Romans 7
Legacy Standard Bible
Released from the Law
7 Or do you not know, (A)brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is master over a person as long as he lives? 2 For (B)the married woman has been bound by law to her [a]husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law [b]concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
4 So, my brothers, you also were (C)made to die (D)to the Law (E)through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were (F)in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were (G)aroused by the Law, were at work (H)in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been (I)released from the Law, having (J)died to that by which we were constrained, so that we serve in (K)newness of [c](L)the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
7 (M)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? (N)May it never be! Rather, (O)I would not have come to know sin except [d]through the Law. For I would not have known about [e]coveting if the Law had not said, “(P)You shall not [f]covet.” 8 But sin, (Q)taking opportunity (R)through the commandment, worked out in me [g]coveting of every kind. For (S)apart [h]from the Law sin is dead. 9 Now I was once alive apart [i]from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was [j](T)to lead to life, was found [k]to lead to death for me. 11 For sin, (U)taking an opportunity (V)through the commandment, (W)deceived me and through it killed me. 12 (X)So, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
The Conflict of Two Natures
13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? (Y)May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by working out my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would [l]become utterly sinful.
14 For we know that the Law is (Z)spiritual, but I am (AA)fleshly, (AB)having been sold [m](AC)into bondage under sin. 15 For what I am working out, (AD)I do not understand; for I am not practicing (AE)what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I agree with (AF)the Law, that it is good. 17 So now, (AG)no longer am I the one working it out, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my (AH)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the working out of the good is not. 19 For (AI)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, (AJ)I am no longer the one working it out, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then (AK)the [n]principle that in me evil is present—in me who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God [o]in (AL)the inner man, 23 but I see (AM)a different law in my members, waging war against the (AN)law of my mind and making me a captive [p]to (AO)the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from [q](AP)the body of this (AQ)death? 25 [r](AR)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh (AS)the law of sin.
Footnotes
- Romans 7:2 Lit living husband
- Romans 7:2 Lit of
- Romans 7:6 Or spirit
- Romans 7:7 Or through law
- Romans 7:7 Or lust
- Romans 7:7 Or lust
- Romans 7:8 Or lust
- Romans 7:8 Or from law
- Romans 7:9 Or from law
- Romans 7:10 Lit to life
- Romans 7:10 Lit to death
- Romans 7:13 Or prove to be
- Romans 7:14 Lit under sin
- Romans 7:21 Lit law
- Romans 7:22 Or concerning
- Romans 7:23 Lit in
- Romans 7:24 Or this body of death
- Romans 7:25 Lit Grace; with gratitude
Romans 7
New International Version
Released From the Law, Bound to Christ
7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(B) 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(D) through the body of Christ,(E) that you might belong to another,(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law(H) were at work in us,(I) so that we bore fruit for death.(J) 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(L)
The Law and Sin
7 What shall we say, then?(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b](P) 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(R) 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(S) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(T) deceived me,(U) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(V)
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(W) to bring about my death,(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(Y) sold(Z) as a slave to sin.(AA) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(AB) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(AC) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(AD) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c](AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(AF) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(AG)
21 So I find this law at work:(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(AI) I delight in God’s law;(AJ) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(AL) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(AM) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AN)
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(AO) but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.(AP)
Footnotes
- Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
- Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
- Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
- Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh
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