Romans 2

The Message

God Is Kind, but Not Soft

2 ^1-2Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done.

^3-4You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

^5-8You’re not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it’s going to blaze hot and high, God’s fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what’s coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God’s side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire!

^9-11If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you’re from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won’t give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.

^12-13If you sin without knowing what you’re doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you’re doing, that’s a different story entirely. Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.

^14-16When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences.

Religion Can’t Save You

^17-24If you’re brought up Jewish, don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you’re an insider to God’s revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God’s revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I’m quite serious. While preaching “Don’t steal!” are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, “It’s because of you Jews that the outsiders frown on God,” shows it’s an old problem that isn’t going to go away.

^25-29Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God’s law. But if you don’t, it’s worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God’s ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God’s law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don’t you see: It’s not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It’s the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.

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Romanos 2

La Palabra (España)

El justo juicio de Dios

2 Por eso, tú, quienquiera que seas, no tienes excusa cuando te eriges en juez de los demás. Al juzgar a otro, tú mismo te condenas, pues te eriges en juez no siendo mejor que los demás. ²Es sabido que el juicio de Dios cae con rigor sobre quienes así se comportan. ³Y tú que condenas a quienes actúan así, pero te portas igual que ellos, ¿te imaginas que vas a librarte del castigo de Dios? ⁴¿Te es, acaso, indiferente la inagotable bondad, paciencia y generosidad de Dios, y no te das cuenta de que es precisamente esa bondad la que está impulsándote a cambiar de conducta? ⁵Eres de corazón terco y obstinado, con lo que estás amontonando castigos sobre ti para aquel día de castigo, cuando Dios se manifieste como justo juez ⁶y pague a cada uno según su merecido: ⁷a los que buscan la gloria, el honor y la inmortalidad mediante la práctica constante del bien, les dará vida eterna; ⁸en cambio, a los contumaces en rechazar la verdad y adherirse a la injusticia les corresponde un implacable castigo. ⁹Habrá angustia y sufrimiento para cuantos hacen el mal: para los judíos, desde luego; pero también para los no judíos. ¹⁰Gloria, honor y paz, en cambio, para los que hacen el bien, tanto si son judíos como si no lo son. ¹¹Porque en Dios no caben favoritismos. ¹²Quienes han pecado sin estar bajo la ley, perecerán sin necesidad de recurrir a la ley; y quienes hayan pecado estando bajo la ley, por ella serán juzgados. ¹³Porque no basta escuchar la ley para que Dios nos restablezca en su amistad; es necesario cumplirla. ¹⁴Y es que si los paganos, que no tienen ley, actúan de acuerdo con ella movidos de la natural inclinación, aunque parezca que no tienen ley, ellos mismos son su propia ley. ¹⁵La llevan escrita en el corazón, como lo demuestra el testimonio de su conciencia y sus propios pensamientos, que unas veces los acusan y otras los defienden. ¹⁶Esto es lo que se manifestará el día en que, conforme al mensaje que yo anuncio, juzgue Dios por medio de Jesucristo lo que los seres humanos mantienen oculto.

Ni la ley ni la circuncisión evitarán el pecado

¹⁷¿Y qué decir de ti? Alardeas de judío, confías en la ley y estás orgulloso de Dios. ¹⁸Dices que conoces su voluntad y que la ley te ha enseñado a discernir lo que es más valioso. ¹⁹Te consideras guía de ciegos, y luz de cuantos viven en tinieblas. ²⁰Crees poseer el secreto de instruir a los ignorantes y de enseñar a los párvulos porque crees tener en la ley el compendio de toda ciencia y toda verdad. ²¹Pues bien, ¿por qué no aprendes, tú que enseñas a los otros? ¿Por qué robas, tú que exhortas a no robar? ²²¿Por qué cometes adulterio, tú que condenas el adulterio en los demás? ¿Por qué haces negocios en sus templos, tú que aborreces los ídolos? ²³¿Por qué presumes de la ley, tú que afrentas a Dios al no cumplirla? ²⁴Aunque ya lo dice la Escritura : Por vuestra culpa el nombre de Dios es denigrado entre las naciones. ²⁵¿Y la circuncisión? Tiene valor si cumples la ley; pero si no la cumples, lo mismo te da estar circuncidado que no estarlo. ²⁶Pues si uno que no está circuncidado cumple los preceptos de la ley, ¿no lo considerará Dios como circuncidado a pesar de no estarlo? ²⁷Es más, el que sin estar físicamente circuncidado cumple la ley, te juzgará a ti que estás circuncidado y posees la ley escrita, pero no la cumples. ²⁸Porque no se es judío por el aspecto externo, ni la verdadera circuncisión es la marca visible corporal. ²⁹Lo que distingue al auténtico judío es su interior, y la auténtica circuncisión es la del corazón, obra del Espíritu y no de reglas escritas. Y no serán los seres humanos, sino Dios, quien la alabe.

Romans 2

New Century Version

You People Also Are Sinful

2 If you think you can judge others, you are wrong. When you judge them, you are really judging yourself guilty, because you do the same things they do. ²God judges those who do wrong things, and we know that his judging is right. ³You judge those who do wrong, but you do wrong yourselves. Do you think you will be able to escape the judgment of God? ⁴He has been very kind and patient, waiting for you to change, but you think nothing of his kindness. Perhaps you do not understand that God is kind to you so you will change your hearts and lives. ⁵But you are stubborn and refuse to change, so you are making your own punishment even greater on the day he shows his anger. On that day everyone will see God’s right judgments. ⁶God will reward or punish every person for what that person has done. ⁷Some people, by always continuing to do good, live for God’s glory, for honor, and for life that has no end. God will give them life forever. ⁸But other people are selfish. They refuse to follow truth and, instead, follow evil. God will give them his punishment and anger. ⁹He will give trouble and suffering to everyone who does evil—to the Jews first and also to those who are not Jews. ¹⁰But he will give glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does good—to the Jews first and also to those who are not Jews. ¹¹For God judges all people in the same way.

¹²People who do not have the law and who are sinners will be lost, although they do not have the law. And, in the same way, those who have the law and are sinners will be judged by the law. ¹³Hearing the law does not make people right with God. It is those who obey the law who will be right with him. ¹⁴(Those who are not Jews do not have the law, but when they freely do what the law commands, they are the law for themselves. This is true even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵They show that in their hearts they know what is right and wrong, just as the law commands. And they show this by their consciences. Sometimes their thoughts tell them they did wrong, and sometimes their thoughts tell them they did right.) ¹⁶All these things will happen on the day when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge people’s secret thoughts. The Good News that I preach says this.

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷What about you? You call yourself a Jew. You trust in the law of Moses and brag that you are close to God. ¹⁸You know what he wants you to do and what is important, because you have learned the law. ¹⁹You think you are a guide for the blind and a light for those who are in darkness. ²⁰You think you can show foolish people what is right and teach those who know nothing. You have the law; so you think you know everything and have all truth. ²¹You teach others, so why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but you steal. ²²You say that others must not take part in adultery, but you are guilty of that sin. You hate idols, but you steal from temples. ²³You brag about having God’s law, but you bring shame to God by breaking his law, ²⁴just as the Scriptures say: “Those who are not Jews speak against God’s name because of you.”^[a]

²⁵If you follow the law, your circumcision has meaning. But if you break the law, it is as if you were never circumcised. ²⁶People who are not Jews are not circumcised, but if they do what the law says, it is as if they were circumcised. ²⁷You Jews have the written law and circumcision, but you break the law. So those who are not circumcised in their bodies, but still obey the law, will show that you are guilty. ²⁸They can do this because a person is not a true Jew if he is only a Jew in his physical body; true circumcision is not only on the outside of the body. ²⁹A person is a Jew only if he is a Jew inside; true circumcision is done in the heart by the Spirit, not by the written law. Such a person gets praise from God rather than from people.

Footnotes

2:24 “Those . . . you.” Quotation from Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:20.

The Message (MSG)

La Palabra (España) (BLP)

New Century Version (NCV)

Romans 2 The Message