7 This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you and has chosen you to be his very own people.I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
8 First, I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ for all of you. I do this because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith.
9 God has seen how I never stop praying for you, while I serve him with all my heart and tell the good news about his Son.
10 In all my prayers, I ask God to make it possible for me to visit you.
11 I want to see you and share with you the same blessings that God's Spirit has given me. Then you will grow stronger in your faith.
12 What I am saying is that we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.
13 My friends, I want you to know that I have often planned to come for a visit. But something has always kept me from doing it. I want to win followers to Christ in Rome, as I have done in many other places.