Parallel Bible results for "romans 15"

Romans 15

ESV

MSG

1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
1 Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status.
2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
2 Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, "How can I help?"
3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me."
3 That's exactly what Jesus did. He didn't make it easy for himself by avoiding people's troubles, but waded right in and helped out. "I took on the troubles of the troubled," is the way Scripture puts it.
4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
4 Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it's written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.
5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,
5 May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all.
6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6 Then we'll be a choir - not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
7 So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!
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,
8 Jesus, staying true to God's purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them.
9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name."
9 As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance: Then I'll join outsiders in a hymn-sing; I'll sing to your name!
10 And again it is said, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."
10 And this one: Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together!
11 And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him."
11 And again: People of all nations, celebrate God! All colors and races, give hearty praise!
12 And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope."
12 And Isaiah's word: There's the root of our ancestor Jesse, breaking through the earth and growing tree tall, Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take 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.
13 Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.
14 Personally, I've been completely satisfied with who you are and what you are doing. You seem to me to be well-motivated and well-instructed, quite capable of guiding and advising 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
15 So, my dear friends, don't take my rather bold and blunt language as criticism. It's not criticism. I'm simply underlining how very much I need your help in carrying out this highly focused assignment God gave me,
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.
16 this priestly and gospel work of serving the spiritual needs of the non-Jewish outsiders so they can be presented as an acceptable offering to God, made whole and holy by God's Holy Spirit.
17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.
17 Looking back over what has been accomplished and what I have observed, I must say I am most pleased - in the context of Jesus, I'd even say proud, but only in that context.
18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience--by word and deed,
18 I have no interest in giving you a chatty account of my adventures, only the wondrously powerful and transformingly present words and deeds of Christ in me that triggered a believing response among the outsiders.
19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God--so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;
19 In such ways I have trailblazed a preaching of the Message of Jesus all the way from Jerusalem far into northwestern Greece.
20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation,
20 This has all been pioneer work, bringing the Message only into those places where Jesus was not yet known and worshiped.
21 but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."
21 My text has been, Those who were never told of him - they'll see him! Those who've never heard of him - they'll get the message!
22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.
22 And that's why it has taken me so long to finally get around to 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,
23 But now that there is no more pioneering work to be done in these parts, and since I have looked forward to seeing you for many years,
24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
24 I'm planning my visit. I'm headed for Spain, and expect to stop off on the way to enjoy a good visit with you, and eventually have you send me off with God's blessing.
25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.
25 First, though, I'm going to Jerusalem to deliver a relief offering to the Christians there.
26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.
26 The Greeks - all the way from the Macedonians in the north to the Achaians in the south - decided they wanted to take up a collection for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem.
27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it 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.
27 They were happy to do this, but it was also their duty. Seeing that they got in on all the spiritual gifts that flowed out of the Jerusalem community so generously, it is only right that they do what they can to relieve their poverty.
28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you.
28 As soon as I have done this - personally handed over this "fruit basket" - I'm off to Spain, with a stopover with you in Rome.
29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
29 My hope is that my visit with you is going to be one of Christ's more extravagant blessings.
30 I appeal to you, brothers, 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,
30 I have one request, dear friends: Pray for me. Pray strenuously with and for me - to God the Father, through the power of our Master Jesus, through the love of the Spirit -
31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
31 that I will be delivered from the lions' den of unbelievers in Judea. Pray also that my relief offering to the Jerusalem Christians will be accepted in the spirit in which it is given.
32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.
32 Then, God willing, I'll be on my way to you with a light and eager heart, looking forward to being refreshed by your company.
33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
33 God's peace be with all of you. Oh, yes!
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.