Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

²which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

³concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

⁴who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

⁵through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles in behalf of His name,

⁶among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

⁷to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world.

⁹For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,

¹⁰always in my prayers requesting if perhaps now, at last by the will of God, I will succeed in coming to you.

¹¹For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;

¹²that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

¹³I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also just as among the rest of the Gentiles.

¹⁴I am under obligation both to Greeks and to the uncultured, both to the wise and to the foolish.

¹⁵So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS one will live by faith.”

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

¹⁹because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

²¹For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

²³and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures.

²⁴Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

²⁵For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature,

²⁷and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper,

²⁹people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

³¹without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful;

³²and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

¹Therefore you have no excuse, you foolish person, everyone of you who passes judgment; for in that matter in which you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

²And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

³But do you suppose this, you foolish person who passes judgment on those who practice such things, and yet does them as well, that you will escape the judgment of God?

⁴Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

⁵But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

⁶who WILL REPAY EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:

⁷to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life;

⁸but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation.

⁹There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of mankind who does evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek,

¹⁰but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

¹¹For there is no partiality with God.

¹²For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;

¹³for it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law who will be justified.

¹⁴For when Gentiles who do not have the Law instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having the Law, are a law to themselves,

¹⁵in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,

¹⁶on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.

¹⁷But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the Law and boast in God,

¹⁸and know His will and distinguish the things that matter, being instructed from the Law,

¹⁹and are confident that you yourself are a guide to people who are blind, a light to those in darkness,

²⁰a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, possessing in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth—

²¹you, therefore, who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one is not to steal, do you steal?

²²You who say that one is not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you rob temples?

²³You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?

²⁴For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.

²⁵For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a violator of the Law, your circumcision has turned into uncircumcision.

²⁶So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will his uncircumcision not be regarded as circumcision?

²⁷And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a violator of the Law?

²⁸For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

²⁹But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from people, but from God.

¹Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

²Great in every respect. First, that they were entrusted with the actual words of God.

³What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

⁴Far from it! Rather, God must prove to be true, though every person be found a liar, as it is written: “SO THAT YOU ARE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking from a human viewpoint.)

⁶Far from it! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

⁷But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

⁸And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? Their condemnation is deserved.

⁹What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

¹⁰as it is written: “THERE IS NO RIGHTEOUS PERSON, NOT EVEN ONE;

¹¹THERE IS NO ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NO ONE WHO SEEKS OUT GOD;

¹²THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME CORRUPT; THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

¹³“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE VENOM OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

¹⁴“THEIR MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;

¹⁵“THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,

¹⁶DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,

¹⁷AND THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THE WAY OF PEACE.”

¹⁸“THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

²⁰because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

²¹But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

²²but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction,

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,

²⁵whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished;

²⁶for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

²⁸For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

³⁰since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

³¹Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?

²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God.

³For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

⁴Now to the one who works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due.

⁵But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

⁶just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷“BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.

⁸BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”

⁹Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

¹⁰How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;

¹¹and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,

¹²and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

¹³For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.

¹⁴For if those who are of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified;

¹⁵for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.

¹⁶For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

¹⁷(as it is written: “I HAVE MADE YOU A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that do not exist.

¹⁸In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.”

¹⁹Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;

²⁰yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,

²¹and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

²²Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

²³Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,

²⁴but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

²⁵He who was delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was raised because of our justification.

¹Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

²through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.

³And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

⁴and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;

⁵and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

⁶For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

⁷For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die.

⁸But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

¹¹And not only this, but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

¹²Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned—

¹³for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not counted against anyone when there is no law.

¹⁴Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation committed by Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

¹⁵But the gracious gift is not like the offense. For if by the offense of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.

¹⁶The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one offense, resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many offenses, resulting in justification.

¹⁷For if by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸So then, as through one offense the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one act of righteousness the result was justification of life to all mankind.

¹⁹For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

²⁰The Law came in so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

²¹so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

²Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

³Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

⁴Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.

⁵For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

⁶knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

⁷for the one who has died is freed from sin.

⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

⁹knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.

¹⁰For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

¹¹So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹²Therefore sin is not to reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

¹³and do not go on presenting the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your body’s parts as instruments of righteousness for God.

¹⁴For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under the Law but under grace.

¹⁵What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? Far from it!

¹⁶Do you not know that the one to whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of that same one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

¹⁷But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were entrusted,

¹⁸and after being freed from sin, you became slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your body’s parts as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relation to righteousness.

²¹Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

²²But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?

²For the married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.

³So then, if while her husband is alive she gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she gives herself to another man.

⁴Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in regard to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

⁵For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law, were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death.

⁶But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

⁷What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”

⁸But sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

⁹I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died;

¹⁰and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

¹¹for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me.

¹²So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

¹⁴For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin.

¹⁵For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate.

¹⁶However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good.

¹⁷But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

¹⁸For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

¹⁹For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

²⁰But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

²¹I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

²²For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person,

²³but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts.

²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

¹Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.

²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

³For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

⁴so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

⁶For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

⁷because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,

⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

¹⁰If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

¹¹But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

¹²So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—

¹³for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God.

¹⁵For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

¹⁶The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

¹⁷and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

¹⁹For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.

²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

²³And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body.

²⁴For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?

²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

²⁶Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

²⁷and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

²⁹For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters;

³⁰and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

³²He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

³³Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;

³⁴who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

³⁶Just as it is written: “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE REGARDED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

³⁷But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,

²that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

³For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen according to the flesh,

⁴who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and daughters, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the temple service, and the promises;

⁵whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

⁶But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;

⁷nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE NAMED.”

⁸That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

⁹For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH WILL HAVE A SON.”

¹⁰And not only that, but there was also Rebekah, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;

¹¹for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,

¹²it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”

¹³Just as it is written: “JACOB I HAVE LOVED, BUT ESAU I HAVE HATED.”

¹⁴What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? Far from it!

¹⁵For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL SHOW COMPASSION TO WHOMEVER I SHOW COMPASSION.”

¹⁶So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.

¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY REASON I RAISED YOU UP, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE EARTH.”

¹⁸So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”

²⁰On the contrary, who are you, you foolish person, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?

²¹Or does the potter not have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one object for honorable use, and another for common use?

²²What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction?

²³And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,

²⁴namely us, whom He also called, not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles,

²⁵as He also says in Hosea: “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’ ”

²⁶“AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

²⁷Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL MAY BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, ONLY the remnant will be saved;

²⁸FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.”

²⁹And just as Isaiah foretold: “IF THE LORD OF ARMIES HAD NOT LEFT US DESCENDANTS, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE GOMORRAH.”

³⁰What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but the righteousness that is by faith;

³¹however, Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.

³²Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though they could by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

³³just as it is written: “BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”

¹Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

²For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

³For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

⁴For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

⁵For Moses writes of the righteousness that is based on the Law, that the person who performs them will live by them.

⁶But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL GO UP INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down),

⁷or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

⁸But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

⁹that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

¹⁰for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

¹¹For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”

¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;

¹³for “EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

¹⁴How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?

¹⁵But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

¹⁶However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?”

¹⁷So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

¹⁸But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? On the contrary: “THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.”

¹⁹But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS WITH those who are not a nation, WITH A FOOLISH NATION I WILL ANGER YOU.”

²⁰And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I REVEALED MYSELF TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.”

²¹But as for Israel, He says, “I HAVE SPREAD OUT MY HANDS ALL DAY LONG TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.”

¹I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Far from it! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

²God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

³“Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.”

⁴But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.”

⁵In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.

⁶But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, since otherwise grace is no longer grace.

⁷What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;

⁸just as it is written: “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.”

⁹And David says, “MAY THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.

¹⁰MAY THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS CONTINUALLY.”

¹¹I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? Far from it! But by their wrongdoing salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.

¹²Now if their wrongdoing proves to be riches for the world, and their failure, riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!

¹³But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Therefore insofar as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry

¹⁴if somehow I may move my own people to jealousy and save some of them.

¹⁵For if their rejection proves to be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

¹⁶If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are as well.

¹⁷But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,

¹⁸do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.

¹⁹You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”

²⁰Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;

²¹for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.

²²See then the kindness and severity of God: to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; for otherwise you too will be cut off.

²³And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again.

²⁴For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;

²⁶and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written: “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”

²⁷“THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”

²⁸In relation to the gospel they are enemies on your account, but in relation to God’s choice they are beloved on account of the fathers;

²⁹for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

³⁰For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,

³¹so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.

³²For God has shut up all in disobedience, so that He may show mercy to all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

³⁴For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?

³⁵Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM, THAT IT WOULD BE PAID BACK TO HIM?

³⁶For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

¹Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

³For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

⁴For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function,

⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.

⁶However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith;

⁷if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching;

⁸or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor,

¹¹not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

¹²rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

¹³contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

¹⁷Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people.

¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.

¹⁹Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

²⁰“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

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

¹Every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

²Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

³For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;

⁴for it is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a servant of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

⁵Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.

⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

⁷Pay to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; respect to whom respect; honor to whom honor.

⁸Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.

⁹For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.

¹¹Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed.

¹²The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let’s rid ourselves of the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

¹³Let’s behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in strife and jealousy.

¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.