1 ⁸ Let me begin by thanking my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all, because all over the world they are telling the story of your faith. 1 ⁹ God is my witness, the God to whom I offer the humble service of my spirit by preaching the gospel of his Son: 1 ¹⁰ God knows how continually I make mention of you in my prayers, and am always asking that by his will I may, somehow or other, succeed at long last in coming to visit you. 1 ¹¹ For I long to see you; I want to bring you some spiritual gift to make you strong; 1 ¹² or rather, I want to be among you to be myself encouraged by your faith as well as you by mine.
1 ¹³ But I should like you to know, Some witnesses read: I believe you know. my brothers, that I have often planned to come, though so far without success, in the hope of achieving something among you, as I have in other parts of the world. 1 ¹⁴ I am under obligation to Greek and non-Greek, to learned and simple; 1 ¹⁵ hence my eagerness to declare the Gospel to you in Rome as well as to others.