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How then are they to call on One on whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in One of whom they have not heard?
And how are they to hear without a preacher?

And how are people to preach, unless they are sent?

Even as it is written,

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good! But they did not all obey the glad tidings. For Isaiah says, Lord, 17 who has had faith in our message? So then, faith comes from the message, 18 and the message through the word about Christ. But, I ask, "Have they not heard?" Yes indeed :

Their sound went out into all the earth,

And their words to the ends of the world.

19 But, I ask, "Has Israel not known?" First Moses says:
I will stir you to jealousy by what is no nation,
By an ignorant nation I will enrage you.

20 And Isaiah makes bold to say:

I have been found by those who were not seeking me,
I am disclosed to those who inquired not after me.

21 But of Israel he says, The whole day long have I stretched out my hands to a 11 1 people disobedient and refractory. I ask then, "Has God thrust

aside his people?" God forbid! For I too am an Israelite myself, of 2 Abraham's offspring, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not thrust aside his people whom he foreknew. What! do you not know what the scripture saith in the place " Elijah"? How he pleads with God against 3 Israel, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have destroyed thy altars; 4 and I alone am left, and they seek my life. But what saith the oracle to him? I have left myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee 5 to Baal. So also at the present time, then, there is a remnant due to the 6 selection of grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer a matter of 7 deeds; otherwise grace would cease to be grace. What then is the result? that Israel has not obtained what it craves, while the chosen have 8 obtained it. And the rest have been hardened; just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of torpor,

Eyes not to see, ears not to hear, down to this very day.

9 [And David says,

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Let their feast be made a snare and a trap,

Yea a pitfall and a requital to them ;

Darkened be their eyes that they see not,

And make thou their back bend continually.]

11 I ask then, "Did they stumble that they should fall?" God forbid ! Nay rather, it is by their slip that salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as 12 to stir themselves up to jealousy. Now if their slip proves the riches of the world, and their defect the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their 13 fulness! I am speaking to you, Gentiles. So far as I at least am 14 an apostle to the Gentiles I exalt my ministry, to see if I can somehow 15 stir those who are my flesh to jealousy, and so save some of them. For if their rejection proves the world's reconciliation, what shall their reception be? What but life from the dead?

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Now if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump:
And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 If some of the branches were broken off, while thou, a wild olive, wast grafted in among them and didst come to share with them in the root of 18 the olive's fatness, exult not at the expense of the branches. And if thou

art exulting, bethink thyself: thou bearest not the root, the root bears

19 thee. Thou wilt argue then, "Branches were broken off, that I might 20 be grafted in"? True, they were broken off by their unbelief, and thou 21 standest by thy faith. Be not highminded, but fear. For if God did not 22 spare the natural branches, neither will he spare thee. Look then at God's kindness and severity. Severity to those who fell, but God's kindness to thee if thou continue in his kindness. Otherwise thou too shalt 23 be cut out. Yea, and if they continue not in their unbelief, they too 24 shall be grafted in. God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wast cut out of what was by nature a wild olive and grafted, contrary to nature, into a garden olive, how much more shall these natural branches be grafted into their own olive?

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For I would not have you ignorant of this secret, brothers, that you may not be wise in your own conceits: Israel has been but hardened in 26 part until the full number of the Gentiles should come in; and thus all Israel shall be saved. Even as it is written,

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From Zion shall come the rescuer,

He shall banish impieties from Jacob:

Yea this is my covenant for them,

When I take their sins away.

28 As regards the gospel they are indeed enemies for your sake,

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But as regards the selection they are beloved for the sake of the fathers:

For God never takes back his free gifts and his calling.

30 As you were once disobedient to God

But have now obtained mercy through their disobedience :

31 So too these are now disobedient,

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That they may become objects of the same mercy which was shown to you.

32 For God has shut up all under disobedience,

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That upon all he may have mercy.

O the depth of God's riches and wisdom and knowledge!
How inscrutable his judgments!

How unsearchable his ways!

Yea who has known the Lord's mind?

Or who has been his counsellor?

Or who has first given to him,

And is to be repaid?

Since from him and by him and for him all things exist—

To him be the majesty for ever: Amen.

I appeal to you then, brothers, by the tender mercies of God, present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, well-pleasing, to God: that 2 is the rational worship for you. And be not fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so as to prove what is the will of God, namely, what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

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For, through the grace granted to me, I tell every man who is among you, not to think over highly of himself, beyond what he should think; but to think soberly, in view of the measure of faith which God has 4 assigned to each. For in the same way as we have many members in one 5 body, and all the members have not the same function, so, many as we are, we are one body in Christ and separately members of each another. 6 And as we have talents which differ with the grace granted us-be it 7 prophecy, let us employ it in proportion to our faith; be it ministry, let 1 Omitting vv.

8 us employ it in ministering: the teacher in his teaching: he who exhorts, in his exhortation: he who contributes, with generosity: the president, 9 with earnest care: he who shows pity, with cheerfulness. Let love be un10 feigned. Abhor what is evil cling to what is good. Be affectionate 11 to one another, in brotherly love; outdo one another in giving honour.

Be not backward in earnestness, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord, 12, 13 rejoice in hope, be patient in distress, give yourselves to prayer, con14 tribute to the needs of the saints, aim at being hospitable. Bless those 15 who persecute you, bless them and curse not. Rejoice with the joyful, 16 weep with the weeping. Be of the same mind to one another; mind not

what is high, but give yourselves up to what is lowly. Be not wise in 17 your own conceits. Render no man evil for evil. Be concerned for what is 18 honourable in the sight of all men. If possible, as far as it rests with 19 you, be at peace with all men. Beloved, avenge not yourselves, but let the Wrath have way for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.

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Nay, if thine enemy hungers, feed him ;

if he thirst, give him to drink:

For by doing this thou shalt heap burning coals upon his head. 21 Be not conquered by evil; but conquer evil by good.

13 1 Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities, for there is no authority which is not from God, and the existing authorities are instituted by 2 God. So that he who resists authority opposes what God has instituted; 3 and those who oppose shall be sentenced themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to evil. Wouldst thou have no terror of 4 authority? Then do good, and thou shalt get praise from it; for it is God's servant to thee for good. But if thou doest evil, be in terror; for not in vain does it wear the sword: it is God's servant, an avenger 5 for punishing him who practises evil. Wherefore subject you must be, out of regard not merely for the punishment, but also for conscience. 6 This also is the reason why you pay tribute; for magistrates are servants 7 of God, as they give themselves to this very business. Render to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, customs to whom customs, 8 respect to whom respect, honour to whom honour. Owe no man

anything, except to love one another-for he who loves another has 9 fulfilled the law. Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not murder, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, these with any other commandment are gathered up in this word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 10 thyself. Love does no evil to its neighbour: to love, then, is to fulfil 11 the law. And do this, as you know the time; now is the hour for us 1 to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer us to-day than 12 when we first believed. The night is advanced, and the day is near. Then let us put away the deeds of the darkness, and put on the armour 13 of the light. Let us behave ourselves with propriety, as in the day: with no bouts of revelry and drunkenness, with no lewd and sensual acts, 14 with no quarrelling and jealousy. Nay, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to satisfy its desires.

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Receive one who is weak in faith, but not to pass judgment upon 2 scruples. While one man has confidence to eat anything, he who is weak eats nothing but vegetables.

Let not him who eats despise him who refrains;

Nor let him who refrains judge him who eats,
For God has received him.

1 Reading ἡμᾶς.

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Who art thou to judge Another's servant?
To his own Lord he stands or falls :
And he shall be made to stand,

For the Lord has power to make him stand.
This man 1 rates one day above another,

That man rates every day alike.

Let each be fully convinced in his own mind:
He who values the day, values it to the Lord.
Also, he who eats, eats to the Lord,

For he gives thanks to God:

And he who refrains from eating, to the Lord he refrains,
And he gives thanks to God.

For none of us lives to himself,

And none of us dies to himself:

If we live, it is for the Lord we live,

And if we die, it is for the Lord we die.
Whether we live then or die,

We are the Lord's.

For this was why Christ died and came to life,

That he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother?

Or thou again, why dost thou despise thy brother?

Why, we are to stand, all of us, before the tribunal of God;

11 For it is written,

As I live, saith the Lord, to me shall every knee bow,

And every tongue shall offer praise to God.

Each one of us then is to give account of himself to God.
No more then let us judge one another;

Rather let this be your judgment, not to put 2 any hindrance in a
brother's way.

I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing in itself is unclean :

Only, anything is unclean to the man who reckons it unclean. If thy brother is being injured for a matter of mere food,

Thou art no longer walking by love;

Destroy not with thy food him for whom Christ died,
Your fair fame is not to be maligned.

For the reign of God is not eating and drinking,

But uprightness and peace and joy in the holy Spirit :
He who serves Christ therein

Is well-pleasing to God and approved of by men.

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Well then, our aim 3 is what makes for peace and the upbuilding

of one another :

Do not overthrow the work of God for the sake of mere food. Anything indeed is clean :

Still, it is evil for a man by his eating to make another stumble. It is an excellent plan to abstain from flesh and wine or anything at which thy brother stumbles.

The faith thou hast, keep it to thyself before God.

Happy the man who condemns not himself in what he approves of: But he who feels any hesitation is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith

For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

15 1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, 2 instead of pleasing ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbour, to do 3 him good, to upbuild him. For Christ also did not please himself; nay, as it is written, The reproaches of those who denounced thee fell upon me. 4 For whatever things were written beforehand were written for our instruction, that through the patience and the comfort of the scriptures 5 we may possess hope. May the God of patience and comfort grant you 6 the same mind one toward another according to Christ Jesus, so that you may unite with one mouth in magnifying the God and Father of our 7 Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore receive one another, as Christ also 8 received us,1 so as to honour God. For Christ, I affirm, became a minister of the Circumcision that he might make good the promises given to 9 the fathers, and thus show the honesty of God; also that the Gentiles might magnify God for his mercy: even as it is written,

Therefore will I offer praise to thee among the Gentiles

And sing to thy name.

10 And again it is said,

Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.

11 And again,

Extol the Lord, all ye Gentiles,
And let all the people praise him.

12 And again Isaiah says,

There shall be the scion of Jesse,

And he who rises to rule over the Gentiles:
On him shall the Gentiles set their hope.

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, by the power of the holy Spirit!

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Personally I also am persuaded about you, my brothers, that you are yourselves full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to ad15 monish one another. Still, by way of refreshing your memory I write you with somewhat greater boldness owing to the grace granted me from 16 God, that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the sacred service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles may prove an 17 acceptable offering, consecrated by the holy Spirit. My exultation then 18 is in Christ Jesus, so far as God is concerned. For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has effected through me in furthering the 19 obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the holy Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and the surrounding country as far as to Illyricum I have fully preached the 20 gospel of Christ-making this my ambition, however, not to preach the gospel where Christ's name was known (that I might not build on 21 another man's foundation), but even as it is written,

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Those who had no news of him shall see :

And those who have not learned shall understand.

Therefore it is that I have been hindered (these many times) from 23 coming to you. And just now, as I have no longer any chance in these 24 regions, and as I have had for many years a longing to visit you whenever I go to Spain-for I hope to see you on my journey and to be sped by you 25 after being somewhat satisfied with your companionship-now, I say, I go 26 to Jerusalem on a ministry to the saints. For out of their own goodwill, Macedonia and Achaia have made a contribution for the poor among the 27 saints at Jerusalem. Certainly it is done from goodwill on their part, 1 Reading us.