and Paul said, 'I would have wished to God, both in a little, and in much, not only thee, but also all those hearing me to-day, to become such as I also am -- except these bonds.'

They examined me and wanted to let me go because there was no reason for me to receive the death penalty in my case.

But, at last, the opposition of the Jews compelled me to appeal to Caesar; not however that I had any charge to bring against my nation.

For this cause therefore I have called you to me to see and to speak to you; for on account of the hope of Israel I have this chain about me.

always in my prayers entreating that now, at length, if such be His will, the way may by some means be made clear for me to come to you.

So the willingness is in me to preach the good-news also to you in Rome.

your human infirmity leads me to employ these familiar figures--and just as you once surrendered your faculties into bondage to Impurity and ever-increasing disregard of Law, so you must now surrender them into bondage to Righteousness ever advancing towards perfect holiness.

That command gave sin an opening, and it led me to all sorts of covetous ways, for sin is lifeless without law.

And there was a time when I was living without the law: but when the law gave its orders, sin came to life and put me to death;

and I died, and this commandment which [was] to [lead to] life was found with respect to me to [lead to] death.

For sin seized the advantage, and by means of the Commandment it completely deceived me, and also put me to death.

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 know that there is nothing good in me-I mean in my earthly nature. For, although it is easy for me to want to do right, to act rightly is not easy.

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and captivating me to the law of sin, which is in my members.

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

Lord, they have put your prophets to death, and made waste your altars, and now I am the last, and they are searching for me to take away my life.

And this is the covenant from me to them, when I shall have taken away their sins.

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Never avenge yourselves, dear friends, but make way for the Wrath of God; for Scripture declares--'"It is for me to avenge, I will requite," says the Lord.'

for me to be minister of Christ Jesus to the nations, carrying on as a sacrificial service the message of glad tidings of God, in order that the offering up of the nations might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,

But now, as there are no more places for me to occupy in this part of the world, and as I have for many years been longing to come to see you,

But I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in prayers for me to God;

Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the cause of Christ Jesus,

Remember me to my dear Epaenetus, who was the first man in Asia to turn to Christ.

Remember me to Mary, who has worked so hard for you.

Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and [once] my fellow prisoners, who are held in high esteem in the estimation of the apostles, and who were [believers] in Christ before me.

Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

Remember me to Urbanus, our fellow-worker in Christ's cause, and to my dear Stachys.

Greet Apelles, the one tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.

Remember me to my fellow-countryman, Herodion. Remember me to the Christians in the household of Narcissus.

Remember me to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, those hard workers in the Lord's cause. Remember me to my dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord,

Greet Rufus, an eminent and choice man in the Lord, also his mother [who has been] a mother to me as well.

Remember me to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who meet with them.

Remember me to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas, and all God's people who meet with them.

For Christ has not sent me to baptise, but to preach glad tidings; not in wisdom of word, that the cross of the Christ may not be made vain.

And as for myself, brethren, when I came to you, it was not with surpassing power of eloquence or earthly wisdom that I came, announcing to you that which God had commanded me to bear witness to.

Like an expert builder, I laid a foundation, as God commissioned me to do, and now someone else is building upon it. But let everyone be careful how he does so.

But it is a small matter for me to be judged by you or by any human court, for I do not [even] judge myself [to be wrong].

But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wants me to. Then I will determine not [only] what these arrogant people are saying, but how much power they have.

For what [is it] to me to judge those outside? Should you not judge those inside?

Everything is permissible for me, but not all things are beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything [and brought under its power, allowing it to control me].

my answer to those who call me to account, is this:

But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

If I go on preaching the Good News, that is nothing for me to boast of; for the necessity is imposed upon me; and alas for me, if I fail to preach it!

Now I am pleased to see that you keep me in memory in all things, and that you give attention to the teaching which was handed down from me to you.

If, however, I do not know the meaning of the particular language, I shall seem to the speaker of it, and he to me, to be merely talking some foreign tongue.

But in the church it would be better for me to make use of five words of which the sense was clear, so that others might have profit, than ten thousand words in a strange tongue.

and if it be meet for me to go also, they shall go with me.

because a door has opened wide for me to do effective work, although many people are opposing me.

Was it vacillating of me to want to do that? Do I make my plans like a worldly man, ready to say "Yes" and "No" in the same breath?

and I wrote to you this same thing, that having come, I may not have sorrow from them of whom it behoved me to have joy, having confidence in you all, that my joy is of you all,

and he has further qualified me to be the minister of a new covenant ??a covenant not of written law but of spirit; for the written law kills but the Spirit makes alive.

I am not trying to recommend myself to you again. I am giving you cause to be proud of me, to use in answering men who pride themselves on external advantages and not on sincerity of heart.

It is all the doing of the God who has reconciled me to himself through Christ and has permitted me to be a minister of his reconciliation.

For if there is anything I have boasted to him about you, you did not cause me to be ashamed of it. But as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus [about you] proved to be true also.

earnestly intreating me to take the gift, and the charge of conveying it to the converts at Jerusalem:

This has led me to ask Titus to complete the arrangements for the same gracious contribution among yourselves, as it was he who started it.

For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:

Therefore, I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to visit you ahead of me, to make arrangements in advance for this gift you promised, and to have it ready as something given generously and not forced.

I implore you not to drive me to "show my boldness," when I do come, by the confident tone which I expect to have to adopt towards some of you, who are expecting to find us influenced in our conduct by earthly motives.

For suppose I do boast a little too much of my authority??hich the Lord gave me to build you up, not to pull you down?? will not have to blush for it.

It is no strain for me to do this, as it might be for people who had never got so far, for I was the first to come all the way to you with the good news of the Christ.

I do not boast beyond my limits in a sphere where other men have done the work; my hope rather is that the growth of your faith will allow me to enlarge the range of my appointed sphere

For I have a very great care for you: because you have been married by me to one husband, and it is my desire to give you completely holy to Christ.

Again I say, Let not any one think me to be a fool; but if otherwise, receive me then even as a fool, that I also may boast myself some little.

But if it behooves me to glory, I will glory in those things appertaining to my infirmities.

Well, it is not of profit to me to boast, for I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

For if I should desire to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I shall speak the truth: but I forbear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me to be , or heareth from me.

Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself!

Now I have become foolish; you have forced me [by questioning my apostleship]. Actually I should have been commended by you [instead of being treated disdainfully], for I was not inferior to those super-apostles, even if I am nobody.

For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may not find you to be what I desire, and that you may find me to be what you do not desire; that perhaps there may be contention, jealousy, bitter feeling, party spirit, ill-natured talk, backbiting, undue eulogy, unrest;

And that when I come again, my God may put me to shame among you, and I may have grief for those who have done wrong before and have had no regret for their unclean ways, and for the evil desires of the flesh to which they have given way.

Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.

PAUL an apostle ??not appointed by men nor commissioned by any man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead, ??2 with all the brothers who are beside me, to the churches of Galatia;

and all the brethren with me, to the assemblies of Galatia.

But then it was the good pleasure of God, who set me apart [for this purpose] before I was born, to call me [to this ministry] through His unearned favor.

But of those seeming to be something what they were at that time makes no difference to me: God does not receive the face of man: for those seeming to me to be prominent added nothing extra:

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.

For the one who worked through Peter by making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me by sending me to the gentiles.

And you did not have a poor opinion of me because of the trouble in my flesh, or put shame on it; but you took me to your hearts as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

What then has become of that sense of blessing and the joy that you once had [from your salvation and your relationship with Christ]? For I testify of you that, if possible, you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me [to replace mine].

But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

From now on let no one trouble me [by making it necessary for me to justify my authority as an apostle, and the absolute truth of the gospel], for I bear on my body the branding-marks of Jesus [the wounds, scars, and other outward evidence of persecutions—these testify to His ownership of me].

If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

And [also pray] for me to be given boldness of speech in opening my mouth to make known the secret plan of the Gospel,

for which I am an ambassador in a chain, that in it I may speak freely -- as it behoveth me to speak.

Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

the former are preaching Christ from the motive of rivalry, not in sincerity, supposing that this is making it harder for me to bear my imprisonment.

for I know that this shall turn out for me to salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ;

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

If it chance me to live in the flesh, that is to me fruitful for to work, and what to choose I know not.

and yet your needs make it very necessary for me to stay on here.

I trust the Lord to enable me to come to you myself before long.

For it is true that he has been ill, and was apparently at the point of death; but God had pity on him, and not only on him, but also on me, to save me from having sorrow upon sorrow.

In conclusion, my brethren, be joyful in the Lord. For me to give you the same warnings as before is not irksome to me, while so far as you are concerned it is a safe precaution.

for I am not yet secure of the prize, I have not yet finish'd my course: but I press to obtain the reward, which Jesus Christ invited me to.

Yes, I also ask you, my true partner, to help these women. They have worked hard with me to advance the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

And you Philippians yourselves know that immediately after the good news was first preached to you, when I left Macedonia, no church but yours went into partnership with me to open an account of credits and debits.

Remember me to every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you.