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Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—
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and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
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To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
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God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
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in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
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For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
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God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
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since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
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For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
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For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
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and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
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Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
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They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
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Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.
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Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
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slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
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Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
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God’s Righteous Judgment
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
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Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
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So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
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Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
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But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
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God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”
