And again Jesusspoke to them in parables, saying,2The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gavea wedding feast for his son,3andsent his servants[a]to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.4Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared mydinner,my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.5Butthey paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,6while the rest seized his servants,treated them shamefully, andkilled them.7The king was angry, and he sent his troops anddestroyed those murderers and burned their city.8Then he said to his servants, The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were notworthy.9Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.10And those servants went out into the roads andgathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw therea man who had no wedding garment.12And he said to him,Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.13Then the king said to the attendants, Bind him hand and foot andcast him into the outer darkness. In that placethere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.14For many arecalled, but few arechosen.

31What then shall we say to these things?If God is for us, who can be[a]against us?32He who did not spare his own Son butgave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?33Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?It is God who justifies.34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who diedmore than that, who was raisedwho is at the right hand of God,who indeed is interceding for us.[b]35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?36As it is written,

For your sakewe are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

37No, in all these things we are more thanconquerors throughhim who loved us.38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

28And we know that for those who love God all things work togetherfor good,[a]forthose who are called according to his purpose.29For those whom heforeknew he alsopredestinedto be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might bethe firstborn among many brothers.30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he alsojustified, and those whom he justified he alsoglorified.

26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Forwe do not know what to pray for as we ought, butthe Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.27Andhe who searches hearts knows what isthe mind of the Spirit, because[a]the Spiritintercedes for the saintsaccording to the will of God.

18For I consider that the sufferings of this present timeare not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.19For the creation waits with eager longing forthe revealing of the sons of God.20For the creationwas subjected to futility, not willingly, butbecause of him who subjected it, in hope21thatthe creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.22For we know thatthe whole creationhas been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who havethe firstfruits of the Spirit,groan inwardly aswe wait eagerly for adoption as sons,the redemption of our bodies.24Forin this hope we were saved. Nowhope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?25But if we hope for what we do not see, wewait for it with patience.

12So then, brothers,[a]we are debtors,not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.13For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit youput to death the deeds of the body, you will live.14For all who areled by the Spirit of God aresons[b]of God.15Foryou did not receivethe spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit ofadoption as sons, by whom we cry,Abba! Father!16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,17and if children, thenheirsheirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

5Forthose who live according to the flesh set their minds onthe things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds onthe things of the Spirit.6For to setthe mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.7For the mind that is set on the flesh ishostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law;indeed, it cannot.8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in factthe Spirit of God dwells in you.Anyone who does not havethe Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.10But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11If the Spirit ofhim who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[a]from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodiesthrough his Spirit who dwells in you.

8There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a]2For the law ofthe Spirit of lifehas set you[b]free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.3ForGod has done what the law,weakened by the flesh,could not do.By sending his own Sonin the likeness of sinful flesh andfor sin,[c]he condemned sin in the flesh,4in order thatthe righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh,sold under sin.15For I do not understand my own actions. ForI do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree withthe law, that it is good.17So nowit is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.18For I know that nothing good dwellsin me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.20Now if I do what I do not want,it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.22ForI delight in the law of God,in my inner being,23but I see in my membersanother law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me fromthis body of death?25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.