Romans: Israel, mercy and life together · To Jerusalem and arrest

Romans 15–16 WEB

^15:1Now 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.

^16:1I 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

Acts 20:4–38 WEB

⁴These accompanied him as far as Asia: Sopater of Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. ⁵But these had gone ahead, and were waiting for us at Troas. ⁶We sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas in five days, where we stayed seven days. ⁷On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day; and continued his speech until midnight. ⁸There were many lights in the upper room where we were gathered together. ⁹A certain young man named Eutychus sat in the window, weighed down with deep sleep. As Paul spoke still longer, being weighed down by his sleep, he fell down from the third floor and was taken up dead. ¹⁰Paul went down and fell upon him, and embracing him said, “Don’t be troubled, for his life is in him.” ¹¹When he had gone up, had broken bread and eaten, and had talked with them a long while, even until break of day, he departed. ¹²They brought the boy in alive, and were greatly comforted. ¹³But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there; for he had so arranged, intending himself to go by land. ¹⁴When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and came to Mitylene. ¹⁵Sailing from there, we came the following day opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium, and the day after we came to Miletus. ¹⁶For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. ¹⁷From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to himself the elders of the assembly. ¹⁸When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time, ¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews; ²⁰how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house, ²¹testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus. ²²Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there; ²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me. ²⁴But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God. ²⁵“Now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching God’s Kingdom, will see my face no more. ²⁶Therefore I testify to you today that I am clean from the blood of all men, ²⁷for I didn’t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. ²⁸Take heed, therefore, to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood. ²⁹For I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. ³⁰Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn’t cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears. ³²Now, brothers, I entrust you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing. ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me. ³⁵In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” ³⁶When he had spoken these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷They all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, ³⁸sorrowing most of all because of the word which he had spoken, that they should see his face no more. Then they accompanied him to the ship.