Romans 15
Complete Jewish Bible
15 So we who are strong have a duty to bear the weaknesses of those who are not strong, rather than please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor and act for his good, thus building him up. 3 For even the Messiah did not please himself; rather, as the Tanakh says, ‘The insults of those insulting you fell on me.’[a] 4 For everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that with the encouragement of the Tanakh we might patiently hold on to our hope. 5 And may God, the source of encouragement and patience, give you the same attitude among yourselves as the Messiah Yeshua had, 6 so that with one accord and with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
7 So welcome each other, just as the Messiah has welcomed you into God’s glory. 8 For I say that the Messiah became a servant of the Jewish people in order to show God’s truthfulness by making good his promises to the Patriarchs, 9 and in order to show his mercy by causing the Gentiles to glorify God — as it is written in the Tanakh,
“Because of this I will acknowledge you among the Gentiles
and sing praise to your name.”[b]
10 And again it says,
“Gentiles, rejoice with his people.”[c]
11 And again,
“Praise Adonai, all Gentiles!
Let all peoples praise him!”[d]
12 And again, Yesha‘yahu says,
“The root of Yishai will come,
he who arises to rule Gentiles;
Gentiles will put their hope in him.”[e]
13 May God, the source of hope, fill you completely with joy and shalom as you continue trusting, so that by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh you may overflow with hope.
14 Now I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and well able to counsel each other. 15 But on some points I have written you quite boldly by way of reminding you about them, because of the grace God has given me 16 to be a servant of the Messiah Yeshua for the Gentiles, with the priestly duty of presenting the Good News of God, so that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, made holy by the Ruach HaKodesh.
17 In union with the Messiah Yeshua, then, I have reason to be proud of my service to God; 18 for I will not dare speak of anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by my words and deeds, 19 through the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Yerushalayim all the way to Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah. 20 I have always made it my ambition to proclaim the Good News where the Messiah was not yet known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation, 21 but rather, as the Tanakh puts it,
“Those who have not been told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”[f]
22 This is also why I have so often been prevented from visiting you. 23 But now, since there is no longer a place in these regions that needs me, and since I have wanted for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you as I pass through on my way to Spain, and to have you help me travel there after I have enjoyed your company awhile.
25 But now I am going to Yerushalayim with aid for God’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia thought it would be good to make some contribution to the poor among God’s people in Yerushalayim. 27 They were pleased to do it, but the fact is that they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared with the Jews in spiritual matters, then the Gentiles clearly have a duty to help the Jews in material matters. 28 So when I have finished this task and made certain that they have received this fruit, I will leave for Spain and visit you on my way there; 29 and I know that when I come to you, it will be with the full measure of the Messiah’s blessings. 30 And now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God on my behalf 31 that I will be rescued from the unbelievers in Y’hudah, and that my service for Yerushalayim will be acceptable to God’s people there. 32 Then, if it is God’s will, I will come to you with joy and have a time of rest among you. 33 Now may the God of shalom be with you all. Amen.
Footnotes
- Romans 15:3 Psalm 69:10(9)
- Romans 15:9 2 Samuel 22:50, Psalm 18:50(49)
- Romans 15:10 Deuteronomy 32:43
- Romans 15:11 Psalm 117:1
- Romans 15:12 Isaiah 11:10
- Romans 15:21 Isaiah 52:15
Romans 15
The Message
15 1-2 Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
3-6 That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
7-13 So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! Jesus, staying true to God’s purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them. As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance:
Then I’ll join outsiders in a hymn-sing;
I’ll sing to your name!
And this one:
Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together!
And again:
People of all nations, celebrate God!
All colors and races, give hearty praise!
And Isaiah’s word:
There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse,
breaking through the earth and growing tree tall,
Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
* * *
14-16 Personally, I’ve been completely satisfied with who you are and what you are doing. You seem to me to be well-motivated and well-instructed, quite capable of guiding and advising one another. So, my dear friends, don’t take my rather bold and blunt language as criticism. It’s not criticism. I’m simply underlining how very much I need your help in carrying out this highly focused assignment God gave me, this priestly and gospel work of serving the spiritual needs of the non-Jewish outsiders so they can be presented as an acceptable offering to God, made whole and holy by God’s Holy Spirit.
17-21 Looking back over what has been accomplished and what I have observed, I must say I am most pleased—in the context of Jesus, I’d even say proud, but only in that context. I have no interest in giving you a chatty account of my adventures, only the wondrously powerful and transformingly present words and deeds of Christ in me that triggered a believing response among the outsiders. In such ways I have trailblazed a preaching of the Message of Jesus all the way from Jerusalem far into northwestern Greece. This has all been pioneer work, bringing the Message only into those places where Jesus was not yet known and worshiped. My text has been,
Those who were never told of him—
they’ll see him!
Those who’ve never heard of him—
they’ll get the message!
* * *
22-24 And that’s why it has taken me so long to finally get around to coming to you. But now that there is no more pioneering work to be done in these parts, and since I have looked forward to seeing you for many years, I’m planning my visit. I’m headed for Spain, and expect to stop off on the way to enjoy a good visit with you, and eventually have you send me off with God’s blessing.
25-29 First, though, I’m going to Jerusalem to deliver a relief offering to the followers of Jesus there. The Greeks—all the way from the Macedonians in the north to the Achaians in the south—decided they wanted to take up a collection for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. They were happy to do this, but it was also their duty. Seeing that they got in on all the spiritual gifts that flowed out of the Jerusalem community so generously, it is only right that they do what they can to relieve their poverty. As soon as I have done this—personally handed over this “fruit basket”—I’m off to Spain, with a stopover with you in Rome. My hope is that my visit with you is going to be one of Christ’s more extravagant blessings.
30-33 I have one request, dear friends: Pray for me. Pray strenuously with and for me—to God the Father, through the power of our Master Jesus, through the love of the Spirit—that I will be delivered from the lions’ den of unbelievers in Judea. Pray also that my relief offering to the Jerusalem believers will be accepted in the spirit in which it is given. Then, God willing, I’ll be on my way to you with a light and eager heart, looking forward to being refreshed by your company. God’s peace be with all of you. Oh, yes!
* * *
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson