Romans 15

New International Version

15 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak^(A) and not to please ourselves. ²Each of us should please our neighbors for their good,^(B) to build them up.^(C) ³For even Christ did not please himself^(D) but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”^[a]^(E) ⁴For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,^(F) so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind^(G) toward each other that Christ Jesus had, ⁶so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify^(H) the God and Father^(I) of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Accept one another,^(J) then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews^[b]^(K) on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises^(L) made to the patriarchs might be confirmed ⁹and, moreover, that the Gentiles^(M) might glorify God^(N) for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.”^[c]^(O)

¹⁰Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”^[d]^(P)

¹¹And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples extol him.”^[e]^(Q)

¹²And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse^(R) will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”^[f]^(S)

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace^(T) as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.^(U)

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

¹⁴I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness,^(V) filled with knowledge^(W) and competent to instruct one another. ¹⁵Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me^(X) ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.^(Y) He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God,^(Z) so that the Gentiles might become an offering^(AA) acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus^(AB) in my service to God.^(AC) ¹⁸I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles^(AD) to obey God^(AE) by what I have said and done— ¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders,^(AF) through the power of the Spirit of God.^(AG) So from Jerusalem^(AH) all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.^(AI) ²⁰It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel^(AJ) where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.^(AK) ²¹Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”^[g]^(AL)

²²This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.^(AM)

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

²³But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you,^(AN) ²⁴I plan to do so when I go to Spain.^(AO) I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist^(AP) me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. ²⁵Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem^(AQ) in the service^(AR) of the Lord’s people^(AS) there. ²⁶For Macedonia^(AT) and Achaia^(AU) were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem.^(AV) ²⁷They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.^(AW) ²⁸So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain^(AX) and visit you on the way. ²⁹I know that when I come to you,^(AY) I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit,^(AZ) to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.^(BA) ³¹Pray that I may be kept safe^(BB) from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution^(BC) I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people^(BD) there, ³²so that I may come to you^(BE) with joy, by God’s will,^(BF) and in your company be refreshed.^(BG) ³³The God of peace^(BH) be with you all. Amen.

Footnotes

Romans 15:3 Psalm 69:9
Romans 15:8 Greek circumcision
Romans 15:9 2 Samuel 22:50; Psalm 18:49
Romans 15:10 Deut. 32:43
Romans 15:11 Psalm 117:1
Romans 15:12 Isaiah 11:10 (see Septuagint)
Romans 15:21 Isaiah 52:15 (see Septuagint)

Jeremiah 15-17

New International Version

15 Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses^(A) and Samuel^(B) were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people.^(C) Send them away from my presence!^(D) Let them go! ²And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;^(E)
those for starvation, to starvation;^(F)
those for captivity, to captivity.’^(G)

³“I will send four kinds of destroyers^(H) against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword^(I) to kill and the dogs^(J) to drag away and the birds^(K) and the wild animals to devour and destroy.^(L) ⁴I will make them abhorrent^(M) to all the kingdoms of the earth^(N) because of what Manasseh^(O) son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

⁵“Who will have pity^(P) on you, Jerusalem?
    Who will mourn for you?
    Who will stop to ask how you are?
⁶You have rejected^(Q) me,” declares the Lord.
    “You keep on backsliding.
So I will reach out^(R) and destroy you;
    I am tired of holding back.^(S)
⁷I will winnow^(T) them with a winnowing fork
    at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement^(U) and destruction on my people,^(V)
    for they have not changed their ways.^(W)
⁸I will make their widows^(X) more numerous
    than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer^(Y)
    against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
    anguish and terror.^(Z)
⁹The mother of seven will grow faint^(AA)
    and breathe her last.^(AB)
Her sun will set while it is still day;
    she will be disgraced^(AC) and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword^(AD)
    before their enemies,”^(AE)
declares the Lord.

¹⁰Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,^(AF)
a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!^(AG)
I have neither lent^(AH) nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses^(AI) me.

¹¹The Lord said,

“Surely I will deliver you^(AJ) for a good purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead^(AK) with you
in times of disaster and times of distress.

¹²“Can a man break iron—
iron from the north^(AL)—or bronze?

¹³“Your wealth^(AM) and your treasures
    I will give as plunder,^(AN) without charge,^(AO)
because of all your sins
    throughout your country.^(AP)
¹⁴I will enslave you to your enemies
    in^[a] a land you do not know,^(AQ)
for my anger will kindle a fire^(AR)
    that will burn against you.”

¹⁵Lord, you understand;
    remember me and care for me.
    Avenge me on my persecutors.^(AS)
You are long-suffering^(AT)—do not take me away;
    think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.^(AU)
¹⁶When your words came, I ate^(AV) them;
    they were my joy and my heart’s delight,^(AW)
for I bear your name,^(AX)
    Lord God Almighty.
¹⁷I never sat^(AY) in the company of revelers,
    never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand^(AZ) was on me
    and you had filled me with indignation.
¹⁸Why is my pain unending
    and my wound grievous and incurable?^(BA)
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
    like a spring that fails.^(BB)

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“If you repent, I will restore you
    that you may serve^(BC) me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
    you will be my spokesman.^(BD)
Let this people turn to you,
    but you must not turn to them.
²⁰I will make you a wall^(BE) to this people,
    a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
    but will not overcome^(BF) you,
for I am with you
    to rescue and save you,”^(BG)
declares the Lord.
²¹“I will save^(BH) you from the hands of the wicked^(BI)
    and deliver^(BJ) you from the grasp of the cruel.”^(BK)

Day of Disaster

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ²“You must not marry^(BL) and have sons or daughters in this place.” ³For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:^(BM) ⁴“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried^(BN) but will be like dung lying on the ground.^(BO) They will perish by sword and famine,^(BP) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”^(BQ)

⁵For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity^(BR) from this people,” declares the Lord. ⁶“Both high and low will die in this land.^(BS) They will not be buried or mourned,^(BT) and no one will cut^(BU) themselves or shave^(BV) their head for the dead. ⁷No one will offer food^(BW) to comfort those who mourn^(BX) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console^(BY) them.

⁸“And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.^(BZ) ⁹For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds^(CA) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride^(CB) and bridegroom in this place.^(CC)

¹⁰“When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’^(CD) ¹¹then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped^(CE) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.^(CF) ¹²But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.^(CG) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts^(CH) instead of obeying me. ¹³So I will throw you out of this land^(CI) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,^(CJ) and there you will serve other gods^(CK) day and night, for I will show you no favor.’^(CL)

¹⁴“However, the days are coming,”^(CM) declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’^(CN) ¹⁵but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north^(CO) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’^(CP) For I will restore^(CQ) them to the land I gave their ancestors.^(CR)

¹⁶“But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.^(CS) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt^(CT) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.^(CU) ¹⁷My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden^(CV) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.^(CW) ¹⁸I will repay^(CX) them double^(CY) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land^(CZ) with the lifeless forms of their vile images^(DA) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.^(DB)”^(DC)

¹⁹Lord, my strength and my fortress,
    my refuge^(DD) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come^(DE)
    from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,^(DF)
    worthless idols^(DG) that did them no good.^(DH)
²⁰Do people make their own gods?
    Yes, but they are not gods!”^(DI)

²¹“Therefore I will teach them—
    this time I will teach them
    my power and might.
Then they will know
    that my name^(DJ) is the Lord.

17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,^(DK)
    inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts^(DL)
    and on the horns^(DM) of their altars.
²Even their children remember
    their altars and Asherah poles^[b]^(DN)
beside the spreading trees
    and on the high hills.^(DO)
³My mountain in the land
    and your^[c] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,^(DP)
    together with your high places,^(DQ)
    because of sin throughout your country.^(DR)
⁴Through your own fault you will lose
    the inheritance^(DS) I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies^(DT)
    in a land^(DU) you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
    and it will burn^(DV) forever.”

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^(DW)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.^(DX)
⁶That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places^(DY) of the desert,
    in a salt^(DZ) land where no one lives.

⁷“But blessed^(EA) is the one who trusts^(EB) in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.^(EC)
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought^(ED)
    and never fails to bear fruit.”^(EE)

⁹The heart^(EF) is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

¹⁰“I the Lord search the heart^(EG)
and examine the mind,^(EH)
to reward^(EI) each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”^(EJ)

¹¹Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.^(EK)

¹²A glorious throne,^(EL) exalted from the beginning,
    is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³Lord, you are the hope^(EM) of Israel;
    all who forsake^(EN) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust^(EO)
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water.^(EP)

¹⁴Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;^(EQ)
    save^(ER) me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.^(ES)
¹⁵They keep saying to me,
    “Where is the word of the Lord?
    Let it now be fulfilled!”^(ET)
¹⁶I have not run away from being your shepherd;
    you know I have not desired the day of despair.
    What passes my lips^(EU) is open before you.
¹⁷Do not be a terror^(EV) to me;
    you are my refuge^(EW) in the day of disaster.^(EX)
¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame,
    but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
    but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
    destroy them with double destruction.^(EY)

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

¹⁹This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,^[d] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.^(EZ) ²⁰Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem^(FA) who come through these gates.^(FB) ²¹This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath^(FC) day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. ²²Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.^(FD) ²³Yet they did not listen or pay attention;^(FE) they were stiff-necked^(FF) and would not listen or respond to discipline.^(FG) ²⁴But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy^(FH) by not doing any work on it, ²⁵then kings who sit on David’s throne^(FI) will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.^(FJ) ²⁶People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,^(FK) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. ²⁷But if you do not obey^(FL) me to keep the Sabbath^(FM) day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire^(FN) in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”^(FO)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 15:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac (see also 17:4); most Hebrew manuscripts I will cause your enemies to bring you / into
Jeremiah 17:2 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
Jeremiah 17:3 Or hills / ³and the mountains of the land. / Your
Jeremiah 17:19 Or Army