This is so because that which may be known of God is manifest among them; for God has made it manifest to them.

I say, at this present time; that he himself might be just, and yet the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.

Is this blessing, then, for the circumcised alone? or for the uncircumcised also? Abraham's faith, I say, was imputed to him for righteousness.

This is why righteousness is of faith, that it may be a free gift; so that the promise stands firm to all Abraham's posterity; not to his children of his faith. For in the sight of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead, and calls into being that which is not, Abraham is the father of us all both Jews and Gentiles,

Through him also we have had our access into this grace in which we have taken our stand, and are exulting in hope of the glory of God.

For this we know, that our old self was crucified with Christ, in order that the slave of sin might be destroyed; so that we should no longer be in slavery to sin??7 for he who is dead is set free from sin.

and the very commandment which should have meant life, this I found to mean death.

I find, then, this law, that when I intend to do good, evil is ever present with me.

Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this slave of death?

For we know that all nature has been groaning and travailing together until this hour.

For thus is the word of promise, According to this season I will come, and Sarah shall bear a son.

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, It is for this very purpose that I have raised you up, To show in you my power, And to proclaim my name far and wide, in all the earth.

"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?"

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;

In the same way also at this time there is a remnant chosen by gift of grace.

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.

For I would not, my brothers, have you ignorant of this hidden truth, for fear that you become wise in your own conceits. that a hardening in part has befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles is come in.

This is my covenant with them, When I shall take away their sins.

I entreat you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is your reasonable service of worship.

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.

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.

For this purpose Christ died and became alive again, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living.

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.

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

When, therefore, I have settled this, and have secured to them the poor at Jerusalem the fruit of this collection, I shall come on by you into Spain.

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.

I, Tertius, who write this letter, salute you in the Lord.

I mean by this that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul"; another, "I of Apollos"; another, "I of Cephas"; another, "I of Christ."

Sage, rabbi, skeptic of this present age??here are they all? Has not God made foolish the philosophy of the world?

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

When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when defamed, we conciliate. We have been made, as it were, scum-o'-the-earth, the very refuse of the world, to this very hour!

I am not writing this to shame you, but to admonish you, as my beloved children.

With this in mind I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ; the manner in which I ever teach everywhere in every church.

Yet you are puffed up instead of mourning and removing from among you the man who has done this thing.

For I, although absent in body, yet present in spirit, have already passed sentence, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, on him who has done this thing.

Not that in this world you were actually to have no contact with the immoral, the avaricious, the thievish, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world, altogether.

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?

I would that every one lived as I do; but each man has his own special gift from God, one this, another that.

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.

But see to it lest this right of yours become a stumbling-block to the weak.

So he is lost, this weak man, lost by your "knowledge." this brother for whom Christ died.

This is my reply to my critics.

Am I saying this on human authority only, or does not the Law also say the same?

If others share this authority over you, do not I far more? Yet I have not availed myself of it, but am patiently enduring; so that I may not in any way hinder the progress of Christ's gospel.

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.

For if I do this of my own accord, I have my pay; but if unwilling, I have at least discharged my stewardship.

What then is my wage? This, that I can make the gospel free where I carry it; and that I can refrain from using my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

Now this happened as a warning for us, that we might not long for evil things as they longed.

But if any one tells you, "This food has been offered in sacrifice," do not eat it, for the sake of him who told you,

For this reason the woman ought to have authority over her head, because of her guardian angels.

Judge of this for your own selves. It is fitting that a woman should pray to God with her head unveiled.

What! Have you no houses in which to eat or drink? or do you wish to show your contempt for the church of God, and to shame those who have no homes to eat in? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I certainly do not praise you.

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, saying, "This is my body, broken for you; this do in memory of me."

In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying. "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in memory of me."

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming your Lord's death until he come.

This is why many among you are feeble and sickly, and many sleep.

So, my brothers, whenever you come together for this meal, wait for one another.

And we can see this, for in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Gentile, whether slave or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Hotly pursue this love, yet seek earnestly spiritual gifts, and chiefly that you may prophesy.

In the Law it is written. With men of other tongues, and by the lips of strangers, will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.

for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. This custom prevails in all the churches of the saints.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all mankind most pitiable.

I tell you this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruption, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality.

And when this mortal has been clothed with immortality, then will the words of Scripture come to pass, Death has been swallowed up in victory.

For I do not wish at this present time to see you merely in passing; but if the Lord permits, I hope to remain some time with you.

As for our Apollos, I have many times urged him to go to you with the others, but he was always unwilling to go to you at this time. He will come, however, whenever he has a good opportunity.

I beg you this, my brothers??ou know the household of Stephanus, that they were the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they devoted themselves to the service of the saints??16 so I want you also to show deference to such, and to every fellow worker, and laborer.

For this is my proud boast, the testimony of my conscience, that it was in holiness and with pure motives before God, not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God, that I have conducted myself in the world, and above all in my relations with you.

And in this confidence I intended to visit you, before going elsewhere, that you might have a pleasure twice over.

In purposing this did I display "caprice"? Or what I purpose do I purpose in a worldly way, so that it may mean either "Yes, yes," or "No, no"?

And for this very reason I wrote you, that I might not come only to be grieved by those who ought to give me joy; and because I trusted in you all, that my joy is the joy of all of you.

For this very purpose also I wrote you (before), that I might test you, to see if you were obedient in every respect.

to these latter an odor of death to death, to the former, of life to life. For such service as this, who is sufficient?

Nay, their minds were made dull; for to this very day, at the public reading of the Old Testament, the same veil rests thereon, because it is not revealed to them that in Christ the veil is taken away.

Yes, to this very day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts;

So then, as I have this ministry because of God's mercy to me, I do not lose heart.

Among them the god of this age has blinded the understanding of the unbelieving so that the sunshine of the gospel of God, should not dawn upon them.

But I hold this treasure in an earthen vessel, in order that the surpassing greatness of the power may be from God, and not from myself.

Wherever I go, I am always carrying about in my body the dying of Jesus, in order that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in this body of mine.

For this reason, as I have said, I do not lose courage, but even though my outward man is wasting away, my inward man is being renewed, day by day.

For I know, if this earthly tent of mine were struck, I have a mansion built by God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

For in this tent I am groaning, earnestly longing to be under the cover of my heavenly habitation; if so be that being so covered,

For in this tent of mine I am groaning in deep trouble; not that I wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up in life.

And He who has wrought me out for this very end is God, who has given me his Spirit as pledge.

And for this reason I also make it home with the Lord.

And all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled me to himself, and gave me the ministry of reconciliation;

I am not saying this to blame you, for as I have already said, I hold you in my heart to live together and to die together.

Note the results of this pain which God permitted; what earnestness it has called forth in you, what explanations, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what fervor, what punishment of wrong. In every way you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.

This is what comforts me. In addition to this comfort of mine, I have been made still happier by the happiness of Titus; because his spirit was refreshed by you all.

And this not as I had expected, but in accordance with the will of God, they first gave themselves to God and to me.

With the result that I have been begging Titus that, as he had been the one to begin the work with you, so he should complete among you this grace also.

Now then, as you excel in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and all zeal and in your love to me, see to it that you excel in this grace also.

I do not say this by way of command, but by the zeal of others I am trying to prove the reality of your love.

And I will give you my opinion in this matter; for this offering is fitting in your case, considering that you made a beginning before others, not only in the willingness to do something but also in actually doing something a year ago.

but burdens are to be equalized. Now your abundance at this present time present time is a supply for their want, in supply for your want; and so burdens be equalized,

More than that, he is the one chosen by the churches to accompany me on my journey, in administering this gift of yours for the Lord's glory. And this has my full consent,

because I am on my guard in this, that no one should blame me, in respect to this bounty which I am administering.

Nevertheless I am sending the brothers in order that my boast about you may not prove vain in this instance; so that, as I kept saying, you may be prepared.