Romans

Paul's Letter to Rome

Overall structure

A.	Greetings		1.1-7
B.	Intro (travel) - mutual encouragement (strengthen)		1.8-15
C.	Thesis: the righteous shall live by faith		1:16-17
	1	The state of truth: unrighteousness - third person	1:18-32
	2.1	Judgment - second person - all are in the trap (6-16)	2:1-16
	2.2	There is no escape for a subgroup - no partiality with God	2:17-29
D.	Argument (55 questions - 27 summarized)		3-11
	1	Faith establishes the law		3-4
		Advantage of Israel; example of Abraham (weak and strong - prelude)
	2	Theological consequences for us		5
		First person plural; unity in Adam and Christ
	3	The law is good		6-8
		Sin and grace; law and grace; law and sin; Spirit and flesh; creation and hope
	4	God is righteous		9-11
		Israel's gifts, God's prerogative, mercy, remnant, the olive tree metaphor
E.	Consequences		12-15:13
	1	One body, love, dues, commandments of love, brief reminder of the light (13:11-14)		12-13:14
	2	Judgment, the weak and the strong		14
F.	Plans (travel) - mutuality and strengthening, spiritual gifts recapped		15:14-32
G.	Farewells		16

The argument is based on a series of 55 questions of which some are major, some sub-questions, and some rhetorical. Three sets of questions are answered with the phrase: by no means (in this translation). There are 10 of these in all in groups of 3 + 4 + 3. I think this is a clue to the mind of the writer. There are also 11 'what then' phrases - six of these + another inviting participation by the listeners ('shall we say') and 4 'I ask' phrases at the end, showing a rhetorical framework in which the writer assumes his hearers have followed his argument.

Consequences (as in all epistles) are the consequences of the thesis of the gospel for behaviour, in this case with particular emphasis on Jew-Gentile relations in Rome. I suspect the consequences follow from the argument. There are themes - e.g. Judgment of each other that are evident in both.

Another obvious pattern is the move section by section among personal pronouns - I have highlighted these as I find them - they are striking sections and must be deliberate.

The phrase 'do you not know' occurring 5 times, seems to justify those (e.g. Stowers) that would have Paul in dialogue with a pretend interlocutor. But he uses this favorite expression also in 1 Corinthians when answering their letter, so he can use it without an imaginary interlocutor. Also, if there is such an interlocutor, it is not the same 'one' for all instances of 'do you not know' in this letter.

After staring at the text for many weeks - hard of hearing - I ask: what is the cantus firmus? There appear to be several, appearing in the framing portions of the letter, and implied throughout: mutual encouragement, avoiding judgment, welcoming one another, finding unity and respecting differences. See also Summary of the Argument.

The hyperlinks in the text are references or allusions to TNK. Hover over them to see the verse(s) - actually pressing will trigger a search. There appear to be some sections of the argument that are almost 'the accepted confessions' of the congregations. This has the implication that Paul would not (as Nanos contends) be addressing his letter to non-believing Jews. I have marked these blocks with a background colour. Not Paul's words.

I am running out of graphics to show certain features - even single words like all or forms of the Greek which demand the translation with. All for the universality of the gift - to Jew and Gentile alike; with for participation in Christ (so also the phrase 'in Christ' or 'in the Spirit'). These speak to an intimation of fullness of knowledge which fits my later thought on future present as the tense of promise.

Text

1 [A. Invocation]

1: Paul, a servant (doulos=slave) of Jesus Christ,
    called to be an apostle,
    set apart for the gospel of God
        2: which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
                                            [Per Esler, this is a unique modification of gospel in Paul]
        3: concerning his Son,
            who was descended from David according to the flesh
            4: and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead,
             Jesus Christ our Lord,
5: through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith [this phrase repeats in 16:26 acting as a closing of the circle but it is an inexact repeat and 16:26 is absent from some manuscripts - Barth considers 16:25 ff as not Pauline (though he is happy to cite it in his argument) - Barrett demurs.] for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6: including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;
7: To all God's beloved [gray indicates an encompassing unity reflecting Paul's striving for this as the major theme of the letter within the context of a fracturing Judaism] in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[B. Introduction - first person singular] 8: First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9: For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, 10: asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11: For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 12: that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

13: I want you to know, brethren, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14: I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish: 15: so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

[C. Thesis]16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is
    the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
    17: For in it
    the righteousness of God is revealed (apocalyptein) through faith for faith;
    as it is written,
        "One who through faith is righteous shall live."

[Indentation and colouring of logical words are meant to draw attention to the structure of the argument - very complex in my opinion and not at all obvious on the page. Imagine hearing a 'performance' orally.

C.1 Thesis expanded - the trap]

18: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. [The truth in unrighteousness. Third person plural]

19: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because
God has shown (phaneroun) it to them.
    20: Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity,
        has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.
So they are without excuse;
    21: for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him,
        but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.
        22: Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
        23: and exchanged the glory of the immortal God
        for images resembling mortal humans and birds and animals and reptiles. 24: Therefore
God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,
        to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
        25: because they exchanged the truth about God
        for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,
            who is blessed for ever! Amen. 26: For this reason
God gave them up to dishonorable passions.
    Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural,
    27: and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women
        and were consumed with passion for one another,
        men committing shameless acts with men
        and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
        28: And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,
God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct.
    29: They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice.
        Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity,
        they are gossips, 30: slanderers, haters of God,
            insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil,
            disobedient to parents, 31: foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
        32: Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die,
            they not only do them but approve those who practice them.

2 [C.2 Thesis expansion continued - the trap closes. Second person.]

[The section on judgment finds an echo in chapter 14 - the thesis statement above is completed in 3:27 - but first Paul begins with the sorry state of the world with respect to righteousness for both Gentile and Jew. Judgment - law - grace - faith are tightly woven in his thinking.]

[C.2.1 Addressing all - I see no justification (in agreement with Fitzmeyer) for seeing this as addressing only Gentiles as Esler and others suggest. Note how Dunn (Theology) identifies repentance in 2:4 as a unique usage within Paul's letters of this common term in Gospels and Acts. Repentance as command is directed at the religious. They knew something explicitly and have forgotten it so must turn to it again. It is not directed to the gentile, to whom many metaphors are directed for their crucial transition to faith.]
1: Therefore
you [singular] have no excuse, O human, whoever you are, when you judge another;
    for in passing judgment upon another you condemn yourself,
    because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2:
We know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things. 3:
    Do you suppose, O human, that when you judge those who do such things
        and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4:
    Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience?
    Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
    5: But by your hard and impenitent heart
    you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

6: For he will render to every one according to each one's works: 7:
        to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality,
            he will give eternal life; (zwen aiwnion) 8:
                but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness,
                    there will be wrath and fury. 9:
                    There will be tribulation and distress
                for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10:
            but glory and honor and peace
        for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.
11: For God shows no partiality.
    12: 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.
13: For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

14: When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires,
    they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15:
    They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts,
    while their conscience also bears witness
    and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them 16:
on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of humanity by Christ Jesus.

[C.2.2 Addressing the first people of God, or any religious subset]17: But if you call yourself a Jew
    and rely upon the law and boast of your relation to God
    18: and know his will and approve what is excellent,
        because you are instructed in the law,
    19: and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind,
        a light to those who are in darkness,
        20: a corrector of the foolish,
        a teacher of children,
        having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth --
    21: you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself?
    While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
    22: You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?
    You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
    23: You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
    24: For, as it is written,
        "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
    25: Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law;
    but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
    26:So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law,
        will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
    27: Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law
        will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
28: For he is not a real Jew who is one
                        outwardly,
        nor is true circumcision something
                        external and physical. 29:
        One is a Jew who is one
                                inwardly,
        and real circumcision
                                is a matter of the heart,
                                spiritual and
                        not literal.
Such a one's praise is not from humans but from God.

rephrased: - eventually I hope to rephrase more - the literal and the parallel must be read together; the historical reality must not be ignored

25: Religion indeed is of value if you hear its precepts;
    but if you condemn others, your religion becomes arrogance.
    26:So, if a man who is not religious keeps the precepts of your tradition,
        will not his lack of religion be regarded as true religion?
    27: Then those who are physically outside but keep the precepts of the chosen
        will condemn you who have the policy and tradition but act as if you have power.
28: For he is not a real person who deserves praise who is one
                        outwardly,
        nor is true religion something
                        external and physical. 29:
        A person who deserves praise is one
                                inwardly,
        and real religion
                                is a matter of the heart,
                                spiritual and
                        not literal.
Such a one's praise is not from humans but from God.

3 [D. Paul begins the argument exploring his own deepest questions, beginning with his own 'family', the people of God]

What does Paul assume as the ground for his questions? Much of his own background - Jew versus Gentile; an advantage yet no advantage to the Jew; a universal moral code though unwritten that has some measure against Torah; God as Judge... - but first God as mercy. Though he begins with wrath, he ends with mercy and he could not have begun with wrath if he were not going to end with mercy. The letter is after all - his Gospel - good, not bad news.

So the sequence of questions - or whatever we find is its shape, is first predicated on Gospel. How then do we perceive the good in this news? For Paul has a struggle with the good in Gospel and he seems to recognize the same struggle in both the people (laos) of God, Israel, and in all the nations.

Having stated the thesis - the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; and having implicated all in failure without yet saying so in so many words, he begins his torment with the question related to the covenant with Abraham - note how he returns to this in chapter 9 (though he never focuses for long on Jew only, always careful to call to the Gentile even from his own position of 'advantage' as a Jew).

Paul presents the case for the defense of God, the creator. This work explicating the sacrifice of the Son of God as human, justifies God and God's faithfulness to all. I will look at the series of questions to explore both their presuppositions and their linkages to each other.

1: [D.1.a]Then what advantage has the Jew? [1 - numbering the questions in the sequence] Or what is the value of circumcision?[1a]

These two questions are in parallel to each other. To be a Jew is to be circumcised. To be circumcised is to be a Jew. The rite is for men only, a symbolic death. The issue of advantage is a point of inner conflict for Paul - these questions are his inner struggle. Yes, he is an apostle, but even he does not realize the extent of his message - the questions are his self reaching for explanation. In holding to the unity he desires, he will extend unity to many more groups than he imagines.

2: Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews are entrusted with the oracles of God.

3: What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? [2]
4: By no means!

Let God be true though every human be false, as it is written, "That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and prevail when thou art judged."

5: But if our wickedness serves to show the justice of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us?[3] (I speak in a human way.)

There are many silly questions about God - and we might well doubt God, given the violence of the human condition. God's faithfulness is not compromised by doubt or violence.

6: By no means!

We may continue in sin if we must, but what is the sin we continue in? Is it our own need for confessional correctness? or for beauty of tradition? or for the moral life? All of these are 'of the flesh' (our fragile human condition) on their own. Only with the Spirit enlivening the flesh of the body is life possible. So Paul can put the question here - not for ridicule, but as part of his 'self-evident' reasoning about God through his knowledge of Christ Jesus in the Spirit. The issues that are self-evident, he dismisses with the 10 refrains (3 here, 4 in chapter 6-7, and 3 in chapters 9-10 - I think these groupings are significant of Paul's mind - a kind of 1-2-3 (subdivided) of his reasoning.)

For then how could God judge the world?[3a] 7: But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?[3b] 8: And why not do evil that good may come?[3c] -- as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

End of the first half of the advantage of the Jew - subject will be returned to along with the remnant theology in chapter 9.

9:[D.1.b] What then? Do we excel?[4 - a one word sentence but one of the major questions - related ultimately to the last questions on the justice of God towards Israel.]

Heavens, no! - the issue of all being under sin is not confession, tradition, or morals - none of these 'holy' laws. The issue of sin is inscrutable; it is only revealed by the presence of the Spirit enlivening the body - then one says - aha - depart from me Lord for I am a sinful person. And the Lord says - no way - you and I have work to do, a love to live, a good will to prove. Note the massive usage of the word sin in this section of the epistle (especially 5-8.10), 3 times more here than in all the rest of Paul's writing combined (Dunn, Theology of Paul the Apostle).

No, not at all; for I have already charged that all humans, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10: as it is written:

"None is righteous, no, not one;
11: no one understands, no one seeks for God.
12: All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong;
no one does good, not even one."
13: "Their throat is an open grave,
they use their tongues to deceive."
"The venom of asps is under their lips."
14: "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
15: "Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16: in their paths are ruin and misery,
17: and the way of peace they do not know."
18: "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

19: Now we know that whatever the law [including Psalms and Prophets] says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
    20: For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law,
    since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
        21: But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law,
            although the law and the prophets bear witness to it,
            22: the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
    For there is no distinction;
    23: since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
        24: they are justified by his grace as a gift,
        through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
            25: whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
    This was to show God's righteousness,
    because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins;
    26: it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous
    and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.

27:Then what becomes of our claim to honour?[5] It is excluded.
    On what principle?[6] On the principle of works?[6a] No, but on the principle of faith.
    28: For we hold that a human is justified by faith apart from works of law.
29: Or is God the God of Jews only?[7] Is he not the God of Gentiles also?[7a]
Yes, of Gentiles also,
30: If indeed, God;
    who will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith, is one
    he will also justify the uncircumcised through that same faith.

31: Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?[8] By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

4 [D.1.c Paul tests his thesis against the example of Abraham]

Paul 'proves' faith and establishes confession, tradition, and morality - but not as if we knew in advance what God means by these things. You have no need that a man should teach you; the anointing teaches you everything. In 3:30 above and 4:1 below, see Hays 2005.

1: What then shall we say? Have we found Abraham our forefather according to the flesh?[9] 2: For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3: For what does the scripture say?[9a]
    "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
            [4-12: reckon (Dunn)] 4: Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as due.
            5: And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly,
                that one's faith is reckoned as righteousness.

6: So also David pronounces a blessing upon the one to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: 7: "Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8: blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin."

In the next 5 chapters, Paul feels on more solid ground since he can 'explain' the thesis of faith by a number of metaphors from the tradition of Israel. But also he must defend the holiness of the law - of confession, tradition, and morals.

            9: Is this blessing pronounced only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised?[10]
            We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. 10:
            How then was it reckoned to him?[10a]
            Was it before or after he had been circumcised?[10b]
            It was not after, but before he was circumcised.

11: He received circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.
The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them,
12: and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

        13: [13-21: believe (Dunn)] The promise to Abraham and his descendants,
            that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law
    [=Torah, =circumcision, =Jew - notice how Paul seems to have used these almost in parallel to this point]
            but through the righteousness of faith.

14: If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
    15: For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
16: That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants
    -- not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham,
    for he is the father of us all, 17: as it is written,
        "I have made you the father of many nations" --
    in the presence of the God in whom he believed,
        who gives life (zwopoiountos) to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
    18: In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told,
        "So shall your descendants be."
    19: He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body,
        which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old,
        or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
    20: No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God,
    but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
    21: fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

22: That is why his faith was "reckoned to him as righteousness."

23: [First person plural] But the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, 24: but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25: who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

5 [D.2 Paul is satisfied with his test and now explores the theological consequences in a series of contrasted pairs]

1: Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2: Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4: and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5: and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. 6: While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7: Why, one will hardly die for a righteous person -- though perhaps for a good person one will dare even to die.
    8: But God shows his love for us in that
        while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
    9: Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood,
        much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
    10: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
        much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
    11: Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
        through whom we have now received our reconciliation.

12: Therefore as sin came into the world through one human and death through sin, and so death spread to all humans because all humans sinned -- 13: sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14: Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
    15: But the free gift is not like the trespass.
        For if many died through one human's trespass,
        much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one human Jesus Christ abounded for many.
    16: And the free gift is not like the effect of that one human's sin.
        For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation,
        but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
    17: If, because of one human's trespass, death reigned through that one human,
        much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one human Jesus Christ.
    18: Then as one human's trespass led to condemnation for all humanity,
        so one human's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all humanity.
    19: For as by one human's disobedience many were made sinners,
        so by one human's obedience many will be made righteous.
    20: Law came in, to increase the trespass;
        but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
    21: so that, as sin reigned in death,
        grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

6 [D.3 what about the law - is sin OK and the law not?]

1: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?[11] 2: By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?[11a note the first person plural as related to the third person singular, then the switch to second person plural]

3: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?[11b]
    4: We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death,
        so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
            we too might walk in newness of life.
    5: For if we have been united with him in a death like his,
            we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
    6: We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed,
            and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7: For the one who has died is freed from sin.
[verse 7 is ambiguous with respect to the pronoun - it could be 'him' or 'us' in him individually and together]
    8: But if we have died with Christ,
            we believe that we shall also live with him.
            9: For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again;
                death no longer has dominion over him.
            10: The death he died he died to sin, once for all,
                but the life he lives he lives to God.
            11: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin [all you's are plural]
                and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.
13: Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness,
        but yield yourselves to God as if alive from the dead,
        and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
14: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

15: What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?[12] By no means! 16: Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?[12a]

7: But thanks be to God, that you who were once
    slaves of sin
have become obedient from the heart to the standard [pattern] of teaching to which you were committed,
18: and, having been set free from sin, have become
    slaves of righteousness.
19: I am speaking in human terms , because of your natural limitations (sarx - flesh).
For just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity,
    so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification.
20: When you were
    slaves of sin,
you were free in regard to righteousness.
21: But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed?[12b]
The end of those things is death.
22: But now that you have been set free from sin and have become
    slaves of God,
the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.
23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

7.1: Do you not know, brethren -- for I am speaking to those who know the law --
that the law is binding on a person only during a person's life?[13]
    2: Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives;
    but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband.
    3: Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she becomes husband to another while her husband is alive.
    But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4: Likewise, my brethren, you [plural] have died to the law through the body of Christ,
so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead
in order that we may bear fruit for God.

5: While we were in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.	6: But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the newness of the Spirit.
[First comment: 7:7-25]	[Second comment: 8:1-17]

7: What then shall we say? That the law is sin?[14] By no means! [First person singular - I think inviting individual identification with the text for all those in Adam to Moses including Paul himself.]
Yet, if it had not been for the law,
I should not have known sin.
I should not have known what it is to covet
if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."
8: But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness.
Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9: I was once alive apart from the law,
but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died;
10: the very commandment which promised life proved to be death to me.
11: For sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me.
12: So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.

13: Did that which is good, then, bring death to me?[15] By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
    14: We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.
        15: I do not understand my own actions.
            For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
                16: Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.
                    17: So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
    18: For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh.
        I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.
            19: For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
                20: Now if I do what I do not want,
                    it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
    21: So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
        22: For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, 23:
            but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and
                making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.
                    24: Wretched human that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?[15a]

[Doxology]25: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

[Flesh and Spirit - apart from the flesh of Jesus (chapter 1) and Abraham (chapter 4), Paul introduced flesh in 6:19 and 7:18; it can be read as simply 'the human condition', natural limitations as RSV has, or self-preservation. But explanation is insufficient, for the true knowledge of sin comes from the gift of the Spirit - even as much as it comes from the presence of the Law. This catch-22 is clear in John's gospel (chapter 16) and is a definite part of Paul's character as well that he encapsulates in the word flesh. The prior uses of sarx show us that Paul has no quarrel with the physical flesh itself. The word is in used in a different sense here - but it is not unconnected, in that God gives life to this mortal body by the Spirit.]

So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

8 [Consequences of his confidence in Jesus Christ and his faithfulness]

1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.
3: For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, he condemned sin in the flesh,	4: in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5: For those according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,	but those according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6: To set the mind on the flesh is death,	but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
7: For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; 8: and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.	9: But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10: But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin,	your spirits are alive because of righteousness.11: If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you.
12: So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -- 13: for if you live according to the flesh you will die,	but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
[Children = sons - should one avoid the gender distinction?]	14: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,	but you have received the spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16: it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17: and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

[Creation and hope]

18: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
19: For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God;
    20: for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will
        but by the will of him who subjected it in hope;
    21: because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay
        and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.
    22: We know that the whole creation
        has been groaning in travail together until now;
23: and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
        groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
    24: For in this hope we were saved.
        Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
    25: But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26: Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness;
    for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
        but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.
    27: And he who searches the hearts of all knows what is the mind of the Spirit,
        because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

28: We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him,
who are called according to his purpose.
29: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
    in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
    30: And those whom he predestined he also called;
        and those whom he called he also justified;
        and those whom he justified he also glorified.

31: What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us?[16]
32: He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?[16a]
33: Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?[16b]
        It is God who justifies; 34: who is to condemn?[16c]
        Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead,
            who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us?[16d]
35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?[16e]
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?[16f]
36: As it is written,
    "For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

37: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38: For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39: nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

9 [D.4 Having come this far, Paul must account for the difficulty of the obedience of faith - he returns to the question of his own people. The white on purple type face is used to note Paul's personal sections.]

1: I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2: that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3: For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. 4: They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5: to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen.

6: But it is not as though the word of God had failed.
    For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
    7: and not all are children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but
        "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named."
    8: This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God,
        but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants.
9: For this is what the promise said,
    "About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son."
10: And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11: though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call, 12: she was told, "The elder will serve the younger." 13: As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

[Now Paul returns to the troubling question of God's loyalty to the covenant of Torah]

14: What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part?[17] By no means!

15: For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
16: So it depends not upon human will or exertion, but upon God's mercy. 17: For the scripture says to Pharaoh,
"I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."
18: So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills.

19: You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault?[18] For who can resist his will?[18a]"
20: But who are you, a human, to answer back to God?[18b]
    Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me thus?[18c]"
21: Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use?[18d]
22: What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction, 23: in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, 24: even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?[18e] 25: As indeed he says in Hose'a,
    "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'my beloved.'"
    26: "And in the very place where it was said to them,
    'You are not my people,' they will be called 'children of the living God.'"
27: And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
    "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
    only a remnant of them will be saved;
    28: for the Lord will execute his sentence upon the earth with rigor and dispatch."
29: And as Isaiah predicted,
    "If the Lord of hosts had not left us children, we would have fared like Sodom and been made like Gomorrah."

30: What shall we say, then?
    That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith;
    31: but that Israel who pursued the righteousness which is based on law did not succeed in fulfilling that law.
32: Why?[19]
    Because they did not pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works.
    They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33: as it is written,
        "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble,
        a rock that will make them fall;
        and anyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."
10.1: Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2: I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened.
    3: For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God,
    and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
[This is the same argument as chapters 1&2 - failure to see God's righteousness]
        4: For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.

5: Moses writes that the one who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it.
6: But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart,
    "Who will ascend into heaven?" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7: or
    "Who will descend into the abyss?" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8: But what does it say?[20]
    The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach);
        9: because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord
            and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
            10: For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
        and one confesses with the lips and so is saved.
11: The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame."

12: For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him.

13: For, "every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved."
    14: But how are people to call upon him in whom they have not believed?
    [21] And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?
    [21a] And how are they to hear without a preacher?
    [21b] 15: And how can people preach unless they are sent?
    [21c] As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!"
    16: But they have not all obeyed the gospel; for Isaiah says,
    "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?"
17: So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
18: But I ask, have they not heard?[22] Indeed they have; for
    "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."
19: Again I ask, did Israel not understand?[23]
    First Moses says,
        "I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry."
    20: Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
        "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me."
    21: But of Israel he says,
        "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."

11 [D.9 Q 24-27 The completely explored thesis]

1: I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means![24]

I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2: God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Eli'jah, how he pleads with God against Israel?[24a]
    3: "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thy altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life (psyche)."
4: But what is God's reply to him?
    "I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Ba'al."
5: So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6: But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7: What then?[25] Israel failed to obtain what it sought.
The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,
8: as it is written,
    "God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, down to this very day."
9: And David says,
    "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution for them;
    10: let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs for ever."

11: So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall?[26] By no means!

But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12: Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! 13: Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14: in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.

15: For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?[27]

[Finally he has to be satisfied with hope - the same hope that he invites the Gentiles into as promised in the ancient Scriptures. We must then determine if this hope is 'religious', 'political', convenient, a means to power, or a means of vulnerability and self-giving -].
    16: If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump;
        and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
    17: But if some of the branches were broken off, and you,
        a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree,
    18: do not boast over the branches. If you do boast,
        remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.
    19: You will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
    20: That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief,
        but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.
    21: For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

22: Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. 23: And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24: For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

25: Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, 26: and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,
"The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";
27: "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

28: As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
29: For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
30: Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
31: so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy.
32: For God has consigned all humans to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.

[Doxology] 33: O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34: "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"
35: "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"
36: For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.

12 [E.1 The practical consequences of the thesis - as in all the epistles, the advice for living which follows from the gospel]

1: I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2: Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3: For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned you.

4: For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, 5: so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6: Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us:
    if prophecy, according to the proportion to the faith; 7:
    if service, in the serving;
    or the teaching, in the teaching; 8:
    or the one exhorting, in the exhortation;
    the sharing, in simplicity;
    the leadership, in diligence;
    the showing of mercy, in cheerfulness.

9: Love is without pretence (agape anupokritos) [ Listen to the sound of the Greek; Note the string of participles as above- like an outline of things he had said before (to the Corinthians).]
    hating evil
        holding fast to good
    10: being devoted to one another with brotherly affection
        preferring one another in honor
    11: not lazy in zeal
        being on fire with the Spirit
        serving the Lord
    12: rejoicing in hope
        showing endurance in affliction
        persisting in prayer
    13: contributing to the needs of the saints
        practicing hospitality.
    14: Bless those who persecute you
        bless and do not curse.
    15: To rejoice with those who rejoice,
        To weep with those who weep.
    16: Minding the same thing toward one another
    not being haughty
        but associating with the lowly.
    Do not be wise in your own conceits.
    17: Not repaying evil for evil to anyone
        but taking thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
    18: If possible, so far as it depends upon you, seeking peace with all.
    19: not avenging yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath;
        for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
    20: But, "if your enemy is hungry, feed such a one;
        if your enemy is thirsty, give such a one drink;
        for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon such a head."
    21: Do not be overcome by evil,
        but overcome evil with good.

13 [E.2 Nanos considers this to be submission to synagogue authorities, not to the emperor - necessarily. Note the four types of authority (inconsistently translated in RSV) and the four types of payment in chiastic order. The unity of the assembly of Jews, proselytes, and gentiles in Christ is what is in Paul's mind.]

1: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.
    For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
    2: Therefore one who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed,
        and those who resist will incur judgment.
        3: For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
            Would you have no respect (phobos) of the one who is in authority?
            Then do what is good, and you will receive approval,
                4: for that one is God's minister for your good.
                But if you do wrong, be afraid, for that one does not bear the sword in vain;
                    the same is the minister of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.
                5: Therefore one must be subject,
                    not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
                6: For the same reason you also pay taxes,
                    for the authorities are servants of God, attending to this very thing.
                    7: Pay all of them their dues,
                taxes to whom taxes are due,
            revenue to whom revenue is due,
        respect to whom respect is due,
    honor to whom honor is due.

8: Owe no one anything, except to love one another;
    for one who loves one's neighbor has fulfilled the law.
        9: The commandments,
            "You shall not commit adultery,
            You shall not kill,
            You shall not steal,
            You shall not covet," and any other commandment,
        are summed up in this sentence,
            "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
    10: Love does no wrong to a neighbor;
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11: Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep.
    For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed;
    12: the night is far gone, the day is at hand.
    Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;
    13: let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day,
        not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.
14: But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

14 [E.3 Judgment again]

1: As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome such, but not for disputes over opinions.
    2: One believes that a person may eat anything, while the weak eats only vegetables.
        3: Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains,
        and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed each.
            4: Who are you to pass judgment on the servants of another?
                It is before their own master that each one stands or falls.
                And they will be upheld, for the Master is able to make each one stand.
    5: One person esteems one day as better than another, while another human esteems all days alike.
        Let each individual mind be fully convinced.
        6: One who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
        One also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since that one gives thanks to God;
        while one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
        7: None of us lives to self, and none of us dies to self.
        8: If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord;
        so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
        9: For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
            10: Why do you pass judgment on your brother?
            Or you, why do you despise your brother?
                For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;
                11: for it is written,
                    "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God."
                12: So each of us shall give account of himself to God.
        13: Then let us no more pass judgment on one another,
            but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
14: I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself;
        but it is unclean for any one who thinks it unclean.
        15: If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.
        Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.
            16: So do not let your good be spoken of as evil.
                17: For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit;
                18: he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by humanity.
                19: Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
        20: Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God.
        Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what someone eats;
        21: it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother stumble.
            22: The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God;
                happy is the one who has no reason to judge self for what one approves.
23: But the one who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because one does not act from faith;
    for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

1: We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves;
    2: let each of us please our neighbor for their good, to edify them.
    3: For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written,
        "The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me."
        4: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction,
        that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.
5: May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to have the same mind towards one another,
    in accord with Christ Jesus,
6: that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7: Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

8: For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9: and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
    "Therefore I will praise thee among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name";
    10: and again it is said, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people";
    11: and again, "Praise the Lord, all Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him";
    12: and further Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse shall come,
        he who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles hope."
13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

[F. Travel plans again]

14: I myself am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15: But on some points
    I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder,
because of the grace given me by God 16:
    to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God,
    so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17: In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18: For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19: by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ, 20: thus making it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another person's foundation, 21: but as it is written, "They shall see who have never been told of him, and they shall understand who have never heard of him."

22: This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23: But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24: I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be sped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little. 25: At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints. 26: For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem; 27: they were pleased to do it, and indeed they are in debt to them, for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28: When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered to them what has been raised, I shall go on by way of you to Spain; 29: and I know that when I come to you I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of Christ.

30: I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31: that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32: so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33: The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

16 [G. Personal greetings Joanna instead of Junia - certainly NOT Junias (male) is from a suggestion by Bauckham.]

1: I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cen'chre-ae, 2: that you may receive her in the Lord as befits the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well.
3: Greet Prisca and Aq'uila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4: who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I but also all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks;
5: greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epae'netus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ.
6: Greet Mary, who has worked hard among you.
7: Greet Androni'cus and Joanna, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners; they are people of note among the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.
8: Greet Amplia'tus, my beloved in the Lord.
9: Greet Urba'nus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.
10: Greet Apel'les, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobu'lus.
11: Greet my kinsman Hero'dion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcis'sus.
12: Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphae'na and Trypho'sa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
13: Greet Rufus, eminent in the Lord, also his mother and mine.
14: Greet Asyn'critus, Phlegon, Hermes, Pat'robas, Hermas, and the brethren who are with them.
15: Greet Philol'ogus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olym'pas, and all the saints who are with them.
16: Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

17: [an aside] I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them. 18: For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. 19: For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I would have you wise as to what is good and guileless as to what is evil; 20: then the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21: Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you;
so do Lucius and Jason and Sosip'ater, my kinsmen.
22: I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23: Ga'ius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you.
Eras'tus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

25: Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages 26: but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith -- 27: to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.