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A Living Sacrifice

12 Therefore, I urge you,(A) brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,(B) holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform(C) to the pattern of this world,(D) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.(E) Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is(F)—his good, pleasing(G) and perfect will.

Humble Service in the Body of Christ

For by the grace given me(H) I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,(I) so in Christ we, though many, form one body,(J) and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts,(K) according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying,(L) then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith;(M) if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;(N) if it is to encourage, then give encouragement;(O) if it is giving, then give generously;(P) if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Love in Action

Love must be sincere.(Q) Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.(R) 10 Be devoted to one another in love.(S) Honor one another above yourselves.(T) 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,(U) serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope,(V) patient in affliction,(W) faithful in prayer.(X) 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.(Y) Practice hospitality.(Z)

14 Bless those who persecute you;(AA) bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.(AB) 16 Live in harmony with one another.(AC) Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.(AD)

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil.(AE) Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.(AF) 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.(AG) 19 Do not take revenge,(AH) my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d](AI) says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e](AJ)

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 12:6 Or the
  2. Romans 12:8 Or to provide for others
  3. Romans 12:16 Or willing to do menial work
  4. Romans 12:19 Deut. 32:35
  5. Romans 12:20 Prov. 25:21,22

Living Sacrifices to God

12 I (A)beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies (B)a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your [b]reasonable service. And (C)do not be conformed to this world, but (D)be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may (E)prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Serve God with Spiritual Gifts

For I say, (F)through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, (G)not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt (H)to each one a measure of faith. For (I)as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so (J)we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is (K)given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us (L)prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; (M)he who teaches, in teaching; (N)he who exhorts, in exhortation; (O)he who gives, with liberality; (P)he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, (Q)with cheerfulness.

Behave Like a Christian

(R)Let love be without hypocrisy. (S)Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 (T)Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, (U)in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 (V)rejoicing in hope, (W)patient[c] in tribulation, (X)continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 (Y)distributing to the needs of the saints, (Z)given[d] to hospitality.

14 (AA)Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 (AB)Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 (AC)Be of the same mind toward one another. (AD)Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

17 (AE)Repay no one evil for evil. (AF)Have[e] regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, (AG)live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, (AH)do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, (AI)“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore

(AJ)“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but (AK)overcome evil with good.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 12:1 urge
  2. Romans 12:1 rational
  3. Romans 12:12 persevering
  4. Romans 12:13 Lit. pursuing
  5. Romans 12:17 Or Provide good

Life in God's Service

12 So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. (A)We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. (B)So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it according to the faith that we have; if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach; if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully.

Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. 10 Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. 11 Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. 12 Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. 13 Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.

14 (C)Ask God to bless those who persecute you—yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. 15 (D)Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. 16 (E)Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties.[a] Do not think of yourselves as wise.

17 If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. 18 Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. 19 (F)Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.” 20 (G)Instead, as the scripture says: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame.” 21 Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 12:16 accept humble duties; or make friends with humble people.

Christ Brings New Life

12 Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God. Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.

I realize God has treated me with undeserved grace, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you. (A) A body is made up of many parts, and each of them has its own use. That's how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.

(B) God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.

Rules for Christian Living

Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. 10 Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself. 11 Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. 12 Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. 13 Take care of God's needy people and welcome strangers into your home.

14 (C) Ask God to bless everyone who mistreats you. Ask him to bless them and not to curse them. 15 (D) When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad. 16 (E) Be friendly with everyone. Don't be proud and feel that you know more than others. Make friends with ordinary people.[a] 17 Don't mistreat someone who has mistreated you. But try to earn the respect of others, 18 and do your best to live at peace with everyone.

19 (F) Dear friends, don't try to get even. Let God take revenge. In the Scriptures the Lord says,

“I am the one to take revenge
    and pay them back.”

20 (G) The Scriptures also say,

“If your enemies are hungry,
    give them something to eat.
And if they are thirsty,
give them something
    to drink.
This will be the same
as piling burning coals
    on their heads.”

21 Don't let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.

Footnotes

  1. 12.16 Make friends with ordinary people: Or “Do ordinary jobs.”

12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.