The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part 11

Verso.

25 I make mention of you always in [my prayers]
10 asking if by any means now at last I may
succeed in the [will of God to come]
11 to you. For I long to see you,
30 that I may impart some [spiritual] gift to you,
12 that you may be established [that is]
to be mutually comforted among you by the
faith [both of you and me].
13 Now [I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that]
35 [often I have purposed to come]
to [you, and was hindered until now],
that I might have [some] fruit [among you also],
14 just as among [the rest of the nations, both to]
Greeks and to barbarians, [both to] the [wise and to the]
40 15 foolish, [I am a debtor. So, as much as in]
me [lies, I am ready to] preach [the gospel to you who are in Rome].
16 [For I am not ashamed of the]
gospel, [for it is the power of God]
[. . . . . . . . .] . . . [

2. Jesus Christ: so codices Sinaiticus, A, E, G, K, L etc.; Christ Jesus in codex B and 209 (early fourth century).
4. The supplement is a trifle short; perhaps a small blank space was left after God. Line 11 is analogous.
16. "in Rome": omitted by codex G, which has "in love" for "beloved". codex E omits "beloved of God".
18. 209 alone has Christ Jesus, as in verse 1. A blank space large enough for three or four letters was left at the end of this line.
19. How the initial lacuna here should be filled remains doubtful. The omega of "my" stands slightly to the left of the kappa of "and" in the line above and directly above the mu of "you" in the line below, and there is evidently not room for "First I thank", the ordinary reading. There is some authority for the omission of "first" so 40*, Chrysostom, and some versions, but this reduction would hardly suffice unless there was also a lipography of the syllable "thank". Possibly "first" was written as the alpha symbol.
21. Read "is proclaimed"; cf. line 32.
22. "my": so codices B, Sinaiticus, A, C, D^c, E, K, L etc.; "my" in D*, G.
26. "for": read "upon" with the manuscripts.