Romans 15–16 · 1 Corinthians 1

1Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

2Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up.

3For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

4For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

5Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,

6that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.

8Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,

9and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name.”

10Again he says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

11Again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise him.”

12Again, Isaiah says, “There will be the root of Jesse, he who arises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope.”

13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.

14I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others.

15But I write the more boldly to you in part as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God,

16that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God.

18For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,

19in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ;

20yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation.

21But, as it is written, “They will see, to whom no news of him came. They who haven’t heard will understand.”

22Therefore also I was hindered these many times from coming to you,

23but now, no longer having any place in these regions, and having these many years a longing to come to you,

24whenever I travel to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.

25But now, I say, I am going to Jerusalem, serving the saints.

26For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem.

27Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in material things.

28When therefore I have accomplished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on by way of you to Spain.

29I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Christ.

30Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

31that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

32that I may come to you in joy through the will of God, and together with you, find rest.

33Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

1I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the assembly that is at Cenchreae,

2that you receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may need from you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self.

3Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

4who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles.

5Greet the assembly that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ.

6Greet Mary, who labored much for us.

7Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and my fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, who were also in Christ before me.

8Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord.

9Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.

10Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.

11Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet them of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

12Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved, who labored much in the Lord.

13Greet Rufus, the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

14Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.

15Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

16Greet one another with a holy kiss. The assemblies of Christ greet you.

17Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them.

18For those who are such don’t serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the innocent.

19For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil.

20And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives.

22I, Tertius, who write the letter, greet you in the Lord.

23Gaius, my host and host of the whole assembly, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, as does Quartus, the brother.

24The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen.

25

1Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2to the assembly of God which is at Corinth—those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:

3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4I always thank my God concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

5that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge—

6even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you—

7so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

8who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.

12Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”

13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?

14I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

15so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name.

16(I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.)

17For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.

18For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

19For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”

20Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

21For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

22For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,

23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks,

24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;

25because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;

27but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong.

28God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist,

29that no flesh should boast before God.

30Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

31that, as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”