A Levite and His Concubine

19 In those days, ^(A)when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of ^(B)the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from ^(C)Bethlehem in Judah. ² And his concubine was unfaithful to^[a] him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. ⁴ And his father-in-law, the girl's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. ⁵ And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, ^(D)“Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” ⁶ So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl's father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and ^(E)let your heart be merry.” ⁷ And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. ⁸ And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl's father said, ^(F)“Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. ⁹ And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”

¹⁰ But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite ^(G)Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” ¹² And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to ^(H)Gibeah.” ¹³ And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at ^(I)Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, ¹⁵ and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, ^(J)for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from ^(K)the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. ^(L)The men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷ And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?” ¹⁸ And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going ^(M)to the house of the Lord,^{[b] (N)}but no one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹ We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. ^(O)There is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ And the old man said, ^(P)“Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. ^(Q)Only, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹ So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. ^(R)And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Gibeah's Crime

²² As they were ^(S)making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, ^(T)surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” ²³ And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, ^(U)do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, ^(V)do not do this vile thing. ^24 (W)Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. ^(X)Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man ^(Y)do not do this outrageous thing.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. ²⁶ And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light.

²⁷ And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” ^(Z)But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. ²⁹ And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he ^(AA)divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ^30 (AB)And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; ^(AC)consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

Submission to the Authorities

13 Let every person ^(A)be subject to the governing authorities. For ^(B)there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you ^(C)will receive his approval, ⁴ for ^(D)he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, ^(E)an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also ^(F)for the sake of conscience. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ^7 (G)Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

^8 (H)Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for ^(I)the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, ^(J)“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ^(K)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore ^(L)love is the fulfilling of the law.

¹¹ Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you ^(M)to wake from sleep. ^(N)For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ^12 (O)The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us ^(P)cast off ^(Q)the works of darkness and ^(R)put on the armor of light. ^13 (S)Let us walk properly as in the daytime, ^(T)not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, ^(U)not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ But ^(V)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, ^(W)to gratify its desires.

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14 As for ^(X)the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ^2 (Y)One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and ^(Z)let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ^4 (AA)Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master^[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

^5 (AB)One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. ^(AC)Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since ^(AD)he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For ^(AE)none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, ^(AF)whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. ⁹ For to this end Christ ^(AG)died and lived again, that he might be Lord both ^(AH)of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For ^(AI)we will all stand before ^(AJ)the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

¹² So then ^(AL)each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

^13 (AM)Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide ^(AN)never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus ^(AO)that nothing is unclean in itself, ^(AP)but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, ^(AQ)you are no longer walking in love. ^(AR)By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ^16 (AS)So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ^17 (AT)For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but ^(AU)of righteousness and ^(AV)peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Whoever thus serves Christ is ^(AW)acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹ So then let us ^(AX)pursue what makes for peace and for ^(AY)mutual upbuilding.

^20 (AZ)Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. ^(BA)Everything is indeed clean, but ^(BB)it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. ^21 (BC)It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.^{[c] 22} The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. ^(BD)Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.^[d]

The Example of Christ

15 ^(BE)We who are strong ^(BF)have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ^2 (BG)Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³ For ^(BH)Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ^(BI)“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” ⁴ For ^(BJ)whatever was written in former days was written for our ^(BK)instruction, that through endurance and through ^(BL)the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you ^(BM)to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶ that together you may with one voice glorify ^(BN)the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

⁸ For I tell you that Christ ^(BO)became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order ^(BP)to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹ and in order ^(BQ)that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

¹⁰ And again it says,

¹¹ And again,

¹² And again Isaiah says,

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all ^(BX)joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

^14 (BY)I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,^[e] that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with ^(BZ)all knowledge and able to instruct one another. ¹⁵ But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, ^(CA)because of the grace given me by God ¹⁶ to be ^(CB)a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles ^(CC)in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that ^(CD)the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ In Christ Jesus, then, I have ^(CE)reason to be proud of ^(CF)my work for God. ¹⁸ For I will not venture to speak of anything except ^(CG)what Christ has accomplished through me ^(CH)to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, ^19 (CI)by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that ^(CJ)from Jerusalem and all the way around ^(CK)to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; ²⁰ and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, ^(CL)lest I build on someone else's foundation, ²¹ but as it is written,

Paul's Plan to Visit Rome

²² This is the reason why ^(CN)I have so often been hindered from coming to you. ²³ But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and ^(CO)since I have longed for many years to come to you, ²⁴ I hope to see you in passing as I go ^(CP)to Spain, and ^(CQ)to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. ²⁵ At present, however, ^(CR)I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. ²⁶ For ^(CS)Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. ²⁷ For they were pleased to do it, and indeed ^(CT)they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. ²⁸ When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,^[f] I will leave ^(CU)for Spain by way of you. ²⁹ I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing^[g] of Christ.

³⁰ I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by ^(CV)the love of the Spirit, ^(CW)to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, ^31 (CX)that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that ^(CY)my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, ³² so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and ^(CZ)be refreshed in your company. ³³ May ^(DA)the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant^[h] of the church at ^(DB)Cenchreae, ² that you ^(DC)may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

³ Greet ^(DD)Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. ⁵ Greet also ^(DE)the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was ^(DF)the first convert^[i] to Christ in Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia,^[j] my kinsmen and my ^(DG)fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,^[k] and they were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those ^(DH)who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers^[l] who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. ^16 (DI)Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Final Instructions and Greetings

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles ^(DJ)contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; ^(DK)avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ^(DL)their own appetites,^[m] and ^(DM)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹ For ^(DN)your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you ^(DO)to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ^20 (DP)The God of peace ^(DQ)will soon crush Satan under your feet. ^(DR)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

^21 (DS)Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

²² I Tertius, ^(DT)who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

^23 (DU)Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.^[n]

Doxology

^25 (DV)Now to him who is able to strengthen you ^(DW)according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ^(DX)according to the revelation of the mystery ^(DY)that was kept secret for ^(DZ)long ages ²⁶ but ^(EA)has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, ^(EB)to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷ to ^(EC)the only wise God ^(ED)be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.