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¤1 °1 From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an apostle called and set apart for God’s Good News, °2 the very promises he foretold through his prophets in the sacred Scriptures, °3 regarding his Son, who was born in the flesh a descendant of David, °4 and has been recognized as the Son of God endowed with Power, upon rising from the dead through the Holy Spirit. Through him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, °5 and for the sake of his Name, we received grace and mission in all the nations, for them to accept the faith. °6 All of you, the elected of Christ, are part of them, you, the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy: °7 May God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace. § Paul longs to visit them°8 First of all, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is spoken of all over the world. °9 And God, whom I serve in spirit by announcing the Good News of his Son, is my witness that I remember you in my prayers at all times. °10 I pray constantly that, if it is his will, he make it possible for me to visit you. °11 I long to see you and share some spiritual blessings with you to strengthen you. °12 In that way, we will encourage each other by sharing our common faith. °13 You must know, brothers and sisters, that many times I have made plans to go to you, but till now I have been prevented. °14 I would like to harvest some fruits among you, as I have done among other nations. Whether Greeks or foreigners, cultured or ignorant, I feel under obligation to all. °15 Hence my eagerness to give the message also to you who are in Rome. °16 For I am not ashamed at all of this Good News; it is God’s power
saving those who believe, first the Jews, and then the Greeks. °17 This Good News shows us how God makes people upright
through faith for the life of faith, as the Scripture says:The upright one shall live by faith. § Humankind under God’s “wrath”°18 God is now ready to condemn the wickedness and any kind of injustice of those who have silenced the truth by their wicked ways. °19 For everything that could have been known about God was clear to them: God himself made it plain. °20 For, though we cannot see him, we can at least discover him through his works; for he created the world and through his works we understand him to be eternal and all-powerful, and to be God. So they have no excuse, °21 for they knew God and did not glorify him as was fitting, nor did they give thanks to him. On the contrary, they lost themselves in their reasoning and darkness filled their minds. °22 Believing themselves wise, they became foolish: °23 they exchanged the Glory of the immortal God for the likes of mortal human beings, birds, animals and reptiles. °24 Because of this God gave them up to their inner cravings; they did shameful things and dishonored their bodies. °25 They exchanged God’s truth for a lie; they honored and worshiped created things instead of the Creator, to whom be praise for ever, Amen! °26 Because of that, God gave them up to shameful passions: their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. °27 Similarly, the men, giving up natural sexual relations with women, were lustful of each other, they did, men with men, shameful things, bringing upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wickedness. °28 And since they did not think that God was worth knowing, he gave them up to their senseless minds so that they committed all kinds of obscenities. °29 And so they are full of injustice, perversity, greed, evil; they are full of jealousy, murder, strife, deceit, bad will and gossip. °30 They commit calumny, offend God, are haughty; they are proud, liars, clever in doing evil. They are rebellious towards their parents, °31 senseless, disloyal, cold-hearted and merciless. °32 They know of God’s judgment which declares worthy of death anyone living in this way; yet not only do they do all these things, they even applaud anyone who does the same. § The Jews also must fear judgment¤2 °1 Therefore, you have no excuse, whoever you are, if you are able to judge others. For in judging your neighbor, you condemn yourself, for you practice what you are judging. °2 We know that the condemnation of God will justly reach those who commit these things, °3 and do you think that by condemning others you will escape from the judgment of God, you who are doing the same? °4 This would be taking advantage of God and his infinite goodness, patience and understanding, and not to realize that his goodness is in order to lead you to conversion. °5 If your heart becomes hard and you refuse to change, then you are storing for yourself a great punishment on the day of judgment, when God will appear as just judge. °6 He will give each one his due, according to his actions. °7 He will give everlasting life to those who seek glory, honor and immortality and persevere in doing good. °8 But anger and vengeance will be the lot of those who do not serve truth but injustice. °9 There will be suffering and anguish for everyone committing evil, first the Jew, then the Greek. °10 But God will give glory, honor and peace to whoever does good, first the Jew then the Greek, °11 because one is not different from the other before God. § Everyone is judged by his conscience°12 Those who, without knowing the Law, committed sin, will perish without the Law, and whoever committed sin knowing the Law, will be judged by that Law. °13 What makes us righteous before God is not hearing the Law, but obeying it. °14 When the non-Jews, who do not have law, practice naturally what the Law commands, they are giving themselves a law, °15 showing that the commandments of the Law are engraved in their minds. Their conscience, speaking within them also shows it, when they condemn or approve their actions. °16 The same is to happen on the day when God, according to my gospel, will judge people’s secret actions in the person of Jesus Christ. °17 But suppose
you call yourself a Jew: you have the Law as foundation and feel proud of
your God. °18 You know the
will of God and the Law teaches you to distinguish what is better, °19 and so you believe you are the guide for the blind,
light in darkness, °20 teacher of those who do not
know, instructor of children, because you possess in the Law the formulation
of true knowledge. °21 Well, then, you who teach
others, why don’t you teach yourself? If you say that one must not steal, why
do you steal? °22 You say one must not commit
adultery, yet you commit it! You say you hate idols, but you steal in their
temples! °23 You feel
proud of the Law, yet you do not obey it, and you dishonor your God. °24 In fact, as the Scripture says,the other nations despise the name of God because of you. °25 Circumcision is of value to you if you obey the Law; but if you do not obey, it is as if you were not circumcised. °26 On the contrary, if those who are uncircumcised obey the commandments of the Law, do you not think that, in spite of being pagans, they make themselves like the circumcised? °27 The one who obeys the Law without being marked in his body with circumcision, will judge you who have been marked with circumcision and who have the Law which you do not obey. °28 For external things do not make a true Jew nor is real circumcision that which is marked on the body. °29 A Jew must be so interiorly; the heart’s circumcision belongs to spirit and not to a written law; he who lives in this way will be praised, not by people, but by God. § What advantage is it to be a Jew?¤3 °1 Then, what is the advantage of being a Jew? And what is the use of circumcision? °2 It is important from any point of view. In the first place, it was to the Jews that God entrusted his word. °3 Well now, if some of them were not faithful, will their unfaithfulness do away with the faithfulness of God? Of course not. °4 Rather, it will be proved that God is truthful,every human a liar,as the Scripture says: it will be proved that your words are true and you will be winner if they want to judge you. °5 If our wickedness shows God to be just, would it be right to say that God is unjust when he gets angry and punishes us? (Some people might speak like this.) °6 – Not at all because, otherwise, how could God judge the world? °7 – But if my lie makes the truth of God more evident, thus increasing his glory, is it correct to call me a sinner? °8 – Then, your only choice would be to sin, so that good may come of it. Some slanderers say that this is my teaching, but they will have to answer for those words. °9 Do we have,
then, any advantage? Not really. For we have just demonstrated that all, Jews
and non-Jews, are under the power of sin, °10 as
the Scripture says: Nobody is good, not even
one, °11no one understands, no one looks for God. °12All have gone astray and have become base. There is
no one doing what is good, not even one. °13Their throats are open tombs, their words deceit. °14Their lips hide poison of vipers, from their mouth
come bitter curses. °15They run to where they can shed blood, °16 leaving behind ruin and misery. °17 They do not know the way of peace. °18There is no fear of God before their eyes. °19 Now we know that whatever the Scripture says, it is said for the people of the Law, that is for the Jews. Let all be silent then and recognize that the whole world is guilty before God. °20 Still more:no mortal will be worthy before Godby performing the demands of the Law. What comes from the Law is the consciousness of sin. § Faith, the way to salvation°21 Yet, now we are told how God makes us just as he wants us to be without the Law. This was already foretold in the Law and the Prophets: °22 God makes us righteous by means of faith in Jesus Christ, and this is applied to all who believe, without distinction of persons. °23 Because all have sinned and all fall short of the Glory of God; °24 and all are graciously forgiven and made righteous through the redemption effected in Christ Jesus. °25 For God has given him to be the victim whose blood obtains us forgiveness through faith. So God shows us how he makes us righteous. Past sins are forgiven °26 which God overlooked till now. For now he wants to reveal his way of righteousness: how he is just and how he makes us righteous through faith in Jesus. °27 Then what becomes of our pride? It is excluded. How? Not through the Law and its observances, but through another law which is faith. °28 For we hold that people are in God’s grace by faith and not because of all the things ordered by the Law. °29 Otherwise, God would be the God of the Jews; but is he not God of pagan nations as well? °30 Of course he is, for there is only one God and he will save by faith the circumcised Jews as well as the uncircumcised nations. °31 Do we, then, deny the value of the Law because of what we say of faith? Of course not; rather we place the Law in its proper place. § Abraham, father of the just¤4 °1 Let us consider Abraham, our father in the flesh. What has he found? °2 If Abraham attained righteousness because of his deeds, he could be proud. But he cannot be this before God. °3 Because Scripture says:Abraham believed God who took it into account and held him to be a just man. °4 Now, when someone does a work, salary is not given as a favor, but as a debt that is paid. °5 Here, on the contrary, someone who has no deeds to show but believes in Him who makes sinners righteous before him: such faith istaken into accountand that person is held as righteous. °6 David congratulates in this way those who become righteous by the favor of God, and not by their actions: °7Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose offenses are forgotten; °8 blessed the one whose sin God does not take into account! °9 Is this blessing only for the circumcised or is it also for the uncircumcised? We have just said that, because of his faith, Abraham was made a just man, °10 but when did this happen? After Abraham was circumcised, or before? Not after, but before. °11 He received the rite of circumcision as a sign of the righteousness given him through faith when he was still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those uncircumcised who come to faith and are made just. °12 And he was to be the father of the Jews, provided that besides being circumcised, they also imitate the faith Abraham showed before being circumcised. °13 If God promised Abraham, or rather his descendant, that the world would belong to him, this was not because of his obeying the Law, but because he was just and a friend of God through faith. °14 If now the promise is kept for those who rely on the Law, then faith has no power and nothing is left of the promise. °15 For it is proper of the Law to bring punishment: law and condemnation go together. °16 For that reason, faith is the way and all is given by grace; and the promises of Abraham are fulfilled for all his descendants, not only for his children according to the Law, but also for all the others who have believed. Abraham is the father of all of us, °17 as it is written:I will make you father of many nations.He is our father in the eyes of Him who gives life to the dead, and calls the non-existent as if already existing, for this is the God in whom he believed. °18 Abraham believed and hoped against all expectation, thus becoming father of many nations, as he had been told:See how many will be your descendants.°19 He did not doubt although his body could no longer give life – he was about a hundred years old – and in spite of his wife Sarah being unable to have children. °20 He did not doubt nor did he distrust the promise of God, and by being strong in faith, he gave glory to God: °21 he was convinced that He who had given the promise had power to fulfill it. °22 This was taken into account for him to attain righteousness. °23This was taken into account:these words of Scripture are not only for him, °24 but for us, too, because we believe in Him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from among the dead, °25 he who was delivered for our sins and raised to life for us to receive true righteousness. § Now we are at peace with God¤5 °1 By faith we have received true righteousness, and we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. °2 Through him we obtain this favor in which we remain and we even boast to expect the Glory of God. °3 Not only that, we feel secure even in trials, knowing that trials produce patience, °4 from patience comes merit, merit is the source of hope, °5 and hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God. °6 Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us: when we were still sinners and unable to do anything. °7 Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die. °8 But see how God manifested his love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us °9 and we have become just through his blood. With much more reason now he will save us from any condemnation. °10 Once enemies, we have been reconciled with God through the death of his Son; with much more reason now we may be saved through his life. °11 Not only that; we feel secure in God because of Christ Jesus, our Lord, through whom we have been reconciled. § Adam and Jesus Christ°12 Now, sin entered the world through one man and through sin, death, and later on death spread to all humankind, because all sinned. °13 As long as there was no law, they could not speak of disobedience, but sin was already in the world. °14 This is why from Adam to Moses death reigned among them, although their sin was not disobedience as in Adam’s case – this was not the true Adam, but foretold the other who was to come. °15 Such has been the fall, but God’s gift goes far beyond. Multitudes die because of the fault of one man, but how much more does the grace of God spread when the gift he granted reaches the multitudes, from this unique man Jesus Christ. °16 The gift of God more than compensated for sin. The disobedience that brought condemnation was of one sinner, whereas the grace of God brings forgiveness to a world of sinners. °17 If death reigned through the disobedience of one and only one person, how much more will there be a reign of life for those who receive the grace and the gift of true righteousness through the one person, Jesus Christ. °18 Just as one transgression brought sentence of death to all, so, too, one rehabilitation brought pardon and life to all; °19 and as the disobedience of only one made many sinners, so the obedience of one person allowed a multitude to be made just and holy. °20 The Law itself, introduced later on, caused sin to increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, °21 and as sin caused death to reign, so grace will reign in its own time, and after making us just and friends of God, will bring us to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. § Through baptism we died with Christ¤6 °1 Then, what shall we say? Shall we keep on sinning so that grace may come more abundantly? °2 Can we live again in sin? Of course not: we are now dead regarding sin. °3 You know that in baptism which unites us to Christ we are all baptized and plunged into his death. °4 By this baptism in his death, we were buried with Christ and, as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Glory of the Father, so we begin walking in a new life. °5 It was an image of his death when we were grafted in him, and so we will also share in his resurrection. °6 We know that our old self was crucified with Christ, so as to destroy what of us was sin, so that we may no longer serve sin – °7 if we are dead, we are no longer in debt to sin. °8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. °9 We know that Christ, once risen from the dead, will not die again and death has no more dominion over him. °10 There has been death: a death to sin once for all; there is life: a life in God. °11 So you, too, must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. °12 Do not allow sin any control over your mortal being; do not submit yourselves to its evil inclinations, °13 and do not give your members over to sin, as instruments to do evil. On the contrary, offer yourselves as persons returned from death to life, and let the members of your body be as holy instruments at the service of God. °14 Sin will not lord it over you again, for you are not under the law, but under grace. °15 I ask again: are we to sin because we are not under the Law, but under grace? Certainly not. °16 If you have given yourselves up to someone as his slave, you are to obey the one who commands you, aren’t you? Now with sin you go to death, and by accepting faith you go the right way. °17 Let us give thanks to God for, after having sin as your master, you have been given to another, that is, to the doctrine of faith, to which you listen willingly. °18 And being free from sin, you began to serve true righteousness – °19 you see that I speak in a very human way, taking into account that you are not fully mature. There was a time when you let your members be slaves of impurity and disorder, walking in the way of sin; convert them now into servants of righteousness, to the point of becoming holy. °20 When you were slaves of sin, you did not feel under obligation to righteousness, °21 but what were the fruits of those actions of which you are now ashamed? Such things bring death. °22 Now, however, you have been freed from sin and serve God. You are bearing fruit and growing in holiness, and the result will be life everlasting. °23 So on one side is Sin: its reward, death; on the other side is God: he gives us, by grace, life everlasting in Christ Jesus, our Lord. § The Christian is not bound by the Jewish religion¤7 °1 You, my friends, understand law. The law has power only while a person is alive. °2 The married woman, for example, is bound by law to her husband while he is alive; but if he dies, she is free from her obligations as a wife. °3 If she gives herself to another while her husband is alive, she will be an adulteress; but once the husband dies, she is free and if she gives herself to another man, she is not an adulteress. °4 It was the same with you, brothers and sisters: you have died to the Law with the person of Christ, and you belong to another, who has risen from among the dead, so that we may produce fruit for God. °5 When we lived as humans used to do, the Law stirred up the desires for all that is sin, and they worked in our bodies with fruits of death. °6 But we have died to what was holding us; we are freed from the Law and no longer serve a written law – which was the old; with the Spirit we are in the new. °7 Then, shall we say that the Law is part of sin? Of course not. However, I would not have known Sin, had it not been through the Law. I would not be aware of greed if the Law did not tell me:Do not covet.°8 Sin took advantage of the commandment to stir in me all kinds of greed; whereas, without a Law, Sin lies dead. °9 First there was no Law and I lived. Then the commandment came and gave life to Sin: °10 and I died. It happened that the Law of life had brought me death. °11 Sin took advantage of the commandment: it lured me and killed me through the commandment. °12 But the Law itself is holy, just and good. °13 Is it possible that something good brings death to me? Of course not. This comes from Sin that may be seen as sin when it takes advantage of something good to kill: the commandment let Sin appear fully sinful. § The Law without Christ makes humans divided°14 We know that the Law is spiritual; as for me, I am flesh and have been sold to sin. °15 I cannot explain what is happening to me, because I do not do what I want, but on the contrary, the very things I hate. °16 Well then, if I do the evil I do not want to do, I agree that the Law is good; °17 but, in this case, I am not the one striving toward evil, but it is sin, living in me. °18 I know that what is right does not abide in me, I mean, in my flesh. I can want to do what is right, but I am unable to do it. °19 In fact I do not do the good I want, but the evil I hate. °20 Therefore, if I do what I do not want to do, I am not the one striving towards evil, but Sin which is in me. °21 I discover, then, this reality: though I wish to do what is right, the evil within me asserts itself first. °22 My inmost self agrees and rejoices with the law of God, °23 but I notice in my body another law challenging the law of the spirit, and delivering me as a slave to the law of sin written in my members. °24 Alas, for me! Who will free me from this being which is only death? °25 Let us give thanks to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So, with my conscience I am a servant of the law of God, and with my mortal body I serve the law of sin. § We have received the Spirit¤8 °1 This contradiction no longer exists for those who are in Jesus Christ. °2 For, in Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death. °3 The Law was without effect because flesh was not responding. Then God, planning to destroy sin, sent his own Son, in the likeness of those subject to the sinful human condition; by doing this, he condemned the sin in this human condition. °4 Since then the perfection intended by the Law would be fulfilled in those not walking in the way of the flesh, but in the way of the Spirit. § Life through the Spirit°5 Those walking according to the flesh tend towards what is flesh; those led by the spirit, to what is spirit. °6 Flesh tends towards death, while spirit aims at life and peace. °7 What the flesh seeks is against God: it does not agree, it cannot even submit to the law of God. °8 So, those walking according to the flesh cannot please God. °9 Yet your existence is not in the flesh, but in the spirit, because the Spirit of God is within you. If you did not have the Spirit of Christ, you would not belong to him. °10 But Christ is within you; though the body is branded by death as a consequence of sin, the spirit is life and holiness. °11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is within you, He who raised Jesus Christ from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Yes, he will do it through his Spirit who dwells within you. °12 Then, brothers, let us leave the flesh and no longer live according to it. °13 If not, we will die. Rather, walking in the Spirit, let us put to death the body’s deeds so that we may live. °14 All those who walk in the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. °15 Then, no more fear: you did not receive a spirit of slavery, but the Spirit that makes you sons and daughters and every time we cry,“Abba!(this is Dad!) Father!” °16 the Spirit assures our spirit that we are sons and daughters of God. °17 If we are children, we are heirs, too. Ours will be the inheritance of God and we will share it with Christ; for if we now suffer with him, we will also share Glory with him. § The universe, too, waits for its redemption°18 I consider that the suffering of our present life cannot be compared with the Glory that will be revealed and given to us. °19 All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in glory of the children of God. °20 For if now the created world was unable to attain its purpose, this did not come from itself, but from the one who subjected it. But it is not without hope; °21 for even the created world will be freed from this fate of death and share the freedom and glory of the children of God. °22 We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth. °23 Not creation alone, but even ourselves, although the Spirit was given to us as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day when God will give us full rights and rescue our bodies as well. °24 To hope is the way we are saved. But if we saw what we hoped for, there would no longer be hope: how can you hope for what is already seen? °25 So we hope for what we do not see and we will receive it through patient hope. °26 We are weak, but the Spirit comes to help us. How to ask? And what shall we ask for? We do not know, but the spirit intercedes for us without words, as if with groans. °27 And He who sees inner secrets knows the desires of the Spirit, for he asks for the holy ones what is pleasing to God. § Who shall separate us from the love of God?°28 We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him, whom he has called according to his plan. °29 Those whom he knew beforehand, he has also predestined to be like his Son, similar to him, so that he may be the Firstborn among many brothers and sisters. °30 And so, those whom God predestined he called, and those whom he called he makes righteous, and to those whom he makes righteous he will give his Glory. °31 What shall we say after this? If God is with us, who shall be against us? °32 If he did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not give us all things with him? °33 Who shall accuse those chosen by God: he takes away their guilt. °34 Who will dare to condemn them? Christ who died, and better still, rose and is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us? °35 Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Will it be trials, or anguish,
persecution or hunger, lack of clothing, or dangers or sword? °36 As the
Scripture says: For your sake we are
being killed all day long; they treat us like sheep to be slaughtered. °37 No, in all of this we are more than conquerors, thanks to him who has loved us. °38 I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor spiritual powers, neither the present nor the future, nor cosmic powers, °39 were they from heaven or from the deep world below, nor any creature whatsoever will separate us from the love of God, which we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord. § Why have the Jews not believed?¤9 °1 I tell you sincerely in Christ, and my conscience assures me in the Holy Spirit that I am not lying: °2 I have great sadness and constant anguish for the Jews. °3 I would even desire that I myself suffer the curse of being cut off from Christ, instead of my brethren: I mean my own people, my kin. °4 They are Israelites whom God adopted, and on them rests his Glory. Theirs are the covenants, the Law, the worship and the promises of God. °5 They are descendants of the Patriarchs and from their race Christ was born, he who as God is above all distinctions. Blessed be He forever and ever: Amen! °6 We cannot say
that the promise of God has failed. For not all Israelites belong to Israel. °7 And not because they are of the race of Abraham are
they all his children, for it was said to him:The children of Isaac will be called your descendants.°8 This means that the children of God are not identified
with the race of Abraham, but only with the children born to him because of
the promise of God. °9 To such a promise this text
refers: I shall return about this time
and Sarah will have a son.°10 And listen:
Rebecca, the wife of our father Isaac, became pregnant, °11
and before the twins were born, or had done anything right or wrong,
in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, °12
not on the merits but of who is called, she was told: The elder will serve the younger,°13 as the Scripture says: I chose Jacob and rejected Esau. § God is not unjust°14 Shall we say that God is unjust? Of course not. °15 However God said to Moses:I shall forgive whom I forgive and have pity on whom I have pity.°16 So what is important is not that we worry or hurry, but that God has compassion. °17 And he says in Scripture to Pharaoh:I made you Pharaoh to show my power in you, and for the whole world to know my name.°18 And so God takes pity on whom he wishes, and hardens the heart of whomsoever he wishes. °19 Maybe you say: “Why then does God complain, if it is impossible to evade his decision?” °20 But you, my friend, who are you to call God to account? Should the clay pot say to its maker: Why did you make me like this? °21 Is it not up to the potter to make from the same clay a vessel for beauty and a vessel for menial use? °22 Thus God endures very patiently vessels that deserve his wrath, fit to be broken, and through them he wants to show his wrath and the extent of his power. °23 But he also wants to show the riches of his Glory in others, in vessels of mercy prepared for glory. °24 And he called us, not only from among the Jews, but from among the pagans, too, °25 as he said through the prophet Hosea:I will call “my people” those that were not my people, and “my beloved” the one who was not beloved. °26 And in the same place where they were told: “You are not my people,” they will be called children of the living God. °27 With regard to Israel, Isaiah proclaims:Even if the Israelites are as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a few will be saved. °28 This is a matter that the Lord will settle in Israel without fail or delay.°29 Isaiah also announced:If the Almighty Lord had not left us some descendants, we would have become like Sodom and similar to Gomorrah. °30 What are we saying, then? That the pagans who were not aiming at
true righteousness found it (I speak of righteousness through faith); °31 while Israel, striving to observe a law of
righteousness, lost the purpose of the Law. °32 Why?
Because they relied on the observance of the Law, not on faith. And they
stumbled over the stumbling stone (Christ), °33 as
it was said:Look, I am laying in Zion a
stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall; but
whoever relies on him will not be deceived. § They tried to achieve their own perfection¤10 °1 My brothers and sisters, I wish with all my heart that the Jews be saved and I pray to God for them. °2 I can testify that they are zealous for God, but this is not the way. °3 They don’t know God’s way of righteousness and they try to achieve their own righteousness: this is why they did not enter God’s way of righteousness. °4 For Christ is the aim of the Law and it is then that the believer reaches this righteousness. °5 Moses, indeed, speaks of becoming just through the Law; he writes:The one who obeys the Law will find life through it.°6 But the righteousness coming from the faith says instead:Do not say in your heart: Who will go up to heaven?(because in fact Christ came down from there) °7 or who will go down to the world below?(because in fact Christ came up from among the dead). °8 True righteousness coming from faith also says:The word of God is near you, on your lips and in your hearts.This is the message that we preach, and this is faith. °9 You are saved if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised him from the dead. °10 By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips you are saved. °11 For Scripture says:No one who believes in him will be ashamed.°12 Here there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, who is very generous with whoever calls on him.°13 Truly, all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. °14 But how can they call upon the name of the Lord without having believed in him? And how can they believe in him without having first heard about him? And how will they hear about him if no one preaches about him? °15 And how will they preach about him if no one sends them? As Scripture says:How beautiful to see those coming to bring good news.°16 Although not everyone obeyed the good news, as Isaiah said:Lord, who has believed in our preaching?°17 So, faith comes from preaching, and preaching is rooted in the word of Christ. °18 I ask: Have
the Jews not heard? But of course they have. Because the voice of those
preachingresounded all over the earth
and their voice was heard to the ends of the world.°19
Then I must ask:Did Israel not
understand?Moses was the first to say:I
will make you jealous of a nation that is not a nation, I will excite your
anger against a crazy nation.°20 Isaiah dares
to add more:I was found by those not
looking for me, I have shown myself to those not asking for me.°21 While referring to Israel, the same Isaiah says:I hold out my hands the whole day long to
a disobedient and rebellious people. § A remnant of Israel has been saved¤11 °1 And so I ask: Has God rejected his people? Of course not. I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. °2 No, God has not rejected the people he knew beforehand. Don’t you know what the Scripture says of Elijah when he was accusing Israel before God? °3 He said:“Lord, they have killed your prophets, destroyed your altars, and I alone remain; and now they want to kill me.”°4 What was God’s answer? “I kept for myself seven thousand who did not worship Baal.”°5 In the same way now there is a remnant in Israel, those who were chosen by grace. °6 It is said: by grace, not because of what they did. Otherwise grace would not be grace. °7 What then?
What Israel was looking for, it did not find, but those whom God elected
found it. The others hardened their hearts, °8 as
Scripture says:God made them dull of
heart and mind; to this day their eyes cannot see nor their ears hear.°9 David says:May
they be caught and trapped at their banquets; may they fall, may they be
punished. °10 May their eyes be closed so that they cannot see and their backs be
bent forever. § Do not despise those who stumbled°11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall? Of course not. Their stumbling allowed salvation to come to the pagan nations and this, in turn, will stir up the jealousy of Israel. °12 If Israel’s shortcoming made the world rich, if the pagan nations grew rich with what they lost, what will happen when Israel is restored? °13 Listen to me, you who are not Jews: I am spending myself as an apostle to the pagan nations, °14 but I hope my ministry will be successful enough to awaken the jealousy of those of my race, and finally to save some of them. °15 If the world made peace with God when they remained apart, what will it be when they are welcomed? Nothing less than a passing from death to life. °16 When the first fruits are consecrated to God, the whole is consecrated. If the roots are holy, so will be the branches. °17 Some branches have been cut from the olive tree, while you, as a wild olive tree, have been grafted in their stead, and you are benefiting from their roots and sap. °18 Now therefore, do not be proud and despise the branches, because you do not support the roots, the roots support you. °19 You may say, “They cut off the branches to graft me.” °20 Well and good. But they were cut off because they did not believe, while you stand by faith. Then do not pride yourself on this too much, rather beware: °21 if God did not spare the natural branches, even less will he spare you. °22 Admire at the same time both the goodness and severity of God: he was severe with the fallen and he is generous with you, as long as you remain faithful. Otherwise you will be cut off. °23 If they do not keep on rejecting the faith they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them back again. °24 If you were taken from the wild olive tree to which you belonged and, in spite of being a different species, you were grafted into the good olive tree, it will be much easier and natural for them to be grafted into their own tree. § Israel will be saved°25 I want you
to understand the mysterious decree of God, lest you be too confident: a part
of Israel will remain hardened until the majority of pagans have entered. °26 Then the whole of Israel will be saved, as Scripture
says: From Zion will come the Liberator
who will purify the descendants of Jacob from all sin. °27 And this is the covenant I will make with them: I
will take away from them their sins. °28 Regarding the Gospel, the Jews are opponents, but it is for your benefit. Regarding election, they are beloved because of their ancestors; °29 because the call of God and his gifts cannot be nullified. °30 Through the rebellion of the Jews the mercy of God came to you who did not obey God. °31 They in turn will receive mercy in due time after this rebellion that brought God’s mercy to you. °32 So God has submitted all to disobedience, in order to show his mercy to all. °33 How deep are the riches, the wisdom and knowledge of God! His decisions cannot be explained, nor his ways understood! °34Who has ever known God’s thoughts? Who has ever been his adviser? °35 Who has given him something first, so that God had to repay him?°36 For everything comes from him, has been made by him and has to return to him. To him be the glory for ever! Amen. § Christian life: be concerned for others¤12 °1 I beg you, dearly beloved, by the mercy of God, to give yourselves as a living and holy sacrifice pleasing to God: such is the worship of a rational being. °2 Don’t let yourselves be shaped by the world where you live, but rather be transformed through the renewal of your mind. You must discern the will of God: what is good, what pleases, what is perfect. °3 The grace that God has given me allows me to tell each of you: be active, but not indiscreet. Let each one exercise wisely the gifts of faith granted by God. °4 See, the body is one, even if formed by many members, but not all of them with the same function. °5 The same with us; being many, we are one body in Christ, depending on one another. °6 Let each one of us, therefore, serve according to our different gifts. Are you a prophet? Then give the insights of faith. °7 Let the deacon fulfill his office; let the teacher teach, °8 the one who encourages, convince. You must, likewise, give with an open hand, preside with dedication, and be cheerful in your works of charity. °9 Let love be sincere. Hate what is evil and hold to whatever is good. °10 Love one another and be considerate. Outdo one another in mutual respect. °11 Be zealous in fulfilling your duties. Be fervent in the Spirit and serve God. °12 Have hope and be cheerful. Be patient in trials and pray constantly. °13 Share with other Christians in need. With those passing by, be ready to receive them. °14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not wish evil on anyone. °15 Rejoice with those who are joyful, and weep with those who weep. °16 Live in peace with one another. Do not dream of extraordinary things; be humble and do not hold yourselves as wise. °17 Do not return evil for evil, but let everyone see your good will. °18 Do your best to live in peace with everybody. °19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but let God be the one who punishes, as Scripture says:Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.°20 And it adds:If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him to drink; by doing this you will heap burning coals upon his head.°21 Do not let evil defeat you, but conquer evil with goodness. § Submission to authority¤13 °1 Let everyone be subject to the authorities. For there is no authority that does not come from God, and the offices have been established by God. °2 Whoever, therefore, resists authority goes against a decree of God, and those who resist deserve to be condemned. °3 In fact, who fears authority? Not those who do good, but those who do evil. Do you want to be without fear of a person in authority? Do good and you will receive praise. °4 They are the stewards of God for your good. But if you do not behave, fear them for they do not carry arms in vain; they are at the service of God when they judge and punish wrongdoers. °5 It is necessary to obey, not through fear but as a matter of conscience. °6 In the same way you must pay taxes, and the collectors are God’s officials. °7 Pay to all what is due them; to whomever you owe contributions, make a contribution; to whom taxes are due, pay taxes; to whom respect is due, give respect; to whom honor is due, give honor. °8 Do not be in debt to anyone. Let this be the only debt of one to another: Love. The one who loves his or her neighbor fulfilled the Law. °9 For the commandments:Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not covetand whatever else are summarized in this one:You will love your neighbor as yourself.°10 Love cannot do the neighbor any harm; so love fulfills the whole Law. § Children of the light°11 You know what hour it is. This is the time to awake, for our salvation is now nearer than when we first believed; °12 the night is almost over and day is at hand. Let us discard, therefore, everything that belongs to darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. °13 As we live in the full light of day, let us behave with decency; no banquets with drunkenness, no prostitution or vices, no fighting or jealousy. °14 Put on, rather, the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not be led by the will of the flesh nor follow its desires. § The weak and the strong¤14 °1 Welcome those weak in faith and do not criticize their scruples. °2 Some think they can eat any food, while others, less liberated, eat only vegetables. °3 If you eat, do not despise those who abstain; if you abstain, do not criticize those who eat, for God has welcomed them. °4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? Whether he stands or falls, the one concerned is his master. But he will not fall, for his master is able to keep him standing. °5 For some, there are good and bad days; for others, all days are equal. Let us act according to our own opinion. °6 The one who distinguishes among days does that for the Lord; and the one who eats eats for the Lord and in eating gives thanks to the Lord. And the one who does not eat does it for the Lord and gives him thanks as well. °7 In fact, none of us lives for himself, nor dies for himself. °8 If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Either in life or in death, we belong to the Lord; °9 Christ experienced death and life to be Lord both of the living and of the dead. °10 Then you, why do you criticize your brother or sister? And you, why do you despise them? For we will all appear at the tribunal of God. °11 It is written:I swear by myself – word of the Lord – every knee will bend before me, and every tongue shall confess truth before God.°12 So each of us will account for himself before God. °13 Therefore, let us not continue criticizing one another; let us try, rather, never to put in the way of our brother anything that would make him stumble or fall. °14 I know, I am sure of this in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself, it is only unclean for those who consider it unclean. °15 But if you hurt your brother or sister because of a certain food, you are no longer walking according to love. Let not your eating cause the loss of one for whom Christ died. °16 Don’t put yourself in the wrong with something good. °17 The kingdom of God is not a matter of food or drink; it is justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, °18 and if you serve Christ in this way, you will please God and be praised by people. °19 Let us look, then, for what strengthens peace and makes us better. °20 Do not destroy the work of God because of food. All food is clean, but it becomes unclean for the one who eats against his own belief. °21 And it may be better not to eat meat, or drink wine, or anything else that causes your brother or sister to stumble. °22 Keep your own belief before God, and happy are you if you never act against your own belief. °23 Instead, whoever eats something in spite of his doubt is condemned by his conscience, because whatever we do against our conscience is sinful. ¤15 °1 We, the strong and liberated, should bear the weakness of those who are not strong, instead of pleasing ourselves. °2 Let each of us bring joy to our neighbors helping them for the good purpose, for building up. °3 Christ himself did not look for his own contentment, as Scripture says:The insults of those insulting you fell upon me.°4 And we know that whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, for both perseverance and comfort given us by the Scripture sustain our hope. °5 May God, the source of all perseverance and comfort, give to all of you to live in peace in Christ Jesus, °6 that you may be able to praise in one voice God, Father of Christ Jesus, our Lord. °7 Welcome, then, one another, as Christ welcomed you for the glory of God. °8 Look: Christ put himself at the service of the Jewish world to fulfill the promises made by God to their ancestors; here you see God’s faithfulness. °9 The pagans instead give thanks to God for his mercy, as Scripture says:Because of that, I will sing and praise your name among the pagans.°10 And in another place:Rejoice, pagan nations, with God’s people.°11 And again:Praise the Lord, all people and let all nations speak of his magnificence.°12 Isaiah says:A descendant of Jesse will come who will rule the pagan nations and they will hope in him. °13 May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace in the faith, so that your hope may increase by the power of the Holy Spirit. § Paul feels responsible for the Christians of Rome°14 As for me, brothers and sisters, I am convinced that you have goodwill, knowledge and the capacity to advise each other; °15 nevertheless I have written boldly in some parts of this letter to remind you of what you already know. I do this according to the grace God has given to me °16 when I was sent to the pagan nations. I dedicate myself to the service of the Good News of God as a priest of Christ Jesus, in order to present the non-Jews to God as an agreeable offering consecrated by the Holy Spirit. °17 This service of God is for me a cause of pride in Christ Jesus. °18 Of course, I would not dare to speak of other things but what Christ himself has done through me, my words and my works, °19 with miracles and signs, by the power of the Holy Spirit – so that non-Jews may obey the faith. In this way I have extended the Good News to all parts, from Jerusalem to Illiricum. °20 I have been
very careful, however, and I am proud of this, not to preach in places where
Christ is already known, and not to build upon foundations laid by others. °21 Let it be as Scripture says:Those not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will
understand. § Help for the Christians in Jerusalem°22 This work has prevented me from going to you. °23 But now there is no more place for me in these regions, and as I have wanted for so long to go and see you, °24 I hope to visit you when I go to Spain. Then you could help me go to that nation, once I have fully enjoyed your company. °25 Right now I am going to Jerusalem to help that community. °26 Know that the churches of Macedonia and Achaia have decided to make a contribution for the poor among the believers of Jerusalem. °27 They have decided to do that and, in fact, they were indebted to them. For the non-Jews have shared the spiritual goods of the Jews and now they must help them materially. °28 So I am to complete this task and give over the amount that has been collected. Then I will go to you and from there to Spain. °29 And I am sure that when I go to you, I will go with all the blessings of God. °30 I beg of you, brothers and sisters, by Christ Jesus our Lord and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in the fight, praying to God for me; °31 pray that I may avoid the snares of the enemies of faith in Judea, and that the community of Jerusalem may welcome the help I bring. °32 And so I will go to you with joy and, God willing, be refreshed in your company. °33 The God of peace be with you. Amen. § Greetings¤16 °1 I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, deaconess of the church of Cenchreae. °2 Please receive her in the name of the Lord, as it should be among brothers and sisters in the faith, and help her in whatever is necessary, because she helped many, among them, myself. °3 Greetings to Prisca and Aquilas, my helpers in Christ Jesus. °4 To save my life, they risked theirs; I am very grateful to them, as are all the churches of the pagan nations. °5 Greetings also to the church that meets in their house. Greetings to my dear Epaenetus, the first in the province of Asia to believe in Christ. °6 Greet Mary, who worked so much for you. °7 Greetings to Andronicus and Junias, my relatives and companions in prison; they are well known apostles and served Christ before I did. °8 Give greetings to Ampliatus, whom I love so much in the Lord. °9 Greetings to Urbanus, our fellow worker, and to my dear Stachys. °10 Greetings to Apelles, who suffered for Christ, and the family of Aristobulus. °11 Greetings to my relative Herodion and those in the household of Narcissus, who works in the Lord’s service. °12 Greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who toil for the Lord’s sake. °13 Greetings to Rufus, elected of the Lord, and his mother who was a second mother to me. °14 Greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers and sisters staying with them. °15 Greetings to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, Olympas and all the holy ones in Christ Jesus with them. °16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send their greetings. § A warning°17 Brothers and sisters, I beg of you to be careful of those who are causing divisions and troubles in teaching you a different teaching from the one you were taught. Keep away from them, °18 because those persons do not serve Christ our Lord, but their own interests, deceiving with their soft and entertaining language those who are simple of heart. °19 Everybody knows that you are very obedient, and because of that I am happy, but I want you to be sensible in doing good and firm against evil. °20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan and place him under your feet. May Christ Jesus, our Lord, bless you. °21 Timothy, who is with me, sends you greetings, and so do Lucius, Jason and Sosipatros, my relatives. °22 I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, send you greetings in the Lord. °23 Greetings from Gaius, who has given me lodging and in whose house the church meets. °24 Greetings from Erastus, treasurer of the city, and from our brother Quartus. Glory be to God! °25 He is able to give you strength, according to the Good News I proclaim, announcing Christ Jesus. Now is revealed the mysterious plan kept hidden for long ages in the past. °26 By the will of the eternal God it is brought to light, through the prophetic books, and all nations shall believe the faith proclaimed to them. °27 Glory to God, who alone is wise, through Christ Jesus, for ever! Amen. The End. |