The Eastern Tribes' Altar of Witness

¹⁰ And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. ¹¹ And the people of Israel ^(A)heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” ¹² And when the people of Israel heard of it, ^(B)the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.

¹³ Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, ^(C)Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, ¹⁴ and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, ^(D)every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. ¹⁵ And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, ¹⁶ “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day ^(E)in rebellion against the Lord? ¹⁷ Have we not had enough of ^(F)the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, ¹⁸ that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if ^(G)you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow ^(H)he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. ¹⁹ But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land ^(I)where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. ^(J)Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. ^20 (K)Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and ^(L)wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’”

²¹ Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, ²² “The Mighty One, ^(M)God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! ^(N)He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today ²³ for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself ^(O)take vengeance. ²⁴ No, but we did it from fear that ^(P)in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵ For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord. ²⁶ Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, ²⁷ but to be ^(Q)a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we ^(R)do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’ ²⁸ And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be ^(S)a witness between us and you.”’ ²⁹ Far be it from us that we should ^(T)rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord ^(U)by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When ^(V)Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, ^(W)it was good in their eyes. ³¹ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that ^(X)the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

³² Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad ^(Y)in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³ And the report ^(Z)was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel ^(AA)blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. ³⁴ The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, ^(AB)“it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

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.