Paul, Apostle

Circumcised on the eighth day,
of the people of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrews;
as to the law, a Pharisee;
as to zeal, a persecutor of the church;
as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

I am the least of the apostles,
unworthy to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.

"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
"Who are you, Lord?"
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."

But whatever gain I had,
I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Indeed, I count everything as loss
because of the surpassing worth
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For we hold that one is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.

Yet we know that a person is not justified
by works of the law
but through faith in Jesus Christ,
so we also have believed in Christ Jesus,
in order to be justified by faith in Christ
and not by works of the law,
because by works of the law
no one will be justified.

I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me.

"My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content
with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.

For the word of the cross is folly
to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews
and folly to Gentiles,
but to those who are called,
both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men,
and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation.
The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come.

There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free,
there is no male and female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.