The Gospel Exalted

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, 1acalled as an apostle, bset apart for cthe gospel of God,

2 which He apromised beforehand through His bprophets in the holy Scriptures,

3 concerning His Son, who was born aof a 1descendant of David baccording to the flesh,

4 who was declared athe Son of God with power 1by the resurrection from the dead, according to the 2Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

5 through whom we have received grace and aapostleship 1to bring about the bobedience of faith among call the Gentiles for His name’s sake,

6 among whom you also are the acalled of Jesus Christ;

7 to all who are abeloved of God in Rome, called as 1bsaints: cGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8 First, aI thank my God through Jesus Christ 1for you all, because byour faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

9 For aGod, whom I bserve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly cI make mention of you,

10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by athe will of God I may succeed in coming to you.

11 For aI long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be 1established;

12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

13 aI do not want you to be unaware, bbrethren, that often I chave planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some dfruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.

14 aI am 1under obligation both to Greeks and to bbarbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

15 So, for my part, I am eager to apreach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

16 For I am not aashamed of the gospel, for bit is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the cJew first and also to dthe Greek.

17 For in it athe righteousness of God is revealed 1from faith to faith; as it is written, “2bBut the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Unbelief and Its Consequences

18 For athe wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who bsuppress the truth 1in unrighteousness,

19 because athat which is known about God is evident 1within them; for God made it evident to them.

20 For asince the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, bbeing understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

21 For even though they knew God, they did not 1honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became afutile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22 aProfessing to be wise, they became fools,

23 and aexchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and 1crawling creatures.

24 Therefore aGod gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be bdishonored among them.

25 For they exchanged the truth of God for 1a alie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, bwho is blessed 2forever. Amen.

26 For this reason aGod gave them over to bdegrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is 1unnatural,

27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, amen with men committing 1indecent acts and receiving in 2their own persons the due penalty of their error.

28 And just as they did not see fit 1to acknowledge God any longer, aGod gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are agossips,

30 slanderers, 1ahaters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, bdisobedient to parents,

31 without understanding, untrustworthy, aunloving, unmerciful;

32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of adeath, they not only do the same, but also bgive hearty approval to those who practice them.