they reply'd, we have receiv'd no letter from Judea concerning you; nor have any of our brethren that are arrived, said any harm of you.

for the heart of this people is become gross, their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I should heal them."

by whose favour I have received the office of an apostle to bring the Gentiles every where to the obedience of faith preached in his name:

if it be God's will, that I might now at length have the happiness of coming to you.

or indeed that we may have mutual consolation from the faith which is in common to you and to me.

now I would not have you ignorant, my brethren, that I often purposed to come to you, tho' I have been hindered hitherto, that I might be useful among you as well as among other Gentiles.

For as many as have sinned without the law, shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law, shall be condemned by the law,

when the Gentiles who have not the law, do by nature what the law prescribes, tho' these have not the law, they are a law to themselves:

an instructer of the ignorant, a teacher to the weak, because you have a clear view of the true meaning of the law.

but it is the Jew, who is so inwardly, and it is the circumcision of the heart, according to the spiritual, not the literal sense, which have the approbation, I do not say of men, but of God.

"how then are we better than they?" why, not at all: for we have already convicted both Jews and Gentiles, of being all under the guilt of sin.

their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

and the way of peace have they not known.

for all having sinned, all have forfeited eternal glory:

and he received the sign of circumcision, as a seal of the justification by that faith, which the uncircumcised have: that he might be the father of all those who believe, tho' they are uncircumcised, that it might be accounted to them also for righteousness:

for if they only who are of the law have right of possession, faith is made useless, and the promise becomes of no effect.

because the effect of the law is punishment: for if there had been no law, there could have been no transgression.

therefore the inheritance is of faith, that it might be meerly of favour, to the end the promise might be assured to all his posterity, not to that part only who have the law, but to that also who have the faith of Abraham, the father of us all, as it is written,

" I have made thee a father of many nations," then existing in the sight of God, whom he believed, who gives life to the dead, and calls forth things that are not, as if they were:

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ,

now for a wicked man no one would willingly die; but for a benefactor some have readily offer'd to die.

and not only so, but we have present joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now obtained the reconciliation.

God forbid, that we who have died to sin should live any longer therein.

for then sin shall have no dominion over you: because you are not under the legal, but under the gospel dispensation.

but God be thanked, that you, who were the vassals of sin, have sincerely obeyed in the manner the gospel prescribed.

Do we then conclude, that the law is the cause of sin? by no means; but I should not have had such a notion of sin, had it not been for the law: for I should not have known concupiscence was a sin, unless the law had said, "thou shalt not covet."

what I do I allow not: for what my mind leads me to, that do I not; but what I have an aversion to, that I do.

I find then a settled custom, that evil is objected in my way whenever I have a mind to act well:

you are not in such a state, but in a spiritual one, provided the divine spirit dwell in you. now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

for the spirit you have received is not servile to keep you still in fear; but it is the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, that is, father.

and not only they, but even those who have the first fruits of the spirit, even we our selves do inwardly groan for the fruit of our adoption, by the deliverance of our body from corruption.

that I have great heaviness, and continual sorrow in my heart.

However, the divine promise cannot but have its effect. for they are not the whole of Israel, who are descended from Israel:

for the words of the promise run thus, "at this time I will come, and Sara shall have a son."

as it is written, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau I have discarded."

God forbid. for he saith to Moses, "I will show favour to whom I will show favour, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

for 'tis said in scripture to Pharaoh, "even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth."

What shall we hence conclude? that the Gentiles who sought not after justice, have obtained justice, even to that which is by faith:

for I bear them witness, that they have a zeal for God, but not guided by true knowledge.

because being ignorant of the justice which is of God, and going about to establish a justification of their own, they have not submitted themselves to that which is of God.

For Moses describes the justice that was to be had by the law, thus : "the man who performeth the things here required, shall have life thereby."

In reality there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile: they have all the same Lord, who is bountiful to all that call upon him.

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?

I reply, have they not heard? on the contrary, "their voice spread thro' all the earth, and their words to the remotest inhabitants thereof ."

and to Israel he says, "all day long I have stretched forth my hands to an incredulous and rebellious people."

in these words, "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I alone am left, and they seek my life also."

but what said the oracle to him? "I have reserved to my self seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal."

"What then, hath not Israel obtained what he sought for?" no, but the chosen remnant have obtained it, and the rest are obdurate to this day,

I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this secret, (for fear you should presume too much on your selves) that blindness has fallen upon a part of Israel, until the time when the Gentiles shall be fully come in.

as you in times past did not obey God, yet have now obtained mercy upon the occasion of their disobedience:

for God hath manifested to all the disobedient, that he would have mercy upon all.

for as there are many members in one and the same body, but all the members have not the same office:

have the same respect for one another. let not your behaviour be haughty, but soften'd to the condition of those below you. be not wise in your own conceits.

rulers are not a terror to virtue, but to vice. would you then live without any dread of the civil power? do what is right, and you shall have his commendation.

for his administration is appointed by God for your good. but if you do wrong, you have reason to be afraid; for he bears not the sword in vain: he being the minister of God, to execute punishment upon malefactors.

keep the persuasion you have, to your own conscience. blessed is he that approves himself to God, without making any difference about meats:

now whatever was heretofore writ, was writ for our instruction; that we through patience and the comfortable promises of the scriptures might have hope.

nevertheless, brethren, I have writ to the Gentile part of you, and admonish'd you with the greater freedom by virtue of the commission that God has given me,

I have therefore matter of glorying thro' Jesus Christ, with respect to divine service.

I have effectually preached the gospel of Christ: yet so as studiously to avoid preaching it where Christ was owned, lest I should build upon another man's foundation; for,

as it is written, "they to whom he was not mentioned, shall see: and they that have not heard, shall understand."

for those of Macedonia and Achaia, have thought fit to make a contribution for the poor converts at Jerusalem.

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.

when I have dispatch'd this affair, and have secur'd to them this collection, I will come to you in my way to Spain.

who have for my life readily exposed their own: to whom not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles too give thanks.

salute Herodion my kinsman. salute the family of Narcissus, who have embraced the gospel.

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark those who cause divisions and revolts against the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them.

your christianity is very well known in the world. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you as expert in that which is good, as unpractis'd in what is evil.

for I have been inform'd, my brethren, by some of Chloe's family, that there are contentions among you.

for Christ did not send me to baptize: but to preach the gospel: tho' not with the preaching of the wise, lest the cross of Christ should have been hinder'd in its efficacy.

for I did not think I was to have any other knowledge among you, than that of Christ, a crucified saviour.

which none of the rulers of this age understood: for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

but, as it is written, "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entred into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

now the spirit which we have received, is not the spirit of this world, but that which comes from God; that we might know what he has graciously bestowed upon us.

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, nor have you yet sufficient strength.

who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye have received faith according to the divine gifts imparted to each of them?

I have planted, Apollos watered: but God gave the increase.

he that planteth, and he that watereth, have the same design: and each shall receive his proper reward, in proportion to his own labour.

according to the free gift of God bestowed upon me, I, as a skilful architect, have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. but let every man take heed how he builds thereupon.

therefore suspend your judgment till the Lord comes, who will bring to light the secrets of darkness, and expose the counsels of mens hearts: and then shall every man have his due reward from God.

These things, my brethren, I have represented to you in my own person, and that of Apollos, out of respect to you: to show you how to moderate your esteem by the rule prescrib'd, that you may not be transported in favour of one rather than another.

for who has distinguish'd thee above another? or what have you, that you did not receive? now if you did receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?

You have already a sufficiency, you already abound, you live like princes in our absence: and would to God you did reign, that we too might have the advantage of your administration.

for though you may have ten thousand christian preceptors, you cannot have many fathers; since it was I that first instructed you in the gospel of Christ Jesus:

'tis for this end I have sent you Timothy, who is my dear disciple, and a faithful christian, who will inform you how I behave my self in every church where I teach the gospel of Christ.

we have it from all quarters, that incest is practis'd among you, and such as is not among the Gentiles, that of a man's having his father's wife.

this you have made a matter of levity, instead of being concern'd in discarding him that has done such an action.

I did not mean the vicious Gentiles, the misers, the raparees, or with idolaters; for then you must have gone out of the world.

for what have I to do to judge those who are without the church; but are not you to judge those that are within?

if then you have the cognizance of such matters, why do ye set those to judge who are despised by the church? I speak it to your shame.

and such were some of you: but you have been washed, you have been sanctified, you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the spirit of our God.

what! know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the holy spirit, which is in you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?

I answer, with regard to the licentious, it is best for a man, to have his wife; and for a woman to have her husband.

but if they have not the gift, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to be in pain.

have you been redeemed from slavery? then, don't turn slaves.

As to the case of celibacy, I have no positive instructions: yet my advice deserves to be regarded, as coming from one the divine favour has distinguished.

This I say, brethren, because the time is coming, when they who have wives will be as those that have none;

and they that weep, as those that are unconcern'd; and they that rejoice, as those that do not; and they that buy, as those that have no possessions;

and they that possess this world, as those that can't make an ill use of it. for the scene of this world is continually shifting. I would have you free from anxiety.

so that he who marries, does well; but he who lives single, may have less trouble.