Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

For he is not a Jew, who is one in outward shew, neither is that circumcision which is apparent in the flesh.

Their feet are swift to shed blood:

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Nor is that all: later on there was Rebecca too. She was soon to bear two children to her husband, our forefather Isaac--

and even then, though they were not then born and had not done anything either good or evil, yet in order that God's electing purpose might not be frustrated, based, as it was, not on their actions but on the will of Him who called them, she was told,

not from works but from the One who calls—she was told: The older will serve the younger.

For he says to Moses, I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy, and I will feel compassion for whom I will feel compassion.

For the scripture saith unto 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 if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

As He also says in Hosea:

I will call Not My People, My People,
and she who is Unloved, Beloved.

For God hath shut up together all in unbelief, in order that he might shew mercy to all.

That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

Greetings to Mary, who worked very hard for you [i.e., she served the church in Rome].

To Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Master; to my dear friend Persis, for she has done much hard work for the Master;

To the same God, which alone is wise, be praise through Jesus Christ for ever Amen. {To the Romans. Sent from Corinth by Phoebe, she that was the minister unto the congregation at Cenchreae}