Romans 15:9-21

9and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy [to them, since God had no covenant with them]. As it is written and forever remains written, “Therefore I praise You among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.”

10Again it says, “Rejoice and celebrate, O Gentiles, along with His people.”

11And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, And let all the peoples praise Him!”

12Again 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.”

13May 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.

14Personally 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.

15Still, 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,

16to 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.

17In Christ Jesus, then, I have found [legitimate] reason for boasting in things related [to my service] to God.

18For 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,

19with 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].

20Accordingly 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;

21but [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.”