| Chapter 15 |
1 | Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. |
2 | Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, unto edifying. |
3 | For Christ also pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon me. |
4 | For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope. |
5 | Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus: |
6 | that with one accord ye may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
7 | Wherefore receive ye one another, even as Christ also received you, to the glory of God. |
8 | For I say that Christ hath been made a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises [given] unto the fathers, |
9 | and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, Therefore will I give praise unto thee among the Gentiles, And sing unto thy name. |
10 | And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. |
11 | And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; And let all the peoples praise him. |
12 | And again, Isaiah saith, There shall be the root of Jesse, And he that ariseth to rule over the Gentiles; On him shall the Gentiles hope. |
13 | Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit. |
14 | And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. |
15 | But I write the more boldly unto you in some measure, as putting you again in remembrance, because of the grace that was given me of God, |
16 | that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. |
17 | I have therefore my glorifying in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God. |
18 | For I will not dare to speak of any things save those which Christ wrought through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, |
19 | in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and round about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ; |
20 | yea, making it my aim so to preach the gospel, not where Christ was [already] named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation; |
21 | but, as it is written, They shall see, to whom no tidings of him came, And they who have not heard shall understand. |
22 | Wherefore also I was hindered these many times from coming to you: |
23 | but now, having no more any place in these regions, and having these many years a longing to come unto you, |
24 | whensoever I go unto Spain (for I hope to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first in some measure I shall have been satisfied with your company)-- |
25 | but now, I [say], I go unto Jerusalem, ministering unto the saints. |
26 | For it hath been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints that are at Jerusalem. |
27 | Yea, it hath been their good pleasure; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it [to them] also to minister unto them in carnal things. |
28 | When therefore I have accomplished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on by you unto Spain. |
29 | And I know that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of Christ. |
30 | Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; |
31 | that I may be delivered from them that are disobedient in Judaea, and [that] my ministration which [I have] for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints; |
32 | that I may come unto you in joy through the will of God, and together with you find rest. |
33 | Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. |