thinks he is [being tempted to] behave improperly toward his virgin [fiancee], and she is past prime [marriageable] age, and feels the need [to get married] [Note: The Greek says "and so it has to be"], he should do what he wants; they should get married --- that man has not sinned.

About food that has been offered to idols, it is true, as you say, that we all have some knowledge on that matter. Knowledge gives people airs; love is what builds up character.

But if any one love God, he is known by him. I say, as to the eating of things sacrificed to idols,

Am I talking as a man? does not the law say the same?

For it says in the law of Moses, It is not right to keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it. Is it for the oxen that God is giving orders?

or because of us by all means doth He say it? yes, because of us it was written, because in hope ought the plower to plow, and he who is treading ought of his hope to partake in hope.

If others enjoy such rights over you, have we not a still better claim? But, you say, we have never availed ourselves of this right. No, we will stand anything rather than put any hindrance in the way of the good news of the Christ.

But for my part, I have never availed myself of any of these rights. I do not say this to bring it about in my own case. I would rather die than let any one make void this boast of mine.

Now stop being idolaters, as some of them were, for the Scripture says, "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to dance."

And do not say evil things against the Lord, as some of them did, and destruction overtook them.

Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.

As, to prudent men, I speak, - judge, ye, what I say: -

consider the custom of the Jews by descent, are not they which eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar? what say I then?

Do I say, then, that what is offered to images is anything, or that the image is anything?

What I say is that the things offered by the Gentiles are offered to evil spirits and not to God; and it is not my desire for you to have any part with evil spirits.

"All things are lawful," you say? But not all things are expedient; "all things are lawful"; but not all build up.

But if anyone says to you, This food has been used as an offering, do not take it, on account of him who said it, and on account of his sense of right and wrong:

Right and wrong, I say, not for you, but for the other man; for the fact that I am free is not dependent on another man's sense of right or wrong.

But if I give praise to God for the food which I take, let no man say evil of me for that reason.

Now in what I am going to say, I do not commend you, because your assemblies are not to your advantage, but to your prejudice.

What? have you not houses to take your meals in? or have you no respect for the church of God, putting the poor to shame? What am I to say to you? am I to give you praise? certainly not.

So it is my desire for you to be clear about this; that no one is able to say by the Spirit of God that Jesus is cursed; and no one is able to say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say,

If the foot says, Because I am not the hand, I am not a part of the body; it is no less a part of the body.