15:1 WE WHO are strong [in our convictions and of robust faith] ought to bear with the failings {and} the frailties {and} the tender scruples of the weak; [we ought to help carry the doubts and qualms of others] and not to please ourselves. |
15:2 Let each one of us make it a practice to please (make happy) his neighbor for his good {and} for his true welfare, to edify him [to strengthen him and build him up spiritually]. |
15:3 For Christ did not please Himself [gave no thought to His own interests]; but, as it is written, The reproaches {and} abuses of those who reproached {and} abused you fell on Me. |
15:4 For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by [our steadfast and patient] endurance and the encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to {and} cherish hope. |
15:5 Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony {and} such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, |
15:6 That together you may [unanimously] with united hearts {and} one voice, praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). |
15:7 Welcome {and} receive [to your hearts] one another, then, even as Christ has welcomed {and} received you, for the glory of God. |
15:8 For I tell you that Christ (the Messiah) became a servant {and} a minister to the circumcised (the Jews) in order to show God's truthfulness {and} honesty by confirming (verifying) the promises [given] to our fathers, |
15:9 And [also in order] that the Gentiles (nations) might glorify God for His mercy [not covenanted] to them. As it is written, Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles and sing praises to Your name. |
15:10 Again it is said, Rejoice (exult), O Gentiles, along with His [own] people; |
15:11 And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him! |
15:12 And further Isaiah says, There shall be a Sprout from the Root of Jesse, He Who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles hope. |
15:13 May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound {and} be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope. |
15:14 Personally I am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are rich in goodness, amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge and competent to admonish {and} counsel {and} instruct one another also. |
15:15 Still on some points I have written to you the more boldly {and} unreservedly by way of reminder. [I have done so] because of the grace (the unmerited favor) bestowed on me by God |
15:16 In making me a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I act in the priestly service of the Gospel (the good news) of God, in order that the sacrificial offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable [to God], consecrated {and} made holy by the Holy Spirit. |
15:17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have legitimate reason to glory (exult) in my work for God [in what through Christ Jesus I have accomplished concerning the things of God]. |
15:18 For [of course] I will not venture (presume) to speak thus of any work except what Christ has actually done through me [as an instrument in His hands] to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, |
15:19 [Even as my preaching has been accompanied] with the power of signs and wonders, [and all of it] by the power of the Holy Spirit. [The result is] that starting from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel [faithfully executing, accomplishing, carrying out to the full the good news] of Christ (the Messiah) in its entirety. |
15:20 Thus my ambition has been to preach the Gospel, not where Christ's name has already been known, lest I build on another man's foundation; |
15:21 But [instead I would act on the principle] as it is written, They shall see who have never been told of Him, and they shall understand who have never heard [of Him]. |
15:22 This [ambition] is the reason why I have so frequently been hindered from coming to visit you. |
15:23 But now since I have no further opportunity for work in these regions, and since I have longed for enough years to come to you, |
15:24 I hope to see you in passing [through Rome] as I go [on my intended trip] to Spain, and to be aided on my journey there by you, after I have enjoyed your company for a little while. |
15:25 For the present, however, I am going to Jerusalem to bring aid (relief) for the saints (God's people there). |
15:26 For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make some contribution for the poor among the saints of Jerusalem. |
15:27 They were pleased to do it; and surely they are in debt to them, for if these Gentiles have come to share in their [the Jerusalem Jews'] spiritual blessings, then they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. |
15:28 When therefore I have completed this mission and have delivered to them [at Jerusalem] what has been raised, I shall go on by way of you to Spain. |
15:29 And I know that when I do come to you, I shall come in the abundant blessing {of the Gospel} of Christ. |
15:30 I appeal to you [I entreat you], brethren, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love [given by] the Spirit, to unite with me in earnest wrestling in prayer to God in my behalf. |
15:31 [Pray] that I may be delivered (rescued) from the unbelievers in Judea and that my mission of relief to Jerusalem may be acceptable {and} graciously received by the saints (God's people there), |
15:32 So that by God's will I may subsequently come to you with joy (with a happy heart) and be refreshed [by the interval of rest] in your company. |
15:33 May [our] peace-giving God be with you all! Amen (so be it). |