Self-denial on Behalf of Others

15 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. ² Each of us is to please his neighbor ^[a]for his good, to his edification. ³ For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” ⁴ For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ Now may the God ^[b]who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that with one accord you may with one ^[c]voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted ^[d]us to the glory of God. ⁸ For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, ⁹ and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written,

¹⁰ Again he says,

¹¹ And again,

¹² Again Isaiah says,

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

¹⁴ And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. ¹⁵ But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me ^[f]from God, ¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. ¹⁸ For I will not presume to speak of anything ^[g]except what Christ has accomplished through me, ^[h]resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, ¹⁹ in the power of ^[i]signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have ^[j]fully preached the gospel of Christ. ²⁰ And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; ²¹ but as it is written,

²² For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; ²³ but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you ²⁴ whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company ^[k]for a while— ²⁵ but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the ^[l]saints. ²⁶ For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the ^[m]saints in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. ²⁸ Therefore, when I have finished this, and have ^[n]put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. ²⁹ I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰ Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, ³¹ that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the ^[o]saints; ³² so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. ³³ Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Sundry Laws

22 “You shall not see your ^[a]countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away, and ^[b]pay no attention to them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman. ² If your countryman is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it; then you shall restore it to him. ³ Thus you shall do with his donkey, and you shall do the same with his garment, and you shall do likewise with anything lost by your countryman, which he has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to ^[c]neglect them. ⁴ You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fallen down on the way, and ^[d]pay no attention to them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up.

⁵ “A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

⁶ “If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; ⁷ you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.

⁸ “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone falls from it.

⁹ “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or ^[e]all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will become defiled.

¹⁰ “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

¹¹ “You shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together.

¹² “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.

Laws on Morality

¹³ “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then ^[f]turns against her, ¹⁴ and charges her with shameful deeds and ^[g]publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,’ ¹⁵ then the girl’s father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. ¹⁶ The girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he ^[h]turned against her; ¹⁷ and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, “I did not find your daughter a virgin.” But ^[i]this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. ¹⁸ So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him, ¹⁹ and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he ^[j]publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot ^[k]divorce her all his days.

²⁰ “But if this ^[l]charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, ²¹ then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her ^[m]to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

²² “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.

²³ “If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, ²⁴ then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them ^[n]to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

²⁵ “But if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lies with her shall die. ²⁶ But you shall do nothing to the girl; there is no sin in the girl worthy of death, for just as a man rises against his neighbor and murders him, so is this case. ²⁷ When he found her in the field, the engaged girl cried out, but there was no one to save her.

²⁸ “If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered, ²⁹ then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he cannot divorce her all his days.

³⁰ “^[o]A man shall not take his father’s wife so that he will not uncover his father’s skirt.