Romans 1

THE GOSPEL OF GOD FOR ROME

1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle^Aa and set apart^b for the gospel of God^c—²which he promised beforehand ^d through his prophets^e in the Holy Scriptures—³concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David^Bf according to the flesh^{g 4}and was appointed to be the powerful^h Son of Godⁱ according to the Spirit of holiness^C by the resurrection of the dead. ⁵Through him we have received grace and apostleship^j to bring about^D the obedience^k of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles,^{l 6}including you who are also called by Jesus Christ.^m

⁷To all who are in Rome, loved by God,ⁿ called^o as saints.^p

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

PAUL’S DESIRE TO VISIT ROME

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith^F is being reported in all the world.^{q 9}God is my witness,^r whom I serve with my spirit^s in telling the good news about his Son—that I constantly mention you,^{t 10}always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.^{u 11}For I want very much to see you,^v so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, ¹²that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

¹³Now I don’t want you to be unaware,^w brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now^x) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry^G among you,^y just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles. ¹⁴I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians,^Hz both to the wise and the foolish. ¹⁵So I am eager to preach the gospel^aa to you also who are in Rome.

THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel,^Iab because it is the power of God for salvation^ac to everyone who believes, first to the Jew,^ad and also to the Greek.^{ae 17}For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,^Jaf just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.^KLag

THE GUILT OF THE GENTILE WORLD

¹⁸For God’s wrath^ah is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,^{ai 19}since what can be known^M about God is evident among them,^aj because God has shown it to them. ²⁰For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world,^ak being understood through what he has made.^al As a result, people are without excuse. ²¹For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.^{am 22}Claiming to be wise, they became fools^{an 23}and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.^ao

²⁴Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts^ap to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. ²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,^aq and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever.^ar Amen.

FROM IDOLATRY TO DEPRAVITY

²⁶For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions.^as Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷The men^C in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men^at and received in their own persons^D the appropriate penalty of their error.

²⁸And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. ²⁹They are filled with all unrighteousness,^E evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,^{a 30}slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful,^b inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,^{c 31}senseless, untrustworthy, unloving,^Fd and unmerciful. ³²Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die^Ge—they not only do them, but even applaud^Hf others who practice them.