HOLY BIBLE: Romans 12 (original) (raw)

1 Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, διὰ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ, παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν ἁγίαν εὐάρεστον τῷ θεῷ τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν: 2 καὶ μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ μεταμορφοῦσθε τῇ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ νοός, εἰς τὸ δοκιμάζειν ὑμᾶς τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον καὶ τέλειον. 3 λέγω γὰρ διὰ τῆς χάριτος τῆς δοθείσης μοι παντὶ τῷ ὄντι ἐν ὑμῖν μὴ ὑπερφρονεῖν παρ' ὃ δεῖ φρονεῖν, ἀλλὰ φρονεῖν εἰς τὸ σωφρονεῖν, ἑκάστῳ ὡς ὁ θεὸς ἐμέρισεν μέτρον πίστεως. 4 καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι πολλὰ μέλη ἔχομεν, τὰ δὲ μέλη πάντα οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει πρᾶξιν, 5 οὕτως οἱ πολλοὶ ἓν σῶμά ἐσμεν ἐν Χριστῷ, τὸ δὲ καθ' εἷς ἀλλήλων μέλη, 6 ἔχοντες δὲ χαρίσματα κατὰ τὴν χάριν τὴν δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν διάφορα: εἴτε προφητείαν, κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς πίστεως, 7 εἴτε διακονίαν, ἐν τῇ διακονίᾳ, εἴτε ὁ διδάσκων ἐν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ: 8 εἴτε ὁ παρακαλῶν, ἐν τῇ παρακλήσει: ὁ μεταδιδοὺς ἐν ἁπλότητι, ὁ προϊστάμενος ἐν σπουδῇ, ὁ ἐλεῶν ἐν ἱλαρότητι.

1 And now, brethren, I appeal to you by God’s mercies to offer up your bodies as a living sacrifice, consecrated to God and worthy of his acceptance; this is the worship due from you as rational creatures.[1] 2 And you must not fall in with the manners of this world; there must be an inward change, a remaking of your minds, so that you can satisfy yourselves what is God’s will, the good thing, the desirable thing, the perfect thing. 3 Thus, in virtue of the grace that is given me, I warn every man who is of your company not to think highly of himself, beyond his just estimation, but to have a sober esteem of himself, according to the measure of faith which God has apportioned to each. 4 Each of us has one body, with many different parts, and not all these parts have the same function; 5 just so we, though many in number, form one body in Christ, and each acts as the counterpart of another. 6 The spiritual gifts we have differ, according to the special grace which has been assigned to each. If a man is a prophet, let him prophesy as far as the measure of his faith will let him.[2] 7 The administrator must be content with his administration, the teacher, with his work of teaching, 8 the preacher, with his preaching.[3] Each must perform his own task well; giving alms with generosity, exercising authority with anxious care, or doing works of mercy smilingly.

1 Obsecro itaque vos fratres per misericordiam Dei, ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem, rationabile obsequium vestrum. 2 Et nolite conformari huic sæculo, sed reformamini in novitate sensus vestri: ut probetis quæ sit voluntas Dei bona, et beneplacens, et perfecta. 3 Dico enim per gratiam quæ data est mihi, omnibus qui sunt inter vos, non plus sapere quam oportet sapere, sed sapere ad sobrietatem: et unicuique sicut Deus divisit mensuram fidei. 4 Sicut enim in uno corpore multa membra habemus, omnia autem membra non eumdem actum habent: 5 ita multi unum corpus sumus in Christo, singuli autem alter alterius membra. 6 Habentes autem donationes secundum gratiam, quæ data est nobis, differentes: sive prophetiam secundum rationem fidei, 7 sive ministerium in ministrando, sive qui docet in doctrina, 8 qui exhortatur in exhortando, qui tribuit in simplicitate, qui præest in sollicitudine, qui miseretur in hilaritate.

9 Ἡ ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος. ἀποστυγοῦντες τὸ πονηρόν, κολλώμενοι τῷ ἀγαθῷ: 10 τῇ φιλαδελφίᾳ εἰς ἀλλήλους φιλόστοργοι, τῇ τιμῇ ἀλλήλους προηγούμενοι, 11 τῇ σπουδῇ μὴ ὀκνηροί, τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες, τῷ κυρίῳ δουλεύοντες, 12 τῇ ἐλπίδι χαίροντες, τῇ θλίψει ὑπομένοντες, τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτεροῦντες, 13 ταῖς χρείαις τῶν ἁγίων κοινωνοῦντες, τὴν φιλοξενίαν διώκοντες. 14 εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς, εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε. 15 χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων, κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων. 16 τὸ αὐτὸ εἰς ἀλλήλους φρονοῦντες, μὴ τὰ ὑψηλὰ φρονοῦντες ἀλλὰ τοῖς ταπεινοῖς συναπαγόμενοι. μὴ γίνεσθε φρόνιμοι παρ' ἑαυτοῖς.

9 Your love must be a sincere love; you must hold what is evil in abomination, fix all your desire upon what is good. 10 Be affectionate towards each other, as the love of brothers demands, eager to give one another precedence. 11 I would see you unwearied in activity, aglow with the Spirit, waiting like slaves upon the Lord; 12 buoyed up by hope, patient in affliction, persevering in prayer; 13 providing generously for the needs of the saints, giving the stranger a loving welcome. 14 Bestow a blessing on those who persecute you; a blessing, not a curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with the mourner. 16 Live in harmony of mind, falling in with the opinions of common folk, instead of following conceited thoughts; never give yourselves airs of wisdom.[4]

9 Dilectio sine simulatione: odientes malum, adhærentes bono: 10 caritate fraternitatis invicem diligentes: honore invicem prævenientes: 11 sollicitudine non pigri: spiritu ferventes: Domino servientes: 12 spe gaudentes: in tribulatione patientes: orationi instantes: 13 necessitatibus sanctorum communicantes: hospitalitatem sectantes. 14 Benedicite persequentibus vos: benedicite, et nolite maledicere. 15 Gaudere cum gaudentibus, flere cum flentibus: 16 idipsum invicem sentientes: non alta sapientes, sed humilibus consentientes. Nolite esse prudentes apud vosmetipsos:

[1] ‘Your bodies’, that is, ‘yourselves’; but perhaps, for the benefit of the uncircumcised Gentiles, St Paul is specially careful to insist on the need of consecrating our bodily powers to God.

[2] ‘As far as the measure of his faith will let him’; this has commonly been rendered ‘according to the rule of faith’, but neither the Greek nor the Latin text justifies this interpretation. The sense is determined by verse 3 above.

[3] ‘The administrator’; the word here used is the technical term for a deacon, but the meaning of it here is probably more general.

[4] ‘Falling in with the opinions of common folk’; some would render ‘be content with a humble position’; but it does not appear how the verb can have this meaning.

[5] The words ‘as well as in God’s’ are wanting in most Greek manuscripts.

[6] Deut. 32.35. For ‘allow retribution to run its course’ others would prefer to translate, ‘make way before the anger’ (of your opponent), or ‘give space for your anger’ (to simmer down).

[7] Prov. 25.21. St Augustine and other commentators tell us that the coals of fire are a metaphorical description of the shame and remorse which our enemy feels at our kind usage of him.

[8] If we avenge ourselves, we Christians are converted to the enemy’s point of view, instead of converting him to ours.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd