Romans 15-16

Romans 15

¹Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

²Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up.

³For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

⁴For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

⁵Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,

⁶that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.

⁸Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,

⁹and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name.”

¹⁰Again he says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

¹¹Again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise him.”

¹²Again, Isaiah says, “There will be the root of Jesse, he who arises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope.”

¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others.

¹⁵But I write the more boldly to you in part as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God,

¹⁶that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God.

¹⁸For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,

¹⁹in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ;

²⁰yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation.

²¹But, as it is written, “They will see, to whom no news of him came. They who haven’t heard will understand.”

²²Therefore also I was hindered these many times from coming to you,

²³but now, no longer having any place in these regions, and having these many years a longing to come to you,

²⁴whenever I travel to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.

²⁵But now, I say, I am going to Jerusalem, serving the saints.

²⁶For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem.

²⁷Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in material things.

²⁸When therefore I have accomplished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on by way of you to Spain.

²⁹I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Christ.

³⁰Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

³¹that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

³²that I may come to you in joy through the will of God, and together with you, find rest.

³³Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Romans 16

¹I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the assembly that is at Cenchreae,

²that you receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may need from you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self.

³Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

⁴who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles.

⁵Greet the assembly that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ.

⁶Greet Mary, who labored much for us.

⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and my fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, who were also in Christ before me.

⁸Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord.

⁹Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.

¹⁰Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.

¹¹Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet them of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

¹²Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved, who labored much in the Lord.

¹³Greet Rufus, the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

¹⁴Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.

¹⁵Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

¹⁶Greet one another with a holy kiss. The assemblies of Christ greet you.

¹⁷Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them.

¹⁸For those who are such don’t serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the innocent.

¹⁹For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil.

²⁰And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

²¹Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives.

²²I, Tertius, who write the letter, greet you in the Lord.

²³Gaius, my host and host of the whole assembly, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, as does Quartus, the brother.

²⁴The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen.