Romans 10-16

Complete Jewish Bible

10 Brothers, my heart’s deepest desire and my prayer to God for Isra’el is for their salvation; ² for I can testify to their zeal for God. But it is not based on correct understanding; ³ for, since they are unaware of God’s way of making people righteous and instead seek to set up their own, they have not submitted themselves to God’s way of making people righteous. ⁴ For the goal at which the Torah aims is the Messiah, who offers righteousness to everyone who trusts. ⁵ For Moshe writes about the righteousness grounded in the Torah that the person who does these things will attain life through them.^{[a] 6} Moreover, the righteousness grounded in trusting says:

that is, the word about trust which we proclaim, namely, ⁹ that if you acknowledge publicly with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord and trust in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be delivered. ¹⁰ For with the heart one goes on trusting and thus continues toward righteousness, while with the mouth one keeps on making public acknowledgement and thus continues toward deliverance. ¹¹ For the passage quoted says that everyone who rests his trust on him will not be humiliated.^{[c] 12} That means that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — Adonai is the same for everyone, rich toward everyone who calls on him, ¹³ since everyone who calls on the name of Adonai will be delivered.^[d]

¹⁴ But how can they call on someone if they haven’t trusted in him? And how can they trust in someone if they haven’t heard about him? And how can they hear about someone if no one is proclaiming him? ¹⁵ And how can people proclaim him unless God sends them? — as the Tanakh puts it, “How beautiful are the feet of those announcing good news about good things!”^[e]

¹⁶ The problem is that they haven’t all paid attention to the Good News and obeyed it. For Yesha‘yahu says,

¹⁷ So trust comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through a word proclaimed about the Messiah.

¹⁸ “But, I say, isn’t it rather that they didn’t hear?” No, they did hear —

11 “In that case, I say, isn’t it that God has repudiated his people?” Heaven forbid! For I myself am a son of Isra’el, from the seed of Avraham,^[k] of the tribe of Binyamin. ² God has not repudiated his people,^[l] whom he chose in advance. Or don’t you know what the Tanakh says about Eliyahu? He pleads with God against Isra’el, ³ “Adonai, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I’m the only one left, and now they want to kill me too!”^{[m] 4} But what is God’s answer to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt down to Ba‘al.”^{[n] 5} It’s the same way in the present age: there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶ (Now if it is by grace, it is accordingly not based on legalistic works; if it were otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.) ⁷ What follows is that Isra’el has not attained the goal for which she is striving. The ones chosen have obtained it, but the rest have been made stonelike, ⁸ just as the Tanakh says,

⁹ And David says,

¹¹ “In that case, I say, isn’t it that they have stumbled with the result that they have permanently fallen away?” Heaven forbid! Quite the contrary, it is by means of their stumbling that the deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy.^{[q] 12} Moreover, if their stumbling is bringing riches to the world — that is, if Isra’el’s being placed temporarily in a condition less favored than that of the Gentiles is bringing riches to the latter — how much greater riches will Isra’el in its fullness bring them!

¹³ However, to those of you who are Gentiles I say this: since I myself am an emissary sent to the Gentiles, I make known the importance of my work ¹⁴ in the hope that somehow I may provoke some of my own people to jealousy and save some of them! ¹⁵ For if their casting Yeshua aside means reconciliation for the world, what will their accepting him mean? It will be life from the dead!

¹⁶ Now if the hallah offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole loaf. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you — a wild olive — were grafted in among them and have become equal sharers in the rich root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ then don’t boast as if you were better than the branches! However, if you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, the root is supporting you. ¹⁹ So you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ True, but so what? They were broken off because of their lack of trust. However, you keep your place only because of your trust. So don’t be arrogant; on the contrary, be terrified! ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly won’t spare you! ²² So take a good look at God’s kindness and his severity: on the one hand, severity toward those who fell off; but, on the other hand, God’s kindness toward you — provided you maintain yourself in that kindness! Otherwise, you too will be cut off! ²³ Moreover, the others, if they do not persist in their lack of trust, will be grafted in; because God is able to graft them back in. ²⁴ For if you were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree!

²⁵ For, brothers, I want you to understand this truth which God formerly concealed but has now revealed, so that you won’t imagine you know more than you actually do. It is that stoniness, to a degree, has come upon Isra’el, until the Gentile world enters in its fullness; ²⁶ and that it is in this way that all Isra’el will be saved. As the Tanakh says,

²⁸ With respect to the Good News they are hated for your sake. But with respect to being chosen they are loved for the Patriarchs’ sake, ²⁹ for God’s free gifts and his calling are irrevocable. ³⁰ Just as you yourselves were disobedient to God before but have received mercy now because of Isra’el’s disobedience; ³¹ so also Isra’el has been disobedient now, so that by your showing them the same mercy that God has shown you, they too may now receive God’s mercy. ³² For God has shut up all mankind together in disobedience, in order that he might show mercy to all.

12 I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you. ² In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the ‘olam hazeh. Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed. ³ For I am telling every single one of you, through the grace that has been given to me, not to have exaggerated ideas about your own importance. Instead, develop a sober estimate of yourself based on the standard which God has given to each of you, namely, trust. ⁴ For just as there are many parts that compose one body, but the parts don’t all have the same function; ⁵ so there are many of us, and in union with the Messiah we comprise one body, with each of us belonging to the others. ⁶ But we have gifts that differ and which are meant to be used according to the grace that has been given to us. If your gift is prophecy, use it to the extent of your trust; ⁷ if it is serving, use it to serve; if you are a teacher, use your gift in teaching; ⁸ if you are a counselor, use your gift to comfort and exhort; if you are someone who gives, do it simply and generously; if you are in a position of leadership, lead with diligence and zeal; if you are one who does acts of mercy, do them cheerfully.

⁹ Don’t let love be a mere outward show. Recoil from what is evil, and cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect. ¹¹ Don’t be lazy when hard work is needed, but serve the Lord with spiritual fervor. ¹² Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer. ¹³ Share what you have with God’s people, and practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you — bless them, don’t curse them! ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be sensitive to each other’s needs — don’t think yourselves better than others, but make humble people your friends. Don’t be conceited. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but try to do what everyone regards as good. ¹⁸ If possible, and to the extent that it depends on you, live in peace with all people. ¹⁹ Never seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God’s anger; for in the Tanakh it is written,

²¹ Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

13 Everyone is to obey the governing authorities. For there is no authority that is not from God, and the existing authorities have been placed where they are by God. ² Therefore, whoever resists the authorities is resisting what God has instituted; and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers are no terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you like to be unafraid of the person in authority? Then simply do what is good, and you will win his approval; ⁴ for he is God’s servant, there for your benefit. But if you do what is wrong, be afraid! Because it is not for nothing that he holds the power of the sword; for he is God’s servant, there as an avenger to punish wrongdoers. ⁵ Another reason to obey, besides fear of punishment, is for the sake of conscience. ⁶ This is also why you pay taxes; for the authorities are God’s public officials, constantly attending to these duties. ⁷ Pay everyone what he is owed: if you owe the tax-collector, pay your taxes; if you owe the revenue-collector, pay revenue; if you owe someone respect, pay him respect; if you owe someone honor, pay him honor. ⁸ Don’t owe anyone anything — except to love one another; for whoever loves his fellow human being has fulfilled Torah. ⁹ For the commandments, “Don’t commit adultery,” “Don’t murder,” “Don’t steal,” “Don’t covet,”^[w] and any others are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[x] 10} Love does not do harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fullness of Torah.

¹¹ Besides all this, you know at what point of history we stand; so it is high time for you to rouse yourselves from sleep; for the final deliverance is nearer than when we first came to trust. ¹² The night is almost over, the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and arm ourselves with the weapons of light. ¹³ Let us live properly, as people do in the daytime — not partying and getting drunk, not engaging in sexual immorality and other excesses, not quarrelling and being jealous. ¹⁴ Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Yeshua the Messiah; and don’t waste your time thinking about how to provide for the sinful desires of your old nature.

14 Now as for a person whose trust is weak, welcome him — but not to get into arguments over opinions. ² One person has the trust that will allow him to eat anything, while another whose trust is weak eats only vegetables. ³ The one who eats anything must not look down on the one who abstains; and the abstainer must not pass judgment on the one who eats anything, because God has accepted him — ⁴ who are you to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? It is before his own master that he will stand or fall; and the fact is that he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person considers some days more holy than others, while someone else regards them as being all alike. What is important is for each to be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ He who observes a day as special does so to honor the Lord. Also he who eats anything, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; likewise the abstainer abstains to honor the Lord, and he too gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives only in relation to himself, and none of us dies only in relation to himself; ⁸ for if we live, we live in relation to the Lord; and if we die, we die in relation to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord — ⁹ indeed, it was for this very reason that the Messiah died and came back to life, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ You then, why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For all of us will stand before God’s judgment seat; ¹¹ since it is written in the Tanakh,

¹² So then, every one of us will have to give an account of himself to God.

¹³ Therefore, let’s stop passing judgment on each other! Instead, make this one judgment — not to put a stumbling block or a snare in a brother’s way. ¹⁴ I know — that is, I have been persuaded by the Lord Yeshua the Messiah — that nothing is unclean in itself. But if a person considers something unclean, then for him it is unclean; ¹⁵ and if your brother is being upset by the food you eat, your life is no longer one of love. Do not, by your eating habits, destroy someone for whom the Messiah died! ¹⁶ Do not let what you know to be good, be spoken of as bad; ¹⁷ for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, shalom and joy in the Ruach HaKodesh. ¹⁸ Anyone who serves the Messiah in this fashion both pleases God and wins the approval of other people.

¹⁹ So then, let us pursue the things that make for shalom and mutual upbuilding. ²⁰ Don’t tear down God’s work for the sake of food. True enough, all things are clean; but it is wrong for anybody by his eating to cause someone to fall away. ²¹ What is good is not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. ²² The belief you hold about such things, keep between yourself and God. Happy the person who is free of self-condemnation when he approves of something! ²³ But the doubter comes under condemnation if he eats, because his action is not based on trust. And anything not based on trust is a sin.

15 So we who are strong have a duty to bear the weaknesses of those who are not strong, rather than please ourselves. ² Each of us should please his neighbor and act for his good, thus building him up. ³ For even the Messiah did not please himself; rather, as the Tanakh says, ‘The insults of those insulting you fell on me.’^{[z] 4} For everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that with the encouragement of the Tanakh we might patiently hold on to our hope. ⁵ And may God, the source of encouragement and patience, give you the same attitude among yourselves as the Messiah Yeshua had, ⁶ so that with one accord and with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

⁷ So welcome each other, just as the Messiah has welcomed you into God’s glory. ⁸ For I say that the Messiah became a servant of the Jewish people in order to show God’s truthfulness by making good his promises to the Patriarchs, ⁹ and in order to show his mercy by causing the Gentiles to glorify God — as it is written in the Tanakh,

¹³ May God, the source of hope, fill you completely with joy and shalom as you continue trusting, so that by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh you may overflow with hope.

¹⁴ Now I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and well able to counsel each other. ¹⁵ But on some points I have written you quite boldly by way of reminding you about them, because of the grace God has given me ¹⁶ to be a servant of the Messiah Yeshua for the Gentiles, with the priestly duty of presenting the Good News of God, so that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, made holy by the Ruach HaKodesh.

¹⁷ In union with the Messiah Yeshua, then, I have reason to be proud of my service to God; ¹⁸ for I will not dare speak of anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by my words and deeds, ¹⁹ through the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Yerushalayim all the way to Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah. ²⁰ I have always made it my ambition to proclaim the Good News where the Messiah was not yet known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation, ²¹ but rather, as the Tanakh puts it,

²² This is also why I have so often been prevented from visiting you. ²³ But now, since there is no longer a place in these regions that needs me, and since I have wanted for many years to come to you, ²⁴ I hope to see you as I pass through on my way to Spain, and to have you help me travel there after I have enjoyed your company awhile.

²⁵ But now I am going to Yerushalayim with aid for God’s people there. ²⁶ For Macedonia and Achaia thought it would be good to make some contribution to the poor among God’s people in Yerushalayim. ²⁷ They were pleased to do it, but the fact is that they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared with the Jews in spiritual matters, then the Gentiles clearly have a duty to help the Jews in material matters. ²⁸ So when I have finished this task and made certain that they have received this fruit, I will leave for Spain and visit you on my way there; ²⁹ and I know that when I come to you, it will be with the full measure of the Messiah’s blessings. ³⁰ And now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God on my behalf ³¹ that I will be rescued from the unbelievers in Y’hudah, and that my service for Yerushalayim will be acceptable to God’s people there. ³² Then, if it is God’s will, I will come to you with joy and have a time of rest among you. ³³ Now may the God of shalom be with you all. Amen.

16 I am introducing to you our sister Phoebe, shammash of the congregation at Cenchrea, ² so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as God’s people should, and give her whatever assistance she may need from you; for she has been a big help to many people — including myself.

³ Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers for the Messiah Yeshua. ⁴ They risked their necks to save my life; not only I thank them, but also all the Messianic communities among the Gentiles. ⁵ And give my greetings to the congregation that meets in their house.

Give my greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first person in the province of Asia to put his trust in the Messiah.

⁶ Give my greetings to Miryam, who has worked very hard for you.

⁷ Greetings to Andronicus and Junia, relatives of mine who were in prison with me. They are well known among the emissaries; also they came to trust in the Messiah before I did.

⁸ Greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

⁹ Greetings to Urbanus, our fellow worker for the Messiah, and to my dear friend Stachys.

¹⁰ Greetings to Appeles, whose trust in the Messiah has been tested and proved.

Greet those in the household of Aristobulus.

¹¹ Greet my relative, Herodion.

¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, women who are working hard for the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has done a lot of hard work for the Lord.

¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen by the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me too.

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

¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all of God’s people who are with them.

¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the Messiah’s congregations send their greetings to you.

¹⁷ I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put snares alongside the teaching in which you have been trained — keep away from them. ¹⁸ For men like these are not serving our Lord the Messiah but their own belly; by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the innocent. ¹⁹ For everyone has heard about your obedience; therefore I rejoice over you. However, I want you to be wise concerning good, but innocent concerning evil. ²⁰ And God, the source of shalom, will soon crush the Adversary under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Yeshua be with you.

²¹ Timothy, my fellow-worker, sends greetings to you; so do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.

²² I, Tertius, the one writing down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

²³ My host Gaius, in whose home the whole congregation meets, greets you. Erastus the city treasurer and brother Quartus greet you. ^24 [af]