Chapter 15
Patience and Self-Denial. 1 We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves;(A) 2 let each of us please our neighbor for the good, for building up.(B) 3 For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written,(C) “The insults of those who insult you fall upon me.” 4 For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.(D) 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus,(E) 6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Fidelity and Mercy. 7 Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.(F) 8 For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs,(G) 9 but so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:
“Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles
and sing praises to your name.”(H)
10 And again it says:(I)
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again:
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him.”(J)
12 And again Isaiah says:
“The root of Jesse shall come,
raised up to rule the Gentiles;
in him shall the Gentiles hope.”(K)
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the holy Spirit.(L)
VII. Conclusion
Apostle to the Gentiles. 14 I myself am convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another. 15 But I have written to you rather boldly in some respects to remind you, because of the grace given me by God(M) 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in performing the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the holy Spirit.(N) 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast in what pertains to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to lead the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,(O) 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit [of God], so that from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum I have finished preaching the gospel of Christ. 20 Thus I aspire to proclaim the gospel not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on another’s foundation,(P) 21 but as it is written:(Q)
“Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.”
Paul’s Plans; Need for Prayers. 22 That is why I have so often been prevented from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any opportunity in these regions and since I have desired to come to you for many years,(R) 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be sent on my way there by you, after I have enjoyed being with you for a time.(S) 25 Now, however, I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the holy ones.(T) 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have decided to make some contribution for the poor among the holy ones in Jerusalem;(U) 27 they decided to do it, and in fact they are indebted to them, for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to serve them in material blessings.(V) 28 So when I have completed this and safely handed over this contribution to them, I shall set out by way of you to Spain; 29 and I know that in coming to you I shall come in the fullness of Christ’s blessing.
30 I urge you, [brothers,] by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in the struggle by your prayers to God on my behalf,(W) 31 that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judea, and that my ministry for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the holy ones, 32 so that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and be refreshed together with you. 33 The God of peace be with all of you. Amen.(X)
Footnotes
- 15:3
- 15:5
- 15:7–13
- 15:10
- 15:14–33
- 15:14
- 15:19
- 15:20
- 15:21
- 15:25–27
- 15:26
Cross references
- 15:1 : 14:1–2.
- 15:2 : 14:1, 19; 1 Cor 9:19; 10:24, 33.
- 15:3 : Ps 69:10.
- 15:4 : 4:23–24; 1 Mc 12:9; 1 Cor 10:11; 2 Tm 3:16.
- 15:5 : 12:16; Phil 2:2; 4:2.
- 15:7 : 14:1.
- 15:8 : Mt 15:24 / Mi 7:20; Acts 3:25.
- 15:9 : 11:30 / 2 Sm 22:50; Ps 18:50.
- 15:10 : Dt 32:43.
- 15:11 : Ps 117:1.
- 15:12 : Is 11:10; Rev 5:5; 22:16.
- 15:13 : 5:1–2.
- 15:15 : 1:5; 12:3.
- 15:16 : 11:13; Phil 2:17.
- 15:18 : Acts 15:12; 2 Cor 12:12.
- 15:20 : 2 Cor 10:13–18.
- 15:21 : Is 52:15.
- 15:23 : 1:10–13; Acts 19:21–22.
- 15:24 : 1 Cor 16:6.
- 15:25 : Acts 19:21; 20:22.
- 15:26 : 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8:1–4; 9:2, 12.
- 15:27 : 9:4 / 1 Cor 9:11.
- 15:30 : 2 Cor 1:11; Phil 1:27; Col 4:3; 2 Thes 3:1.
- 15:33 : 16:20; 2 Cor 13:11; Phil 4:9; 1 Thes 5:23; 2 Thes 3:16; Hb 13:20.
