Romans 2–3

God’s Righteous Judgment

2Therefore you have ^fno excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For ^gin passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. ²We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. ³Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴Or do you presume on ^hthe riches of his kindness and ⁱforbearance and ^jpatience, ^knot knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are ^lstoring up ^mwrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁶ⁿHe will render to each one according to his works: ⁷to those who ^oby patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸but for those who are self-seeking¹ and ^pdo not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹There will be tribulation and distress ^qfor every human being who does evil, the Jew ^rfirst and also the Greek, ¹⁰but glory and honor and ^speace for everyone who does good, ^tthe Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹For ^uGod shows no partiality.

God’s Judgment and the Law

¹²For all who have sinned ^vwithout the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³For ^wit is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. ¹⁴For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, ^xby nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵They show that the work of the law is ^ywritten on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them ^16zon that day when, ^aaccording to my gospel, God judges ^bthe secrets of men ^cby Christ Jesus.

¹⁷But if you call yourself a Jew and ^drely on the law and boast in God ¹⁸and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; ¹⁹and if you are sure that you yourself are ^ea guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law ^fthe embodiment of ^gknowledge and truth— ^21hyou then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²²You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you ⁱrob temples? ²³You who ^jboast in the law ^kdishonor God by breaking the law. ²⁴For, ^las it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed ^mamong the Gentiles because of you.”

²⁵For circumcision indeed is of value ⁿif you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. ²⁶So, if ^oa man who is uncircumcised keeps ^pthe precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded² as circumcision? ²⁷Then he who is physically³ uncircumcised but keeps the law ^qwill condemn you who have ^rthe written code⁴ and circumcision but break the law. ²⁸For ^sno one is a Jew ^twho is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. ²⁹But a Jew is one ^uinwardly, and ^vcircumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. ^wHis praise is not from man but from God.

God’s Righteousness Upheld

3Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²Much in every way. To begin with, ^xthe Jews were entrusted with ^ythe oracles of God. ^3zWhat if some were unfaithful? ^aDoes their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴By no means! ^bLet God be true though ^cevery one were a liar, as it is written,

^d“That you may be justified in your words,

and prevail when you ^eare judged.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict ^fwrath on us? (^gI speak in a human way.) ⁶By no means! For then how could ^hGod judge the world? ⁷But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, ⁱwhy am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸And why not ^jdo evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

No One Is Righteous

⁹What then? Are we Jews¹ any better off?² No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both ^kJews and ^lGreeks, are ^munder sin, ¹⁰as it is written:

ⁿ“None is righteous, no, not one;

¹¹no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

¹²All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

^13o“Their throat is ^pan open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

^q“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

^14r“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

^15s“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶in their paths are ruin and misery,

¹⁷and ^tthe way of peace they have not known.”

^18u“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever ^vthe law says it speaks to those who are under the law, ^wso that every mouth may be stopped, and ^xthe whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰For ^yby works of the law no human being³ will be justified in his sight, since ^zthrough the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

²¹But now ^athe righteousness of God ^bhas been manifested apart from the law, although ^cthe Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²²the righteousness of God ^dthrough faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. ^eFor there is no distinction: ²³for ^fall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^24gand are justified ^hby his grace as a gift, ⁱthrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God ^jput forward as ^ka propitiation ^lby his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in ^mhis divine forbearance he had passed over ⁿformer sins. ²⁶It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

^27oThen what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸For we hold that one is justified by faith ^papart from works of the law. ²⁹Or ^qis God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰since ^rGod is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and ^sthe uncircumcised through faith. ³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.