Romans 15

1 We, the strong, ought to take on our own shoulders the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not merely to please ourselves.

We then who are strong ought to hear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

2 Let each of us please our neighbor for our neighbor’s good, to help in the building up of their character.

Let each one of us please his neighbor, to promote what is good, for edification.

3 Even the Christ did not please himself! On the contrary, as scripture says of him – ‘The reproaches of those who were reproaching you fell upon me.’

For Christ did not seek his own pleasure, but, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me.”

4 Whatever was written in the scriptures in days gone by was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance, and through the encouragement drawn from the scriptures, we might hold fast to our hope.

For whatever things were written aforetime, were written for our instruction; that we through the patience and the consolation of the Scriptures might have hope.

5 And may God, the giver of this patience and this encouragement, grant you to be united in sympathy in Christ,

And may the God of patience and consolation grant that ye may be of the same mind one with another, according to Christ Jesus;

6 so that with one heart and one voice you may praise the God and Father of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

that with one accord ye may with one mouth glorify God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Therefore always receive one another as friends, just as the Christ himself received us, to the glory of God.

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ received you to the glory of God.

8 For I tell you that Christ, in vindication of God’s truthfulness, has become a minister of the covenant of circumcision, so that he may fulfill the promises made to our ancestors,

For I say that Christ became a minister to the circumcised for the sake of God's truth, in order to make sure the promises given to the fathers;

9 and that the Gentiles also may praise God for his mercy. As scripture says – ‘Therefore will I make acknowledgment to you among the Gentiles and sing in honor of your name.’

and that the gentiles glorified God for his mercy, as it is written, “For this cause I will give praise to thee among the gentiles, and sing to thy name.”

10 And again it says – ‘Rejoice, you Gentiles, with God’s people.’

And again he saith: “Rejoice, ye gentiles, with his people.”

11 And yet again – ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all Peoples sing his praises.’

And again: “Praise the Lord, all ye gentiles, and let every people praise him.”

12 Again, Isaiah says – ‘There will be a Scion of the house of Jesse, One who is to arise to rule the Gentiles; on him will the Gentiles rest their hopes.’

And again Isaiah saith: “There shall be the shoot from Jesse, and he that riseth up to rule the gentiles; in him shall the gentiles hope.”

13 May God, who inspires our hope, grant you perfect happiness and peace in your faith, until you are filled with this hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

14 I am persuaded, my friends – yes, I Paul, with regard to you – that you are yourselves full of kindness, furnished with all Christian learning, and well able to give advice to one another.

But I myself am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye are even of yourselves full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

15 But in parts of this letter I have expressed myself somewhat boldly – by way of refreshing your memories –

But I have written to you, brethren, in a manner somewhat bold on some subjects, as putting you in mind, on account of the grace given me by God

16 because of the charge with which God has entrusted me, that I should be an assistant of Christ Jesus to go to the Gentiles – that I should act as a priest of God’s good news, so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be an acceptable sacrifice, consecrated by the Holy Spirit.

that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles, performing the office of a priest in respect to the gospel of God, that the oblation of the gentiles may be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17 It is, then, through my union with Christ Jesus that I have a proud confidence in my work for God.

I have then ground for glorying in Christ Jesus in regard to the things pertaining m God.

18 For I will not dare to speak of anything but what Christ has done through me to win the obedience of the Gentiles –

For I will not be bold to say anything hut of what Christ hath actually wrought by me to bring the gentiles to obedience by word and deed,

19 by my words and actions, through the power displayed in signs and marvels, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. And so, starting from Jerusalem and going as far as Illyria, I have told in full the good news of the Christ;

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and in the country around even to Illyricum, I have fully made known the gospel of Christ;

20 yet always with the ambition to tell the good news where Christ’s name had not previously been heard, so as to avoid building on another’s foundations.

but always earnestly desirous to preach it in this manner, —not where Christ had been named, that I might not build on another's foundation,

21 But as scripture says – ‘They to whom he had never been proclaimed will see; and they who have never heard will understand!’

but, as it is written: “They, to whom no tidings concerning him came, shall see; and they that have not heard shall understand.”

22 That is why I have so often been prevented from coming to you.

For which cause also, for the most part, I have been hindered from coming to you.

23 But now there are no further openings for me in these parts, and I have for several years been longing to come to you whenever I may be going to Spain.

But now having no more opportunity in these regions, and having had for many years a great desire to come to you,

24 For my hope is to visit you on my journey, and then to be sent on my way by you, after I have first partly satisfied myself by seeing something of you.

when I go to Spain, I will come to you; for I hope to see you on my way, and to be helped forward thither by you, after I have in some degree satisfied myself with your company.

25 Just now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem, to take help to Christ’s people there.

But now I am going to Jerusalem on a service of relief to the saints.

26 For Macedonia and Greece have been glad to make a collection for the poor among Christ’s people at Jerusalem.

For Macedonia and Achaia have thought it good to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

27 Yes, they were glad to do so; and indeed it is a duty which they owe to them. For the Gentile converts who have shared their spiritual blessings are in duty bound to minister to them in the things of this world.

They have thought it good, and they owed it to them. For if the gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they ought in return to minister to them in temporal things.

28 When I have settled this matter, and have secured for the poor at Jerusalem the enjoyment of these benefits, I will go, by way of you, to Spain.

When therefore I have completed this business, and secured to them this fruit, I shall set out to pass through you to Spain.

29 And I know that, when I come to you, it will be with a full measure of blessing from Christ.

And I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

30 I beg you, then, friends, by Jesus Christ, our Lord, and by the love inspired by the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf.

But I beseech you, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love produced by the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in prayers to God for me;

31 Pray that I may be rescued from those in Judea who reject the faith, and that the help which I am taking to Jerusalem may prove acceptable to Christ’s people;

that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judaea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints;

32 so that, God willing, I may be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and enjoy some rest among you.

so that, through the will of God, I may come to you in joy, and may with you be refreshed.

33 May God, the giver of peace, be with you all. Amen.

And may the God of peace be with you all. Amen.