Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up.
- BSB Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
- NKJV Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
- NASB Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.
- NLT We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.
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
Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. Self-giving love that edifies replaces self-pleasing.
Overview
Paul defines a love-shaped pleasing of others, not flattery, but seeking their good and edification. The aim is the neighbor's spiritual growth, not merely his comfort. This positive command counterbalances any misuse of liberty and channels Christian freedom toward building up the body. It echoes the law of love that fulfills the whole law (Romans 13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Cor 10:24Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.
- Rom 14:19Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
- Phil 2:4–5Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
- 1 Cor 10:33Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
- 1 Cor 9:19–22For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
- 1 Cor 13:5Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
- Titus 2:9–10Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
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 15:2 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.