¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey^(A)—whether you are slaves to sin,^(B) which leads to death,^(C) or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings^(A) by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from^[a] faith^(B)—

² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge^(A) of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit,^(B) to be obedient^(C) to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:^(D)

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.^(E)

¹⁸ I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles^(A) to obey God^(B) by what I have said and done—

⁷ So the word of God spread.^(A) The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly,^(B) and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.