For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry;
Parallel translations
- KJV For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
- BSB I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
- NKJV For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
- NASB But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Therefore insofar as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
- NLT I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul addresses his Gentile readers directly, honoring his ministry as apostle to the Gentiles.
Overview
Paul turns to speak pointedly to Gentile believers, affirming the dignity of his apostolic calling to them. He magnifies this ministry not for self-glory but because of its strategic role in God's larger plan for Israel (next verse). The verse models how legitimate gospel work can serve purposes beyond its immediate sphere.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Acts 9:15But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
- 2 Tim 1:11–12For this, I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
- Eph 3:8To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
- Gal 2:7–9but to the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the uncircumcision, even as Peter with the Good News for the circumcision
- 1 Tim 2:7to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
- Gal 1:16to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,
- Rom 15:16–19that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 26:17–18delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,
- Acts 13:2As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.”
- Gal 2:2I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
- Acts 22:21“He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 11:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.