And Paul said, "Whether in a short or a long time, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I amexcept for these chains."

and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, "This man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment."

And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."

After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables to undergird the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along.

When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up among them and said, "Men, you should have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss.

For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,

Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.

When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live."

When this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain."

But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against."

saying, 'Go to this people and say, "you will be ever hearing, but will never understand; and you will be ever seeing, but will never perceive.

For this people's heart has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and their eyes they have closed; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."'

Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen."

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural.

whom God put forward as an atoning sacrifice by his blood, to be received through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over sins committed beforehand;

Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Is this blessedness only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.

through whom we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of the glory of God.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

For this is what the promise said: "About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son."

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

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"

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

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's ministers, attending to this very thing.

The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and any other commandment there may be, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

And do this, knowing the hour, that now it is full time for you to wake from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

he who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and approved by men.

This is the reason why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered to them this fruit, I shall go on by way of you to Spain.

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

What I mean is this, that each one of you says, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ."

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

Yet we do speak a wisdom among the mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away.

None of the rulers of this age understood it; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become a fool so that he may become wise.

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

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted by this. It is the Lord who judges me.

To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and we are poorly clothed, and roughly treated, and homeless;

I do not write this to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to have mourned? Let the one who has done this be removed from your midst.

For though I am absent in body, I am present in spirit, and have already passed judgment on the one who has committed this, as if I were present.

you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

not at all meaning the immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.

Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life!

I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between his brethren,

Instead, you yourselves defraud and do wrong, and you even do this to your brethren.

I say this by way of concession, not of command.

I wish that all men were as I myself am. But each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.

Only, let each one lead the life which the Lord has assigned to him, and in which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have troubles in this flesh, and I am trying to spare you.

and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it. For the form of this world is passing away.

This I say for your own benefit, not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is good and to secure undivided devotion to the Lord.

But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has control over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.

However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, being accustomed to idols, eat food as really sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.

This is my defense to those who would examine me.

Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Does not the Law say the same thing?

If others share this right of support from you, do not we all the more? Nevertheless, we did not make use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.

For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if it is not of my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.

What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may offer the gospel free of charge, and so not make full use of my right in the gospel.

But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who informed you and for conscience' sake

What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? No, I will not.

and when 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 took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

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

In the law it is written, "By men of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord."

But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

Now I tell you this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

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

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with holiness and godly sincerity, not in worldly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and still more toward you.

Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double benefit.

When I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a fleshly manner so that in the same breath I say, "Yes, Yes" and "No, No"?

Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority,

For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.

For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it.

But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old covenant, the same veil remains unlifted, because only in Christ is it removed.

Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

For all this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.