Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)a servant^[a] of Christ Jesus, ^(B)called to be an apostle, ^(C)set apart for the gospel of God, ² which ^(D)he promised beforehand ^(E)through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning his Son, ^(F)who was descended from David^{[b] (G)}according to the flesh ⁴ and ^(H)was declared to be the Son of God ^(I)in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom ^(J)we have received grace and ^(K)apostleship ^(L)to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name ^(M)among all the nations, ⁶ including you who are ^(N)called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

^(O)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

⁸ First, ^(P)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, ^(Q)because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. ^9 (R)For God is my witness, ^(S)whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, ^(T)that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow ^(U)by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For ^(V)I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged ^(W)by each other's faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[c] that ^(X)I have often intended to come to you (but ^(Y)thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some ^(Z)harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. ^14 (AA)I am under obligation both to Greeks and to ^(AB)barbarians,^[d] both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(AC)I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ^(AD)the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ^(AE)first and also to ^(AF)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(AG)the righteousness of God is revealed ^(AH)from faith for faith,^{[e] (AI)}as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”^[f]

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For ^(AJ)the wrath of God ^(AK)is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be ^(AL)known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, ^(AM)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,^[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they ^(AN)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (AO)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and ^(AP)exchanged the glory of ^(AQ)the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore ^(AR)God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to ^(AS)the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for ^(AT)a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(AU)who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶ For this reason ^(AV)God gave them up to ^(AW)dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, ^(AX)men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ^(AY)God gave them up to ^(AZ)a debased mind to do ^(BA)what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know ^(BB)God's righteous decree that those who practice such things ^(BC)deserve to die, they not only do them but ^(BD)give approval to those who practice them.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^[a] walk before me, and be ^(A)blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and ^(B)may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram ^(C)fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(D)the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram,^[b] but ^(E)your name shall be Abraham,^{[c] (F)}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^(G)you into nations, and ^(H)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(I)establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^(J)to be God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ And ^(K)I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and ^(L)I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a ^(M)sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² He who is ^(N)eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or ^(O)bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, ¹³ both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Isaac's Birth Promised

¹⁵ And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah^[d] shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover, I will ^(P)give^[e] you a son by her. I will bless her, and ^(Q)she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(R)fell on his face ^(S)and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” ¹⁹ God said, “No, but ^(T)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name ^(U)Isaac.^[f] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and ^(V)multiply him greatly. He ^(W)shall father twelve princes, and ^(X)I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But ^(Y)I will establish my covenant with Isaac, ^(Z)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

²² When he had finished talking with him, ^(AA)God went up from Abraham. ²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Giving to the Needy

6 “Beware of ^(A)practicing your righteousness before other people in order ^(B)to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

^2 (C)“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ^(D)be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have ^(E)received their reward. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. ^(F)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lord's Prayer

⁵ “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love ^(G)to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. ^(H)Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But when you pray, ^(I)go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. ^(J)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as ^(K)the Gentiles do, for ^(L)they think that they will be heard ^(M)for their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, ^(N)for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ^9 (O)Pray then like this:

^14 (AA)For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, ^15 (AB)but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Fasting

¹⁶ “And ^(AC)when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. ^(AD)Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, ^(AE)anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. ^(AF)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

^19 (AG)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where ^(AH)moth and rust^[e] destroy and where thieves ^(AI)break in and steal, ^20 (AJ)but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

^22 (AK)“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, ^23 (AL)but if ^(AM)your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

^24 (AN)“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^(AO)money.^[f]

Do Not Be Anxious

^25 (AP)“Therefore I tell you, ^(AQ)do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ^26 (AR)Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. ^(AS)Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ^(AT)span of life?^{[g] 28} And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, ^(AU)even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, ^(AV)O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For ^(AW)the Gentiles seek after all these things, and ^(AX)your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But ^(AY)seek first ^(AZ)the kingdom of God and his righteousness, ^(BA)and all these things will be added to you.

^34 (BB)“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.