15 ¹We are strong with faith. So we should help the people who are weak. We should help those people with their weaknesses. We should not try to please ourselves. ²Each of us should please other people. We should do this to help them. We should try to help them be stronger in faith. ³Even Christ did not live trying to please himself. It was like the Scriptures* said [about him]: "Those people that insulted you have also insulted me."* ⁴Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. Those things were written so that we could have hope. That hope comes from the patience and strength that the Scriptures give us. ⁵Patience and strength come from God. And I pray that God will help you all agree together the way Christ Jesus wants. ⁶Then you will all be joined together. And all together you will give glory (praise) to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷Christ accepted you. So you should accept each other. This will bring glory to God. ⁸I tell you that Christ became a servant of the Jews to show that what God promises is true. Christ did this to prove that God will do the things he promised the Jewish fathers. ⁹Christ also did this so that the non-Jews could give glory to God for the mercy he gives to them. It is written [in the Scriptures*]: "So I will give thanks to you among the non-Jewish people; I will sing praise to your name." Psalm 18:49

¹⁰The Scripture* also says, "You non-Jews should be happy together with God's people." Deuteronomy 32:43

¹¹The Scripture* also says, "Praise the Lord all you non-Jews; all people should praise the Lord." Psalm 117:1

¹²And Isaiah says, "A person will come from Jesse's family.* That person will come to rule over the non-Jews; and the non-Jews will have hope because of that person." Isaiah 11:10

¹³I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.*

Paul Talks About His Work

¹⁴My brothers [and sisters], I am sure that you are full of good. I know that you have all the knowledge you need and that you are able to teach each other. ¹⁵But I have written to you very openly about some things that I wanted you to remember. I did this because God gave me this special gift: ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus. God made me a minister to help the non-Jewish people. I serve God by teaching his Good News.* I do this so that the non-Jewish people may be an offering that God will accept. Those people are made holy* for God by the Holy Spirit.* ¹⁷So I am proud of the things I have done for God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁸I will not talk about anything I did myself. I will talk only about the things that Christ has done with me in leading the non-Jewish people to obey God. They have obeyed God because of the things I have said and done. ¹⁹And they obeyed God because of the power of the miracles* and the great things they saw, and because of the power of God's Spirit. I have told people the Good News* about Christ in every place from Jerusalem to Illyricum.* And so I have finished that part of my work. ²⁰I always want to tell the Good News in places where people have never heard of Christ. I do this because I don't want to build on the work that another person has already started. ²¹But it is written [in the Scriptures]*: "The people that were not told about him (the Christ) will see, and those people that have not heard about him will understand." Isaiah 52:15

Scripture(s) Holy Writings--the Old Testament. "Those people ... me" Quote from Ps. 69:9. Jesse's family Jesse was the father of David, king of Israel. Jesus was from their family. Spirit, Holy Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. Joined with God and Christ, he does God's work among people in the world. Good News The news that God has made a way for people to have their sins forgiven and live with him forever. holy A holy person is pure, belongs only to God, and does only the things that God wants. miracle(s) Amazing things done by the power of God. Illyricum A Roman province far north and west of Greece.