Romans 12:14 (GNV)

Passage

Blesse them which persecute you: blesse, I say, and curse not.

Nearby Context

Romans 12:12 Reioycing in hope, pacient in tribulation, continuing in prayer,

Romans 12:13 Distributing vnto the necessities of the Saintes: giuing your selues to hospitalitie.

Romans 12:14 Blesse them which persecute you: blesse, I say, and curse not.

Romans 12:15 Reioyce with them that reioyce, and weepe with them that weepe.

Romans 12:16 Be of like affection one towardes another: be not hie minded: but make your selues equall to them of the lower sort: be not wise in your selues.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "blesse", "persecute", and "curse". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "blesse" and "persecute", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Distributing vnto the necessities of the Saintes..." into verse 15's "Reioyce with them that reioyce and weepe...", so "blesse" and "persecute" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "blesse" and "persecute" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.