Romans 15-16
English Standard Version
The Example of Christ
15 (A)We who are strong (B)have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 (C)Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For (D)Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, (E)“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For (F)whatever was written in former days was written for our (G)instruction, that through endurance and through (H)the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you (I)to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify (J)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 (K)became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order (L)to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order (M)that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
(N)“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”
10 And again it is said,
(O)“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
(P)“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him.”
12 And again Isaiah says,
(Q)(R)“The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
(S)in him will the Gentiles hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all (T)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 (U)I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,[a] that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with (V)all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, (W)because of the grace given me by God 16 to be (X)a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles (Y)in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that (Z)the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have (AA)reason to be proud of (AB)my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except (AC)what Christ has accomplished through me (AD)to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 (AE)by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that (AF)from Jerusalem and all the way around (AG)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, (AH)lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,
(AI)“Those who have never been told of him will see,
and those who have never heard will understand.”
Paul's Plan to Visit Rome
22 This is the reason why (AJ)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 (AK)since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go (AL)to Spain, and (AM)to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, (AN)I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For (AO)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 (AP)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,[b] I will leave (AQ)for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing[c] of Christ.
30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by (AR)the love of the Spirit, (AS)to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 (AT)that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that (AU)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 (AV)be refreshed in your company. 33 May (AW)the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Personal Greetings
16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant[d] of the church at (AX)Cenchreae, 2 that you (AY)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 (AZ)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 (BA)the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was (BB)the first convert[e] to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,[f] my kinsmen and my (BC)fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,[g] 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 (BD)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[h] who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 (BE)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 (BF)contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; (BG)avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but (BH)their own appetites,[i] and (BI)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For (BJ)your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you (BK)to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 (BL)The God of peace (BM)will soon crush Satan under your feet. (BN)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
21 (BO)Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22 I Tertius, (BP)who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 (BQ)Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.[j]
Doxology
25 (BR)Now to him who is able to strengthen you (BS)according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, (BT)according to the revelation of the mystery (BU)that was kept secret for (BV)long ages 26 but (BW)has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, (BX)to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to (BY)the only wise God (BZ)be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Footnotes
- Romans 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30
- Romans 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit
- Romans 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel
- Romans 16:1 Or deaconess
- Romans 16:5 Greek firstfruit
- Romans 16:7 Or Junias
- Romans 16:7 Or messengers
- Romans 16:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17
- Romans 16:18 Greek their own belly
- Romans 16:23 Some manuscripts insert verse 24: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen
2 Corinthians 1:1-2:4
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of Christ Jesus (B)by the will of God, and (C)Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is at Corinth, (D)with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God of All Comfort
3 (F)Blessed be the (G)God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and (H)God of all comfort, 4 (I)who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in (J)Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[a] 6 (K)If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you (L)share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[b] of (M)the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us (N)rely not on ourselves (O)but on God (P)who raises the dead. 10 (Q)He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. (R)On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 (S)You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf (T)for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
Paul's Change of Plans
12 For our boast is this, (U)the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity[c] and (V)godly sincerity, (W)not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— 14 just as you did (X)partially understand us—that (Y)on the day of our Lord Jesus (Z)you will boast of us as (AA)we will boast of you.
15 Because I was sure of this, (AB)I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have (AC)a second (AD)experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you (AE)on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans (AF)according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as (AG)God is faithful, (AH)our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For (AI)the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, (AJ)Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but (AK)in him it is always Yes. 20 For (AL)all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our (AM)Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and (AN)has anointed us, 22 and who has also (AO)put his seal on us and (AP)given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.[d]
23 But (AQ)I call God to witness against me—it was (AR)to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we (AS)lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm (AT)in your faith.
2 For I made up my mind (AU)not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For (AV)if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, (AW)for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For (AX)I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 1:5 Or For as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ
- 2 Corinthians 1:8 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 Some manuscripts holiness
- 2 Corinthians 1:22 Or down payment
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.