New Living Translation

New King James Version

Living to Please Others

We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves.

1

Bearing Others’ Burdens

We then who are strong ought to bear with the [a]scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

2

We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.

2

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to [b]edification.

3

For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.”a

3

For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

4

Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

4

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the [c]patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

5

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.

5

Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,

6

Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

6

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

7

Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

7

Glorify God Together

Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received [d]us, to the glory of God.

8

Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jewsb to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors.

8

Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a [e]servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,

9

He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:
“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing praises to your name.”c

9

and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:
“For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles,
And sing to Your name.”

10

And in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people,
you Gentiles.”d

10

And again he says:
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”

11

And yet again,
“Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles.
Praise him, all you people of the earth.”e

11

And again:
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples!”

12

And in another place Isaiah said,
“The heir to David’s thronef will come,
and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.”g

12

And again, Isaiah says:
“There shall be a root of Jesse;
And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,
In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

13

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

13

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

14

Paul’s Reason for Writing

I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters,h that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them.

14

From Jerusalem to Illyricum

Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish [f]one another.

15

Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace,

15

Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God,

16

I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.

16

that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering [g]of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17

So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.

17

Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God.

18

Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them.

18

For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient —

19

They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit.i In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.j

19

in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

20

My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.

20

And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation,

21

I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says,
“Those who have never been told about him will see,
and those who have never heard of him will understand.”k

21

but as it is written:
“To whom He was not announced, they shall see;
And those who have not heard shall understand.”

22

In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.

22

Plan to Visit Rome

For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you.

23

Paul’s Travel Plans

But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.

23

But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you,

24

I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.

24

whenever I journey to Spain, [h]I shall 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.

25

But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believersl there.

25

But now I am going to Jerusalem to [i]minister to the saints.

26

For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaiam have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem.

26

For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.

27

They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially.

27

It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.

28

As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain.

28

Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain.

29

And I am sure that when I come, Christ will richly bless our time together.

29

But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing [j]of the gospel of Christ.

30

Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.

30

Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,

31

Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donationn I am taking to Jerusalem.

31

that I may be delivered from those in Judea who [k]do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

32

Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.

32

that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you.

33

And now may God, who gives us his peace, be with you all. Amen.o

33

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

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

Romans 15

Romans 15