Romans 15:12-21

Again Isaiah says, “THERE SHALL BE A ROOT OF JESSE, HE WHO ARISES TO RULE [as King] OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE.” [Is 11:1, 10; Rev 5:5; 22:16] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises. Personally I am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge, and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another. Still, on some points I have written to you very boldly and without reservation to remind you [about them] again, because of the grace that was given to me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I minister as a priest the gospel of God, in order that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable [to Him], sanctified [made holy and set apart for His purpose] by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have found [legitimate] reason for boasting in things related [to my service] to God. For I will not [even] presume to speak of anything except what Christ has done through me [as an instrument in His hands], resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles [to the gospel], by word and deed, with the power of signs and wonders, [and all of it] in the power of the Spirit. So [starting] from Jerusalem and as far away as Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel [faithfully preaching the good news] of Christ [where it had not before been preached]. Accordingly I set a goal to preach the gospel, not where Christ’s name was already known, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but [instead I would act on this goal] as it is written [in Scripture], “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD [of Him] SHALL UNDERSTAND.” [Is 52:15]