The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

  Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

  16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, r“LORD, who has believed our report?”

  17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

  18But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:

  s“Their sound has gone out to all the earth,

  And their words to the ends of the world.”

  19But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says:

  t“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation,

  I will move you to anger by a ufoolish nation.”

  20But Isaiah is very bold and says:

  v“I was found by those who did not seek Me;

  I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

  21But to Israel he says:

  w“All day long I have stretched out My hands

  To a disobedient and contrary people.”

  Romans 11

  Israel’s Rejection Not Total

  1I say then, ahas God cast away His people? bCertainly not! For cI also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

  2God has not cast away His people whom dHe foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,

  3e“LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?

  4But what does the divine response say to him? f“I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

  5gEven so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

  6And hif by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. 1But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

  7What then? iIsrael has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were jblinded.

  8Just as it is written:

  k“God has given them a spirit of stupor,

  l Eyes that they should not see

  And ears that they should not hear,

  To this very day.”

  9And David says:

  m“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

  A stumbling block and a recompense to them.

  10Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,

  And bow down their back always.”

  Israel’s Rejection Not Final

  11I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But nthrough their 2fall, to provoke them to ojealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

  12Now if their 3fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

  13For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as pI am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

  14if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and qsave some of them.

  15For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be rbut life from the dead?

  16For if sthe firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

  17And if tsome of the branches were broken off, uand you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and 4fatness of the olive tree,

  18vdo not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

  19You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”

  20Well said. Because of wunbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.

  21For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.

  22Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, 5goodness, xif you continue in His goodness. Otherwise yyou also will be cut off.

  23And they also, zif they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

  24For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

  25For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be awise in your own 6opinion, that bblindness in part has happened to Israel cuntil the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

  26And so all Israel will be 7saved, as it is written:

  d“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,

  And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

  27For ethis is My covenant with them,

  When I take away their sins.”

  28Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are fbeloved for the sake of the fathers.

  29For the gifts and the calling of God are girrevocable.

  30For as you hwere once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,

  31even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.

  32For God has 8committed them iall to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

  33Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

  34“For who has known the jmind of the LORD?

  Or kwho has become His counselor?”

  35“Orl who has first given to Him

  And it shall be repaid to him?”

  36For mof Him and through Him and to Him are all things, nto whom be glory forever. Amen.

  Romans 12

  Living Sacrifices to God

  1I abeseech1 you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies ba living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your 2reasonable service.

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

  Serve God with Spiritual Gifts

  3For I say, fthrough the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, gnot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt hto each one a measure of faith.

  4For ias we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,

  5so jwe, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

  6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is kgiven to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us lprophesy in proportion to our faith;

  7or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; mhe who teaches, in teaching;

  8nhe who exhorts, in exhortation; ohe who gives, with liberality; phe who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, qwith cheerfulness.

  Behave Like a Christian

  9rLet love be without hypocrisy. sAbhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

  10tBe kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, uin honor giving preference to one another;

  11not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

  12vrejoicing in hope, wpatient3 in tribulation, xcontinuing steadfastly in prayer;

  13ydistributing to the needs of the saints, zgiven4 to hospitality.

  14aBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

  15bRejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

  16cBe of the same mind toward one another. dDo not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

  17eRepay no one evil for evil. fHave5 regard for good things in the sight of all men.

  18If it is possible, as much as depends on you, glive peaceably with all men.

  19Beloved, hdo not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written,
i“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

  20Therefore

  j“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

  If he is thirsty, give him a drink;

  For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

  21Do not be overcome by evil, but kovercome evil with good.

  Romans 13

  Submit to Government

  1Let every soul be asubject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

  2Therefore whoever resists bthe authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will 1bring judgment on themselves.

  3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? cDo what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

  4For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

  5Therefore dyou must be subject, not only because of wrath ebut also for conscience’ sake.

  6For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.

  7fRender therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

  Love Your Neighbor

  (cf. Mark 12:31; James 2:8)

  8Owe no one anything except to love one another, for ghe who loves another has fulfilled the law.

  9For the commandments, h“You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” 2“You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, i“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

  10Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore jlove is the fulfillment of the law.

  Put on Christ

  11And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time kto awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

  12The night is far spent, the day is at hand. lTherefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and mlet us put on the armor of light.

  13nLet us walk 3properly, as in the day, onot in revelry and drunkenness, pnot in lewdness and lust, qnot in strife and envy.

  14But rput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and smake no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

  Romans 14

  The Law of Liberty

  1Receivea one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.

  2For one believes he bmay eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

  3Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and clet not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.

  4dWho are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

  5eOne person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

  6He who fobserves the day, observes it to the Lord; 1and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for ghe gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.

  7For hnone of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.

  8For if we ilive, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

  9For jto this end Christ died 2and rose and lived again, that He might be kLord of both the dead and the living.

  10But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For lwe shall all stand before the judgment seat of 3Christ.

  11For it is written:

  m“ As I live, says the LORD,

  Every knee shall bow to Me,

  And every tongue shall confess to God.”

  12So then neach of us shall give account of himself to God.

  13Therefore let us not judge one another 4anymore, but rather resolve this, onot to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

  The Law of Love

  14I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus pthat there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

  15Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. qDo not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

  16rTherefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;

  17sfor the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and tpeace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

  18For he who serves Christ in 5these things uis acceptable to God and approved by men.

  19vTherefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which wone may 6edify another.

  20xDo not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. yAll things indeed are pure, zbut it is evil for the man who eats with 7offense.

  21It is good neither to eat ameat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles 8or is offended or is made weak.

  229Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. bHappy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

  23But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for cwhatever is not from faith is 10sin.

  Romans 15

  Bearing Others’ Burdens

  1We athen who are strong ought to bear with the 1scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

  2bLet each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to 2edification.

  3cFor even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, d“The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

  4For ewhatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the 3patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

  5fNow may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,

  6that you may gwith one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  Glorify God Together

  7Therefore hreceive one another, just ias Christ also received 4us, to the glory of God.

  8Now I say that jJesus Christ has become a 5servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, kto confirm the promises made to the fathers,

  9and lthat the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:

  m“For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles,

  And sing to Your name.”

  10And again he says:

  n“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”

  11And again:

  o“Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles!

  Laud Him, all you peoples!”

  12And again, Isaiah says:

  p“There shall be a root of Jesse;

  And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,

  In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

  13Now may the God of hope fill you with all qjoy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

  From Jerusalem to Illyricum

  14Now rI myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, sfilled with all knowledge, able also to admonish 6one another.

  15Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, tbecause of the grace given to me by God,

  16that uI might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the voffering 7of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

  17Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus win the things which pertain to God.

  18For I will not dare to speak of any of those things xwhich Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, yto make
the Gentiles obedient—

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

  20And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, alest I should build on another man’s foundation,

  21but as it is written:

  b“To whom He was not announced, they shall see;

  And those who have not heard shall understand.”

  Plan to Visit Rome

  22For this reason cI also have been much hindered from coming to you.

  23But now no longer having a place in these parts, and dhaving a great desire these many years to come to you,

  24whenever I journey to Spain, 8I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, eand to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may fenjoy your company for a while.

  25But now gI am going to Jerusalem to 9minister to the saints.

  26For hit pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.

  27It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For iif the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, jtheir duty is also to minister to them in material things.

  28Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them kthis fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain.

  29lBut I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing 10of the gospel of Christ.

  30Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and mthrough the love of the Spirit, nthat you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,

  31othat I may be delivered from those in Judea who 11do not believe, and that pmy service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

  32qthat I may come to you with joy rby the will of God, and may sbe refreshed together with you.

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

  Romans 16

  Sister Phoebe Commended

  1I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in aCenchrea,