Now if God wants to demonstrate his wrath and reveal his power, can't he be extremely patient with the objects of his wrath that are made for destruction?

Can't he also reveal his glorious riches to the objects of his mercy that he has prepared ahead of time for glory

What can we say, then? Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have attained righteousness, a righteousness that comes through faith.

I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law [with all its intricate demands] shall live by it.

But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?

And how will they preach unless they are commissioned and sent [for that purpose]? Just as it is written and forever remains written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

I say, then, Has God rejected his people? It can not be. For I am an Israelite, of the posterity of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

as it is written: God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes with which they can not see, and ears with which they can not hear.

I say, then, Have they stumbled, in order that they may fall? It can not be. But rather, through their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to excite them to jealousy.

if I can somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them.

For if their rejection has meant the reconciling of the world, what can the acceptance of them mean but life from the dead?

And even the others will be grafted in, if they do not adhere to their unbelief; God can graft them in again.

For no change of purpose can annul God's free gift and call.

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how inscrutable are his judgments, and his ways can not be explored!

You must not adopt the customs of this world but by your new attitude of mind be transformed so that you can find out what God's will is??hat is good, pleasing, and perfect.

If you can, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with all the world.

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].

Everyone must obey the authorities that are over him, for no authority can exist without the permission of God; the existing authorities have been established by him,

One person has enough faith that allows him to eat anything [i.e., without it bothering his conscience that the food, such as animal meat, was used in an idolatrous worship ceremony]. But the weak person can eat only vegetables [conscientiously].

The person who can eat anything should not look down on the person who cannot eat [what was used in idolatrous worship]; and the person who cannot eat [such things] should not pass judgment on the person who can. For God accepts that person, too.

Who are you that you should find fault with the servant of another? Whether he stands or falls is a matter which concerns his own master. But stand he will; for the Master can give him power to stand.

For none of us can live alone by himself, and none of us can die alone by himself;

But why do you [who eat only certain foods] condemn your brother [who feels he can eat anything]? Or, indeed, why do you [i.e., who feels he can eat anything] look down on your brother [i.e., who eats only certain foods]? For all of us will have to stand before the judgment bar of God.

I can therefore glory in Christ Jesus concerning the work for God in which I am engaged.

[Now to Him who can strengthen you by my gospel, by the preaching of Jesus Christ, by revealing the secret purpose which after the silence of long ages

God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

so that no one can boast in His presence.

Is there anyone who can understand his own thoughts except his own inner spirit? In the same way, no one can know the thoughts of God except God's Spirit.

Now, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we can understand the things that were freely given to us by God.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But the spiritual man [the spiritually mature Christian] judges all things [questions, examines and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals], yet is himself judged by no one [the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer’s spiritual nature].

For "Who has known the mind of the Lord so that he can advise him?" However, we have the mind of the Messiah.

you are still unspiritual. For so long as jealousy and strife continue among you, can it be denied that you are unspiritual and are living and acting like mere men of the world?

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

No one should deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, he must become foolish so that he can become wise.

Now further, what is always demanded of managers is that they can be depended on.

Every one of you already has all that heart can desire; already you have grown rich; without waiting for us, you have ascended your thrones! Yes indeed, would to God that you had ascended your thrones, that we also might reign with you!

For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can’t have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is a dear child of mine, in the service of the Lord, and one on whom you can depend, and he will help you to keep in mind my methods in the service of Christ Jesus, which I follow everywhere in every church.

But I am coming very soon to see you, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out, not what these conceited people have to say, but what they can actually do.

And can you put on airs, instead of being overwhelmed with grief at having to expel from your number the man who has done this?

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little yeast can leaven the whole batch of dough?

Get rid of the old yeast [i.e., of sin, and especially the unrepentant sinner], so that you can be a new batch of dough, without yeast in it [i.e., a godly church without unrepentant sinners in it] as [I know] you really are. For our Passover [Lamb], Christ, has already been sacrificed.

If any one of you has a complaint against someone, how can you dare to take it before non-Christian judges [to be decided], instead of before the saints [i.e., God's holy people]?

You know that the saints will rule the world, don't you? And if the world is going to be ruled by you, can't you handle insignificant cases?

I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is not one wise man among you who [is governed by integrity and] will be able and competent to decide [private disputes] between his fellow believers,

Don't you know, that your bodies are parts of Christ's mystical body? now, how can that which is Christ's, be made the property of a very creature?

Run from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.” On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.

Do not deprive each other [of these marital rights], except by mutual agreement, so that you can spend the time in prayer. Then resume [normal sexual] relations again, so Satan is not able to tempt you [i.e., to have an affair] because of your lack of self-control.

To all who are unmarried and to widows, I would say this: It is an excellent thing if they can remain single as I am.

But if they can not be continent, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.

For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband [by leading him to Christ]? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife [by leading her to Christ]?

Were you called while a slave? It should not be a concern to you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.

I have no orders from the Lord for unmarried women, but I will give you the opinion of one whom you can trust, after all the Lord's mercy to him.

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.

I want you to be free from concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, that is, about how he can please the Lord.

But a married man is concerned about things of this world, that is, about how he can please his wife,

An unmarried woman or a girl is concerned about the Lord's work, so as to be consecrated in body and spirit, but the woman who marries is concerned with worldly affairs, and how she can please her husband.

An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the affairs of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, that is, about how she can please her husband. I'm saying this for your benefit, not to put a noose around your necks, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.

So then, if food can make my brother fall, I will never, no, never, eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from falling.

Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Can it be denied that I have seen Jesus, our Lord? Are not you yourselves my work in the Lord?

It cannot be that we have no right to our food and drink, can it?

It cannot be that we have no right to take a Christian wife about with us, can it, as well as the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers, and Cephas?

If others share this right over you, why not we all the more? We did not avail ourselves of it, you say? No, we do not mind any privations if we can only avoid putting any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

If I tell the Good News, I have nothing to boast of, for I can but do so. Woe is me if I do not tell it!

And my reward? This, that I can preach the gospel free of charge, that I can refrain from insisting on all my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.

I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it.

Do you not know that in a race the runners all run, but only one can get the prize? You must run in such a way that you can get the prize.

So the man who thinks he can stand must be on his guard against a fall.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.

You can't both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can't both partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.

For it is to be expected [i.e., it is inevitable] that there would be dissensions among you, so that those who are approved [by God] can become known among you.

Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

Let a man test himself; then he can eat from the loaf and drink from the cup.

If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. And I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

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.

The eye can't tell the hand, "I have no need for you," or again the head to the feet, "I have no need for you."

If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it. If one part receives an honor, all the parts can share its joy.

Can every one be an Apostle? can every one be a Preacher? can every one be a Teacher? can every one have supernatural powers?

Can every one have power to cure diseases? can every one speak in 'tongues'? can every one interpret them?

Strive for the greater gifts. Yet I can still show you a way beyond all comparison the best.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction].

And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing.

For the person who speaks in a language [supernaturally] does not speak to people, but to God, for no one can understand him [i.e., unless there is an interpreter or it is the person's native language]; he speaks [previously] unrevealed truths under the influence of the Holy Spirit [or "in his spirit"]. [Note: For a correct understanding of this chapter, it must be kept in mind that Paul is addressing a misuse ofthe gift of speaking in languages supernaturally. The Corinthians were doing this in the wrong way and for the wrong purpose].

I should be right glad were you all to speak in 'tongues,' but yet more glad were you all to prophesy. And, in fact, the man who prophesies is superior to him who speaks in 'tongues,' except when the latter can interpret in order that the Church may get a blessing.

In the same way, lifeless instruments like the flute or harp produce sounds. But if there's no difference in the notes, how can a person tell what tune is being played?

And so with you; unless, in using the gift of 'tongues,' you utter intelligible words, how can what you say be understood? You will be speaking to the winds!

Therefore the person who speaks in another language should pray that he can interpret.

Otherwise if you bless [and give thanks to God] in the spirit only, how will any outsider or someone who is not gifted [in spiritual matters] say the “Amen” [of agreement] to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?

However, in the assembly I would rather speak five words with my understanding, so that I can instruct other people also, than to speak ten thousand words in a language [that people do not understand].

For ye all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted;

Prophets can control their own prophetic spirits,

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?

If it be not so, what can they effect who are baptized for the dead? if the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?”