1 Most of us are sure that God will not punish us for doing certain things that the laws and rituals God gave Moses said the Jews should not do. But we should be patient with those who are uncertain about such things, and we should not let them irritate us. We should not simply please ourselves. 2 Each of us should do the things that please the fellow believers with whom we come in contact, and things that will benefit them. We should do those things in order to help them mature spiritually. 3  We should please our fellow believers, since Christ has set us an example. He did not do things to please himself. On the contrary, he tried to please God even when others insulted him. That was as it is written {as ◄someone/the Psalmist► wrote} in Scripture that the Messiah said to God: “When people insulted you (sg), it was as though they were also insulting me.” 4 And you need to remember that what was written previously {what God’s servants previously wrote} in the Scriptures, was written {they wrote} to teach us in order that we would be patient and be encouraged by reading/believing what they wrote. If we do that, we can confidently expect God to do for us all he has promised.

5 God is the one who enables us to be patient and encourages us. ◄Ask/Pray to► him that he would enable you all to live harmoniously with each other, doing as Christ Jesus did. 6 Then, as you are united in what you think and say [MTY], you will praise God, who is the heavenly father [MET] of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 So I say to all of you believers at Rome, accept each other. If you do that, people will praise God as they see you behaving like Christ. Accept each other just like Christ accepted you! 8 I want you to remember that Christ helped us Jews [MTY] by what he did, in order to show that God ◄is faithful/does what he says he will do►. That is, his coming as our Messiah fulfilled what God promised to our Jewish ancestors. 9 And by acting mercifully to them, he also caused non-Jews to praise him. What he has done for non-Jews fulfills what is written in the Scriptures that David said to God: “So I will praise you (sg) when I am among the non-Jews, and I will sing to you [MTY].” 10  David also wrote, “You non-Jews, rejoice with us who are God’s people.” 11  And Moses wrote in the Scriptures, “Praise the Lord, all you non-Jews, and may everyone praise him [DOU].” 12 And Isaiah wrote in the Scriptures, “There will be a descendant [MET] of King David who will begin to rule the non-Jews. They will confidently expect him to fulfill what he has promised.”

13 God is the one who causes you to confidently expect him to do what he has promised. I pray/ask that he will cause you to be completely joyful and peaceful as you trust in him. As you do that, the Holy Spirit will enable you to more and more confidently expect to receive what God has promised you.

14 My fellow believers, I myself am completely sure that you yourselves have acted toward others in a completely good way. You have done that because you have known completely all that God wants you to know [HYP], and because you are able to teach each other. 15 However, I have written to you quite frankly in this letter about some things in order to remind you about those things. I have written this letter because I have been appointed by God {God has appointed me}, which I did not deserve, 16 in order that I would work for Jesus Christ among non-Jews. God has appointed me to act like a priest as I proclaim his good message in order that he will accept the non-Jews who believe in Christ. They will be like an offering [MET] to God as a result of their being dedicated to him by the Holy Spirit {the Holy Spirit dedicating them to God}.

17 It follows that, because of my relationship with (OR, because I belong to) Christ Jesus, I am happy about my work for God. 18 I will speak boldly only [LIT] about the work that Christ has enabled me to do. I do that work in order that non-Jews might pay attention to the message about Christ as a result of what I have said and done, 19 specifically, by my performing many powerful miracles [DOU]. I have done those things as a result of God’s Spirit powerfully enabling me. As a result of doing those things, while traveling all the way around from Jerusalem to Illyricum province, I have completed my work of proclaiming the message about Christ in those places. 20 As I proclaim that message, I am always eagerly trying to proclaim it in places where people have not already heard about Christ. I do that in order that as I work for God I might not be continuing the work for him that someone else already started [MET]. I do not want to be like a man who builds a house on someone else’s foundation. 21 On the contrary, I teach non-Jews, so that what happens may be like what was written {the prophet Isaiah wrote} in the Scriptures about the Messiah: “Those who did not hear about him previously will know the truth about him. Truly, those who have not heard about him will hear and understand his message [DOU].”

22 Because I have attempted to preach the message about Christ in places where they have not heard about him, I have been hindered {things have hindered me} many times from being able to visit you. 23 But now there are no more places in these regions where people have not heard about Christ. Furthermore, for several years I have wanted to visit you. 24  So I hope to go/come to see you. I hope to do that as soon as I am on my way to the provinces in Spain. I hope to see you as I journey through your area, and I hope that by whatever you give me [EUP] you will help me on my journey to Spain. But before I go there, I want to enjoy being with you for a little while, although I would like to stay with you longer. 25 But I cannot visit you now, because I am about to go to Jerusalem in order to take money [EUP] for God’s people there. 26  The believers in Macedonia and Achaia provinces [MTY] decided to contribute some money [EUP] for those of God’s people in Jerusalem who are poor. 27 They themselves decided to do this, but truly they owe something to God’s people in Jerusalem. The non-Jewish believers benefited spiritually from Jewish believers as a result of hearing the message about Christ from them, so the non-Jews should also help the Jewish believers in Jerusalem by giving them material things (OR, money) [EUP]. 28 So when I have finished this task by safely delivering all this money [MET, EUP] that the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have given, I will leave Jerusalem and visit you in Rome while I am on my way to Spain. 29 And I know that when I visit you, Christ will abundantly bless us (OR, enable me to bless you).

30 Because we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ and because the Spirit of God causes us to love each other, I urge you all that you help me by fervently/intensely praying to God for me. 31  Pray that I will be protected {that God will protect me} so that the Jews in Judea who do not believe the message about Christ will not harm me. Also pray that God’s people in Jerusalem will accept the money [EUP] that I take to them. 32 Pray these things in order that I may go/come to you if God wants me to go/come, and that I may go/come joyfully, and that then God will refresh my spirit as a result of my visiting/being with you. 33  I pray that God, who causes us to have inner peace, will be with all of you and will help you. ◄May it be so!/Amen!►