For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

As he also says in Hosea: “I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ‘My beloved.’”

Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach),

But I ask, have they not heard? Yes, they have: Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.”

Granted! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear!

so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.

Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position.

My conversation and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges me is the Lord.

Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”

For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason for boasting, because I am compelled to do this. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if I do it unwillingly, I am entrusted with a responsibility.

and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

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

If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.

It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful.

It is the same with you. Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, seek to abound in order to strengthen the church.

If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.