Romans 15

We who are strong ought to put up with the weaknesses of those who are weak, instead of pleasing ourselves.

1We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Note"Strong" and "weak" carry on the argument of the previous chapter, where the dispute was about food and about treating certain days as holy. The "weak" are those whose conscience will not let them eat everything; the "strong" are those who feel free to. The words are not a verdict on anyone's character or courage. "Infirmities" in 1611 English covered weakness of any kind, not just illness.

2Each of us should please the person next to us, for their good, to build them up.

2Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.

3For even Christ did not please himself. As the Scriptures say, "The insults of those who insulted you fell on me."

3For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

NoteThe quotation is Psalm 69:9, from a psalm in which a sufferer tells God that the hostility aimed at God has landed on him instead.

4Everything that was written long ago was written to teach us. It gives us patient endurance and encouragement, so that we can have hope.

4For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Note"Written aforetime" means the Jewish Scriptures, the writings later called the Old Testament; these were the only Scriptures Paul had. In the King James Version "patience" usually means endurance under pressure rather than calm waiting, and "comfort" means strengthening and encouragement rather than soothing.

5Now may God, who gives endurance and encouragement, help you to think and live in agreement with one another, following Christ Jesus.

5Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

6Then together, with one mind and one voice, you will give glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

6That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7So accept one another, just as Christ accepted us, and this will bring glory to God.

7Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Note"Receive" translates a word for welcoming someone into your home and to your table. After a whole chapter of argument about shared meals, the instruction is practical: eat together.

8Here is what I mean: Jesus Christ became a servant to the Jewish people to show that God keeps his word, and to make good on the promises God made to their ancestors.

8Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

Note"The circumcision" is shorthand for the Jewish people, named for the mark of the covenant given to Abraham, the cutting away of the foreskin of every male child. "The fathers" are the ancestors to whom God made those promises: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their line.

9He did this so that the Gentiles, meaning people who are not Jewish, would give glory to God for his mercy. As it is written: "So I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing praise to your name."

9And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

NoteThe quotation is Psalm 18:49, which also appears as 2 Samuel 22:50. In the King James Version "confess" often means to acknowledge or declare openly, and here to praise, not to admit a fault.

10And again it says, "Be glad, you Gentiles, along with his people."

10And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.

NoteThe quotation is from Deuteronomy 32:43, the closing song of Moses.

11And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all peoples praise him."

11And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.

NoteThe quotation is Psalm 117:1. That psalm is only two verses long, so Paul is quoting half of the shortest psalm in the collection.

12And again, Isaiah says, "A root will grow from Jesse. He will rise up to rule the nations, and the Gentiles will put their hope in him."

12And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

NoteThe quotation is Isaiah 11:10. "Esaias" is simply the Greek form of the name Isaiah. Jesse was the father of King David, so "a root of Jesse" pictures a fresh shoot growing out of David's family tree. The same Greek word, ethne, lies behind both "nations" and "Gentiles" here: it means the peoples other than Israel.

13Now may God, who gives hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you trust him, so that your hope overflows by the power of the Holy Spirit.

13Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Note"Holy Ghost" is the King James wording for what modern versions call the Holy Spirit. In 1611 "ghost" simply meant spirit, with none of its present sense of a haunting.

14My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and well able to teach and correct one another.

14And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

15Even so, I have written to you quite boldly on some points, to remind you of these things again. I did it because of the kindness God showed me

15Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,

Note"The grace that is given to me of God" does not mean general kindness here. Paul means a specific assignment handed to him, the commission to work among non-Jews, which he spells out in the next verse.

16in making me a servant of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. I serve the good news of God the way a priest serves, so that the Gentiles may be an offering God accepts, made holy by the Holy Spirit.

16That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

NotePaul describes his own work in temple vocabulary. The word behind "ministering" is used of a priest carrying out his duties at the altar, and the Gentiles he brings to God are the offering laid on it. "Sanctified" means set apart for God's use, the way an animal or object was set apart for sacrifice.

17So in Christ Jesus I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

17I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.

Note"Glory" used as a verb in the King James Version means to boast or take pride in something.

18I will not dare to speak about anything except what Christ has done through me to bring the Gentiles to obey God, by what I have said and what I have done,

18For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,

19by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully preached the good news about Christ.

19Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Note"Signs and wonders" is a fixed Old Testament phrase for acts of power that point beyond themselves to their source. Illyricum was a Roman province on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, covering roughly modern Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia; it marked the northwestern limit of Paul's travels.

20It has always been my aim to preach the good news where Christ was not already known, so that I would not build on someone else's foundation.

20Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:

Note"Where Christ was named" means where his name had already been spoken publicly, that is, where another preacher had already worked.

21Instead, as it is written: "Those who were never told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."

21But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.

22That is why I have been kept from coming to you so many times.

22For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.

23But now there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and for many years I have wanted to come to you.

23But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you;

Note"No more place in these parts" does not mean everyone in the eastern provinces had heard. Paul means he has established communities across each region there, so his own pioneering job in the east is finished and he can turn west.

24So whenever I travel to Spain, I will come to you. I hope to see you as I pass through, and after I have enjoyed your company for a while, to have you help me on my way there.

24Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.

NoteSpain was the far western end of the Roman world, about as far from Jerusalem as a traveler could get by land and sea. "To be brought on my way" refers to a recognized custom: a congregation would send a traveler off equipped, with money, supplies, letters of introduction and sometimes companions for part of the road. Paul is asking the Romans to back the Spanish trip.

25But right now I am on my way to Jerusalem to serve God's people there.

25But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.

Note"Saints" in the King James Version means the ordinary members of the Christian communities, God's set apart people, not a special class of exceptionally holy individuals. That is why Paul can speak in the next verse of "poor saints".

26The believers in Macedonia and Achaia were glad to make a contribution for the poor among God's people in Jerusalem.

26For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.

NoteMacedonia and Achaia were the two Roman provinces of Greece, northern and southern: Philippi and Thessalonica lay in the first, Corinth and Athens in the second. The "contribution" is a relief fund Paul spent years collecting from his largely non-Jewish congregations for the impoverished believers in Jerusalem.

27They were glad to do it, and in fact they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the spiritual blessings of the Jewish believers, they ought to serve them with material things in return.

27It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

Note"Carnal" in 1611 meant bodily or material, anything belonging to physical life, and carried none of today's sexual sense. Paul is setting money and goods over against spiritual benefits.

28So when I have finished this task and have safely handed over the money that was collected, I will go on to Spain and visit you on the way.

28When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain.

Note"Sealed to them this fruit" uses the language of trade. A shipment was sealed to certify its contents and prove it arrived untouched. The "fruit" is the money collected, so Paul means he will see the fund delivered, intact and verifiably.

29And I know that when I come to you, I will come with the full blessing of the good news about Christ.

29And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

30Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love the Spirit gives, to join in my struggle by praying to God for me.

30Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;

Note"Strive together with me" translates a word from the wrestling ground and the games, meaning to labor alongside someone in a contest. "The love of the Spirit" can mean either the love the Spirit produces in believers or the love the Spirit itself has; the Greek allows both readings.

31Pray that I will be kept safe from those in Judea who do not believe, and that the help I am bringing to Jerusalem will be welcomed by God's people there.

31That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;

NotePaul's request is concrete, not formal. He expected physical danger from opponents in Judea, and he was genuinely unsure whether his relief money would even be accepted by the Jerusalem believers, some of whom distrusted his work among non-Jews. Acts reports that he was in fact seized and arrested shortly after reaching Jerusalem.

32Then, if God is willing, I can come to you with joy and be refreshed along with you.

32That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.

33May God, who gives peace, be with you all. Amen.

33Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.