Bible in Basic English
Romans, 9
More than Conquerors
9:1 I say what is true in Christ, and not what is false, my mind giving witness with me in the Holy Spirit,
2 That I am full of sorrow and pain without end.
3 For I have a desire to take on myself the curse for my brothers, my family in the flesh :
4 Who are Israelites : who have the place of sons, and the glory, and the agreements with God, and the giving of the law, and the worship, and the hope offered by God :
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom came Christ in the flesh, who is over all, God, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it.
9:6 But it is not as if the word of God was without effect. For they are not all Israel, who are of Israel :
7 And they are not all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, In Isaac will your seed be named.
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh, but the children of God's undertaking, who are named as the seed.
9 For this is the word of God's undertaking, At this time will I come, and Sarah will have a son.
10 And not only so, but Rebecca being about to have a child by our father Isaac --
11 Before the children had come into existence, or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose and his selection might be effected, not by works, but by him whose purpose it is,
12 It was said to her, The older will be the servant of the younger.
13 Even as it is said, I had love for Jacob, but for Esau I had hate.
9:14 What may we say then ? is God not upright ? let it not be said.
15 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and pity on whom I will have pity.
16 So then, it is not by the desire or by the attempt of man, but by the mercy of God.
17 For the holy Writings say to Pharaoh, For this same purpose did I put you on high, so that I might make my power seen in you, and that there might be knowledge of my name through all the earth.
18 So then, at his pleasure he has mercy on a man, and at his pleasure he makes the heart hard.
9:19 But you will say to me, Why does he still make us responsible? who is able to go against his purpose?
20 But, O man, who are you, to make answer against God? May the thing which is made say to him who made it, Why did you make me so?
21 Or has not the potter the right to make out of one part of his earth a vessel for honour, and out of another a vessel for shame?
22 What if God, desiring to let his wrath and his power be seen, for a long time put up with the vessels of wrath which were ready for destruction :
23 And to make clear the wealth of his glory to vessels of mercy, which he had before made ready for glory,
24 Even us, who were marked out by him, not only from the Jews, but from the Gentiles ?
25 As he says in Hosea, They will be named my people who were not my people, and she will be loved who was not loved.
26 And in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there they will be named the sons of the living God.
9:27 And Isaiah says about Israel, Even if the number of the children of Israel is as the sand of the sea, only a small part will get salvation :
28 For the Lord will give effect to his word on the earth, putting an end to it and cutting it short.
29 And, as Isaiah had said before, If the Lord of armies had not given us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.
9:30 What then may we say ? That the nations who did not go after righteousness have got righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith :
31 But Israel, going after a law of righteousness, did not get it.
32 Why? Because they were not searching for it by faith, but by works. They came up against the stone which was in the way;
33 As it is said, See, I am putting in Zion a stone causing a fall, and a rock in the way : but he who has faith in him will not be put to shame.
Romans, 10
Faith and law contrasted
10:1 Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is, that they may get salvation.
2 For I give witness of them that they have a strong desire for God, but not with knowledge.
3 Because, not having knowledge of God's righteousness, and desiring to give effect to their righteousness, they have not put themselves under the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who has faith.
10:5 For Moses says that the man who does the righteousness which is of the law will get life by it.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith says these words, Say not in your heart, Who will go up to heaven? (that is, to make Christ come down:)
7 Or, Who will go down into the deep? (that is, to make Christ come again from the dead:)
8 But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart : that is, the word of faith of which we are the preachers :
9 Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation :
10 For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation.
11 Because it is said in the holy Writings, Whoever has faith in him will not be shamed.
12 And the Jew is not different from the Greek : for there is the same Lord of all, who is good to all who have hope in his name :
13 Because, Whoever will give worship to the name of the Lord will get salvation.
10:14 But how will they give worship to him in whom they have no faith? and how will they have faith in him of whom they have not had news? and how will they have news without a preacher ?
15 And how will there be preachers if they are not sent ? As it is said, How beautiful are the feet of those who give the glad news of good things.
16 But they have not all given ear to the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has had faith in our word?
17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
10:18 But I say, Did not the word come to their ears ? Yes, certainly : Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
19 But I say, Had Israel no knowledge ? First Moses says, You will be moved to envy by that which is not a nation, and by a foolish people I will make you angry.
20 And Isaiah says without fear, Those who were not searching for me made discovery of me ; and I was seen by those whose hearts were turned away from me.
21 But about Israel he says ; All the day my hands have been stretched out to a people whose hearts were turned away, and who put themselves against my word.
Romans, 11
God's universal salvation
11:1 So I say, Has God put his people on one side ? Let there be no such thought. For I am of Israel, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not put away the people of his selection. Or have you no knowledge of what is said about Elijah in the holy Writings ? how he says words to God against Israel,
3 Lord, they have put your prophets to death, and made waste your altars, and now I am the last, and they are searching for me to take away my life.
4 But what answer does God make to him ? I have still seven thousand men whose knees have not been bent to Baal.
5 In the same way, there are at this present time some who are marked out by the selection of grace.
6 But if it is of grace, then it is no longer of works : or grace would not be grace.
11:7 What then ? That which Israel was searching for he did not get, but those of the selection got it and the rest were made hard.
8 As it was said in the holy Writings, God gave them a spirit of sleep, eyes which might not see, and ears which have no hearing, to this day.
9 And David says, Let their table be made a net for taking them, and a stone in their way, and a punishment :
10 Let their eyes be made dark so that they may not see, and let their back be bent down at all times.
11:11 So I say, Were their steps made hard in order that they might have a fall ? In no way : but by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, so that they might be moved to envy.
12 Now, if their fall is the wealth of the world, and their loss the wealth of the Gentiles, how much greater will be the glory when they are made full ?
11:13 But I say to you, Gentiles, in so far as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I make much of my position :
14 If in any way those who are of my flesh may be moved to envy, so that some of them may get salvation by me.
15 For, if by their putting away, the rest of men have been made friends with God, what will their coming back again be, but life from the dead ?
16 And if the first-fruit is holy, so is the mass : and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, an olive-tree of the fields, were put in among them, and were given a part with them in the root by which the olive-tree is made fertile,
18 Do not be uplifted in pride over the branches : because it is not you who are the support of the root, but it is by the root that you are supported.
19 You will say, Branches were broken off so that I might be put in.
20 Truly, because they had no faith they were broken off, and you have your place by reason of your faith. Do not be lifted up in pride, but have fear ;
21 For, if God did not have mercy on the natural branches, he will not have mercy on you.
22 See then that God is good but his rules are fixed : to those who were put away he was hard, but to you he has been good, on the condition that you keep in his mercy; if not, you will be cut off as they were.
23 And they, if they do not go on without faith, will be united to the tree again, because God is able to put them in again.
24 For if you were cut out of a field olive-tree, and against the natural use were united to a good olive-tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be united again with the olive-tree which was theirs ?
11:25 For it is my desire, brothers, that this secret may be clear to you, so that you may not have pride in your knowledge, that Israel has been made hard in part, till all the Gentiles have come in ;
26 And so all Israel will get salvation : as it is said in the holy Writings, There will come out of Zion the One who makes free; by him wrongdoing will be taken away from Jacob :
27 And this is my agreement with them, when I will take away their sins.
28 As far as the good news is in question, they are cut off from God on account of you, but as far as the selection is in question, they are loved on account of the fathers.
29 Because God's selection and his mercies may not be changed.
30 For as you, in time past, were not under the rule of God, but now have got mercy through their turning away,
31 So in the same way these have gone against the orders of God, so that by the mercy given to you they may now get mercy.
32 For God has let them all go against his orders, so that he might have mercy on them all.
11:33 O how deep is the wealth of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! no one is able to make discovery of his decisions, and his ways may not be searched out.
34 Who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord? or who has taken part in his purposes ?
35 Or who has first given to him, and it will be given back to him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. So be it.
Romans, 12
Life in the body of Christ
12:1 For this reason I make request to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you will give your bodies as a living offering, holy, pleasing to God, which is the worship it is right for you to give him.
2 And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God.
12:3 But I say to every one of you, through the grace given to me, not to have an over-high opinion of himself, but to have wise thoughts, as God has given to every one a measure of faith.
4 For, as we have a number of parts in one body, but all the parts have not the same use,
5 So we, though we are a number of persons, are one body in Christ, and are dependent on one another;
6 And having different qualities by reason of the grace given to us, such as the quality of a prophet, let it be made use of in relation to the measure of our faith ;
7 Or the position of a Deacon of the church, let a man give himself to it; or he who has the power of teaching, let him make use of it ;
8 He who has the power of comforting, let him do so; he who gives, let him give freely; he who has the power of ruling, let him do it with a serious mind; he who has mercy on others, let it be with joy.
12:9 Let love be without deceit. Be haters of what is evil ; keep your minds fixed on what is good.
10 Be kind to one another with a brother's love, putting others before yourselves in honour;
11 Be not slow in your work, but be quick in spirit, as the Lord's servants ;
12 Being glad in hope, quiet in trouble, at all times given to prayer,
13 Giving to the needs of the saints, ready to take people into your houses.
12:14 Give blessing and not curses to those who are cruel to you.
15 Take part in the joy of those who are glad, and in the grief of those who are sorrowing.
16 Be in harmony with one another. Do not have a high opinion of yourselves, but be in agreement with common people. Do not give yourselves an air of wisdom.
17 Do not give evil for evil to any man. Let all your business be well ordered in the eyes of all men.
18 As far as it is possible for you be at peace with all men.
19 Do not give punishment for wrongs done to you, dear brothers, but give way to the wrath of God; for it is said in the holy Writings, Punishment is mine, I will give reward, says the Lord.
20 But if one who has hate for you is in need of food or of drink, give it to him, for in so doing you will put coals of fire on his head.
21 Do not let evil overcome you, but overcome evil by good.
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