Romans 1:18-32
Contemporary English Version
Everyone Is Guilty
18 From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. 19 They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. 20 (A) God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. 21 (B) They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. 22 They claim to be wise, but they are fools. 23 (C) They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles.
24 So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. 25 They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.
26 God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. 27 Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.
28 (D) Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. 29 They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, 30 say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.
These people don't respect their parents. 31 They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. 32 They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.
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Romans 1:18-32
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Guilt of the Gentile World
18 For God’s wrath(A) is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,(B) 19 since what can be known[a] about God is evident among them,(C) because God has shown it to them. 20 For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world,(D) being understood through what He has made.(E) As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.(F) 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools(G) 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.(H)
24 Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts(I) to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,(J) and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever.(K) Amen.
From Idolatry to Depravity
26 This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions.(L) For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations[b] for unnatural ones. 27 The males in the same way also left natural relations[c] with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males(M) and received in their own persons[d] the appropriate penalty of their error.
28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. 29 They are filled with all unrighteousness,[e] evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,(N) 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful,(O) inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,(P) 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,[f](Q) and unmerciful. 32 Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die[g](R)—they not only do them, but even applaud[h](S) others who practice them.
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- Romans 1:19 Or what is known
- Romans 1:26 Lit natural use
- Romans 1:27 Lit natural use
- Romans 1:27 Or in themselves
- Romans 1:29 Other mss add sexual immorality
- Romans 1:31 Other mss add unforgiving
- Romans 1:32 Lit things are worthy of death
- Romans 1:32 Lit even take pleasure in
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