After he had gone through those regions ¹  and spoken many words of encouragement ²  to the believers there, ³  he came to Greece, ⁴ 

And do you think, ¹  whoever you are, when you judge ²  those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, ³  that you will escape God’s judgment?

who are Israelites. To them belong ¹  the adoption as sons, ²  the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship, ³  and the promises.

For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him.

And David says, “Let their table become a snare and trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

For even though I am absent physically, ¹  I am present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did this, just as though I were present. ² 

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!

just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit ¹  of many, so that they may be saved.

If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.

Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, ¹  so that we would not trust in ourselves ²  but in God who raises the dead.

Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth ¹  we are absent from the Lord –

In Christ ¹  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ²  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

namely, that through the gospel ¹  the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members ²  of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

The former proclaim Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, because they think they can cause trouble for me in my imprisonment. ¹ 

Finally, my brothers and sisters, ¹  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

My aim is to know him, ¹  to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, ²  and to be like him in his death,

Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. ¹ 

Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. ¹  If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. ² 

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.

It was not because we do not have that right, but to give ourselves as an example for you to imitate. ¹