Romans 12

So, brothers and sisters, because God has been so merciful to you, I am asking you: offer your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, set apart for him and pleasing to him. This is the true worship you owe him.

1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Note"Sacrifice" in the ancient world meant an animal killed and burned on an altar; calling a body a "living sacrifice" deliberately turns that image on its head. "Reasonable service" is misleading today: the Greek word behind "service" means the work of worship carried out at a temple, and "reasonable" (logikos) means belonging to the mind or reason, which some understand as "rational" and others as "spiritual" rather than literal. The phrase describes worship offered with the whole person rather than through animals.

2Do not let the world around you press you into its shape. Instead, let God change you by making your mind new. Then you will be able to test and recognize what God wants: what is good, what pleases him, and what is perfect.

2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Note"Prove" in 1611 English meant to test something to find out what it is, the way metal was assayed, not to demonstrate it to someone else. "Conformed" and "transformed" translate two different Greek words, the first suggesting an outward shape pressed on from outside, the second a change of what a thing actually is.

3Because of the gift God gave me, I say this to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Think about yourself with clear, level judgment, measured by the faith God has given each of you.

3For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Note"Soberly" here has nothing to do with drink; it means with a sound, level estimate of yourself. "The measure of faith" is genuinely ambiguous in the Greek and has been read both as the particular amount of faith God has assigned to each person and as faith itself serving as the standard by which each person measures himself.

4A single human body has many parts, and the parts do not all do the same job.

4For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

Note"Members" means the parts of a body, arms, eyes, feet, not people who have joined a group. "Office" in 1611 English meant the job or function a thing performs.

5In the same way, though we are many, we form one body because we belong to Christ, and each of us is a part that belongs to all the others.

5So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

6The gifts we have are different, because God in his kindness gave each of us a different one. If your gift is prophecy, which is speaking a message from God, then use it in keeping with the faith you have.

6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

Note"The proportion of faith" translates a Greek phrase that has been read two ways: in keeping with the amount of faith the speaker has, or in keeping with the shared content of what is believed.

7If your gift is serving others, then serve. If your gift is teaching, then teach.

7Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

Note"Ministry" translates diakonia, ordinary practical service such as handling food, money and errands, not clergy work. "Let us wait on our ministering" uses "wait on" in the old sense of attend to it, stick at it.

8If your gift is encouraging people, then encourage them. If you give, give generously, with no strings attached. If you lead, lead with real effort. If you show mercy to people, do it gladly.

8Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Note"Exhorteth" covers both urging someone to act and comforting or encouraging them. "Simplicity" translates a word meaning singleness of heart, without mixed motives, which in the context of giving came to mean openhandedness. "He that ruleth" is ambiguous in Greek and can mean the one who leads or presides, or the one who takes charge of caring for others. "Sheweth" is simply the older spelling of shows.

9Let your love be real, with no pretending. Hate what is evil. Hold tightly to what is good.

9Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

Note"Dissimulation" means pretending, putting on a false front; the Greek word literally means without acting a part on stage. "Cleave to" means glue yourself to, not split from; the English verb has two opposite meanings and this is the sticking one.

10Care about one another with the warm love of a family. Try to outdo each other in showing honor.

10Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

Note"Kindly affectioned" translates a Greek word used of the natural affection inside a family, between parents and children. "In honour preferring one another" is ambiguous in the Greek and has been read both as outdoing each other in showing honor and as taking the lead in honoring the other person first.

11Do not let your eagerness fade. Keep the fire burning inside you as you serve the Lord.

11Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

Note"Not slothful in business" does not refer to commerce or employment. "Business" here means eager effort or diligence in general, and the line says do not let your eagerness go slack. "Fervent" translates a word meaning boiling or bubbling up with heat.

12Be glad because of what you are hoping for. Be patient when trouble comes. Keep on praying and do not give up.

12Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Note"Tribulation" means pressure or hard affliction of any kind, not a specific end-times event. "Continuing instant in prayer" uses "instant" in its old sense of urgent and persistent, not immediate; the phrase means keep at prayer without letting up.

13Share what you have with God's people who are in need. Make a practice of welcoming people into your home.

13Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

Note"Saints" in the New Testament means all members of the Christian community, everyone set apart for God, not a special class of exceptionally holy people named as such by a later church. "Given to hospitality" meant something concrete in the ancient world: inns were few, expensive and often dangerous, so traveling believers depended on households willing to house and feed strangers.

14Ask God to bless the people who persecute you. Bless them, and do not call down harm on them.

14Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

NoteTo "bless" and to "curse" here are speech acts addressed to God, asking him to do good to someone or to bring harm on them. Cursing in this sense was a recognized practice, not merely bad language.

15Be glad with those who are glad. Cry with those who are crying.

15Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

16Live in agreement with one another. Do not set your heart on being important; be glad to keep company with people no one thinks much of. Do not imagine you are wiser than you are.

16Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Note"Condescend" has reversed its sense since 1611. It did not mean to talk down to someone; it meant to come down willingly to their level and keep company with them gladly. The Greek is also ambiguous and can mean be carried along with lowly people or with lowly things, that is, humble tasks. "Be not wise in your own conceits" uses "conceits" in the older sense of your own opinion or estimate of yourself.

17Do not pay anyone back with evil for the evil they did to you. Plan ahead to do what everyone can see is right.

17Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

NoteBoth key words have shifted. "Provide" meant to plan or take thought beforehand, from the Latin for seeing ahead, and "honest" meant honorable or admirable to look at, not truthful. The line is about arranging your conduct in advance so that outsiders can see it is decent.

18If it is possible, and as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

18If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

19Dear friends, do not pay anyone back yourselves. Leave room for God's anger instead. It is written in the Scriptures, "Paying back is mine to do; I will repay, says the Lord."

19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Note"Give place unto wrath" means leave room for it rather than crowd it out, and the wrath in question is generally understood to be God's, as the quotation that follows indicates. The quoted words come from Deuteronomy 32:35, part of a song of Moses about God settling accounts himself.

20Instead, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. By doing this you will pile burning coals on his head."

20Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

NoteThese words are quoted from Proverbs 25:21 to 22. The image of "coals of fire" on the head is disputed and was already old when Paul used it: readings include an Egyptian penitence ritual in which a person carried a pan of burning coals as a sign of shame, the burning sting of remorse produced in an enemy by kindness, and the giving of live coals to a neighbor whose fire had gone out.

21Do not let evil defeat you. Defeat evil by doing good.

21Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.