Romans 1-3 (English Standard Version)

Romans 1

Greeting

 ¹Paul,^(A) a servant^[a] of Christ Jesus,^(B) called to be an apostle,^(C) set apart for the gospel of God, ²which^(D) he promised beforehand^(E) through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³concerning his Son,^(F) who was descended from David^[b](G) according to the flesh ⁴and^(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, ⁵through 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, ⁶including you who are^(N) called to belong to Jesus Christ,

 ⁷To 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

 ⁸First,^(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 ¹⁰always in my prayers, asking that somehow^(U) by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹For^(V) I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹²that is, that we may be mutually encouraged^(W) by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. ¹³I want you to know, 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. ¹⁵So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

 ¹⁶For^(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. ¹⁷For 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

 ¹⁸For^(AJ) the wrath of God^(AK) is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹For what can be^(AL) known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,^(AM) have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹For 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, ²³and^(AP) exchanged the glory of^(AQ) the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

 ²⁴Therefore^(AR) God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to^(AS) the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because 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.

 ²⁶For this reason^(AV) God gave them up to^(AW) dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷and 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.

 ²⁸And 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. ²⁹They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²Though they know^(BB) God’s 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.

Romans 2

God’s Righteous Judgment

 ¹Therefore you have^(BE) no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For^(BF) in 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^(BG) the riches of his kindness and^(BH) forbearance and^(BI) patience,^(BJ) not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are^(BK) storing up^(BL) wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

 ^6(BM) He will render to each one according to his works: ⁷to those who^(BN) by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸but for those who are self-seeking^[g] and^(BO) do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹There will be tribulation and distress^(BP) for every human being who does evil, the Jew^(BQ) first and also the Greek, ¹⁰but glory and honor and^(BR) peace for everyone who does good,^(BS) the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹For^(BT) God shows no partiality.

God’s Judgment and the Law

 ¹²For all who have sinned^(BU) without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³For^(BV) it 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,^(BW) by 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^(BX) written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them ^16(BY) on that day when,^(BZ) according to my gospel, God judges^(CA) the secrets of men^(CB) by Christ Jesus.

 ¹⁷But if you call yourself a Jew and^(CC) rely 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^(CD) a 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^(CE) the embodiment of^(CF) knowledge and truth— ^21(CG) you 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^(CH) rob temples? ²³You who^(CI) boast in the law^(CJ) dishonor God by breaking the law. ²⁴For,^(CK) as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed^(CL) among the Gentiles because of you."

 ²⁵For circumcision indeed is of value^(CM) if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. ²⁶So, if^(CN) a man who is uncircumcised keeps^(CO) the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded^[h] as circumcision? ²⁷Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law^(CP) will condemn you who have^(CQ) the written code^[i] and circumcision but break the law. ²⁸For^(CR) no one is a Jew^(CS) who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. ²⁹But a Jew is one^(CT) inwardly, and^(CU) circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.^(CV) His praise is not from man but from God.

Romans 3

God’s Righteousness Upheld

 ¹Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²Much in every way. To begin with,^(CW) the Jews were entrusted with^(CX) the oracles of God. ^3(CY) What if some were unfaithful?^(CZ) Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴By no means!^(DA) Let God be true though^(DB) every one were a liar, as it is written,

   ^(DC) "That you may be justified in your words,
   and prevail when you^(DD) are judged."

 ⁵But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict^(DE) wrath on us? (^(DF) I speak in a human way.) ⁶By no means! For then how could^(DG) God judge the world? ⁷But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory,^(DH) why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸And why not^(DI) do 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 Jews^[j] any better off?^[k] No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both^(DJ) Jews and^(DK) Greeks, are^(DL) under sin, ¹⁰as it is written:

   ^(DM) "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."
^13(DN) "Their throat is^(DO) an open grave;
   they use their tongues to deceive."
^(DP) "The venom of asps is under their lips."
 ^14(DQ) "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
^15(DR) "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
 ¹⁶in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷and^(DS) the way of peace they have not known."
 ^18(DT) "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

 ¹⁹Now we know that whatever^(DU) the law says it speaks to those who are under the law,^(DV) so that every mouth may be stopped, and^(DW) the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰For^(DX) by works of the law no human being^[l] will be justified in his sight, since^(DY) through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

 ²¹But now^(DZ) the righteousness of God^(EA) has been manifested apart from the law, although^(EB) the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²²the righteousness of God^(EC) through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.^(ED) For there is no distinction: ²³for^(EE) all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^24(EF) and are justified^(EG) by his grace as a gift,^(EH) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God^(EI) put forward as^(EJ) a propitiation^(EK) by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in^(EL) his divine forbearance he had passed over^(EM) former 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.

 ^27(EN) Then 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^(EO) apart from works of the law. ²⁹Or^(EP) is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰since^(EQ) God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and^(ER) the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.