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Chapter 28
Ashore on Malta
1Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.
2The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.
3Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
4When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
5But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
6The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
7There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably.
8His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.
9When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.
10They honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.
Arrival at Rome
11After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux.
12We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days.
13From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli.
14There we found some brothers who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.
15The brothers there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged.
16When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
Paul Preaches at Rome Under Guard
17Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.
18They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death.
19But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar–not that I had any charge to bring against my own people.
20For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
21They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of the brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you.
22But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”
23They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.
24Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.
25They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
26”‘Go to this people and say,
“You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
27For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’Isaiah 6:9,10
28“Therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”Some manuscripts listen!” 29 After he said this, the Jews left, arguing vigorously among themselves.
29
30For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.
31Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans
Chapter 1
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God–
2the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
3regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,
4and who through the SpiritOr who as to his spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of GodOr was appointed to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
5Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
6And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul's Longing to Visit Rome
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
9God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
10in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong–
12that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.
13I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14I am obligated both to Greeks and non–Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,Or is from faith to faith just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”Hab. 2:4
God's Wrath Against Mankind
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30slanderers, God–haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Chapter 2
God's Righteous Judgment
1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?
4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
6God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”Psalm 62:12; Prov. 24:12
7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
8But for those who are self–seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
11For God does not show favoritism.
12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law,
15since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)
16This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
The Jews and the Law
17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;
18if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
19if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,
20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth–
21you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
22You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
24As it is written: “God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”Isaiah 52:5; Ezek. 36:22
25Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.
26If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?
27The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have theOr who, by means of written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.
29No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

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