cultural diversity

²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither servant nor free; there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

¹²For just as the body is one, and yet has many parts, so all the parts of the body, though they are many, are only one body. So also is Christ. ¹³And indeed, in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether servant or free. And we all drank in the one Spirit. ¹⁴For the body, too, is not one part, but many. ¹⁵If the foot were to say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body,” would it then not be of the body? ¹⁶And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body,” would it then not be of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were the eye, how would it hear? If the whole were hearing, how would it smell?

⁹After these things, I saw a great crowd, which no one could number, from all the nations and tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰And they cried out, with a great voice, saying: “Salvation is from our God, who sits upon the throne, and from the Lamb.”

¹¹where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian nor Scythian, servant nor free. Instead, Christ is everything, in everyone.

²⁶And he has made, out of one, every family of man: to live upon the face of the entire earth, determining the appointed seasons and the limits of their habitation, ²⁷so as to seek God, if perhaps they may consider him or find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸‘For in him we live, and move, and exist.’ Just as some of your own poets have said. ‘For we are also of his family.’

²with all humility and meekness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. ³Be anxious to preserve the unity of the Spirit within the bonds of peace. ⁴One body and one Spirit: to this you have been called by the one hope of your calling: ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

¹⁰So then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

²⁰And so, to the Jews, I became like a Jew, so that I might gain the Jews.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation for all believers, the Jew first, and the Greek.

¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another: not savoring what is exalted, but consenting in humility. Do not choose to seem wise to yourself.

¹Now the earth was of one language and of the same speech. ²And when they were advancing from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt in it. ³And each one said to his neighbor, “Come, let us make bricks, and bake them with fire.” And they had bricks instead of stones, and pitch instead of mortar. ⁴And they said: “Come, let us make a city and a tower, so that its height may reach to heaven. And let us make our name famous before we are divided into all the lands.” ⁵Then the Lord descended to see the city and the tower, which the sons of Adam were building. ⁶And he said: “Behold, the people are united, and all have one tongue. And since they have begun to do this, they will not desist from their plans, until they have completed their work.

²⁸And indeed, God has established a certain order in the Church: first Apostles, second Prophets, third Teachers, next miracle-workers, and then the grace of healing, of helping others, of governing, of different kinds of languages, and of the interpretation of words.

⁶And the sons of the new arrival, who adhere to the Lord so as to worship him and to love his name, shall be his servants: all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it, and who hold to my covenant. ⁷I will lead them to my holy mountain, and I will gladden them in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their victims will be pleasing to me upon my altar. For my house will be called the house of prayer for all peoples. ⁸The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, says: Even now, I will gather his congregation to him.

¹But accept those who are weak in faith, without disputing about ideas. ²For one person believes that he may eat all things, but if another is weak, let him eat plants. ³He who eats should not despise him who does not eat. And he who does not eat should not judge him who eats. For God has accepted him. ⁴Who are you to judge the servant of another? He stands or falls by his own Lord. But he shall stand. For God is able to make him stand. ⁵For one person discerns one age from the next. But another discerns unto every age. Let each one increase according to his own mind. ⁶He who understands the age, understands for the Lord. And he who eats, eats for the Lord; for he gives thanks to God. And he who does not eat, does not eat for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.