Romans 1:16-3:31

New American Standard Bible

¹⁶ For I am not ^(A)ashamed of the gospel, for ^(B)it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the ^(C)Jew first and also to ^(D)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(E)the righteousness of God is revealed ^[a]from faith to faith; as it is written: “^[b](F)But the righteous one will live by faith.”

Unbelief and Its Consequences

¹⁸ For ^(G)the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who ^(H)suppress the truth ^[c]in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^(I)that which is known about God is evident ^[d]within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For ^(J)since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ^(K)being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not ^[e]honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became ^(L)futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. ^22 (M)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and they ^(N)exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and ^[f]crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore ^(O)God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be ^(P)dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for ^[g](Q)falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(R)who is blessed ^[h]forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason ^(S)God gave them over to ^(T)degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, ²⁷ and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations ^[i]with women and burned in their desire toward one another, ^(U)males with males committing ^[j]shameful acts and receiving in ^[k]their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit ^[l]to acknowledge God, ^(V)God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, ²⁹ people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are ^(W)gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, ^[m](X)haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, ^(Y)disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, ^(Z)unfeeling, and unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of ^(AA)death, they not only do the same, but also ^(AB)approve of those who practice them.

The Impartiality of God

2 Therefore you have ^(AC)no excuse, ^[n]you foolish person, ^(AD)everyone of you who passes judgment; for ^[o]in that matter in which ^(AE)you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God ^[p]rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, ^[q](AF)you foolish person who passes judgment on those who practice such things, and yet does them as well, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of ^(AG)the riches of His ^(AH)kindness and ^[r](AI)restraint and ^(AJ)patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But ^[s]because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart ^(AK)you are storing up wrath for yourself ^(AL)on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ^6 (AM)who will repay each person according to his deeds: ⁷ to those who by ^(AN)perseverance in doing good seek ^(AO)glory, honor, and ^(AP)immortality, He will give ^(AQ)eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are ^(AR)self-serving and ^(AS)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be ^(AT)tribulation and distress ^[t]for every soul of mankind who does evil, ^[u]for the Jew ^(AU)first and also ^[v]for the Greek, ¹⁰ but ^(AV)glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew ^(AW)first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For ^(AX)there is no partiality with God.

¹² For all who have sinned ^[w](AY)without the Law will also perish ^[x]without the Law, and all who have sinned ^[y]under the Law will be judged ^[z]by the Law; ¹³ for it is ^(AZ)not the hearers ^[aa]of the Law who are ^[ab]righteous before God, but the doers ^[ac]of the Law who will be justified. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles who do not have ^[ad]the Law ^[ae](BA)instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having ^[af]the Law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ in that they show ^(BB)the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, ¹⁶ on the day when, ^(BC)according to my gospel, ^(BD)God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.

The Jews under the Law

¹⁷ But if you call yourself a ^[ag]Jew and ^(BE)rely ^[ah]upon the Law and boast in God, ¹⁸ and know His will and ^[ai](BF)distinguish the things that matter, being instructed from the Law, ¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide to people who are blind, a light to those in darkness, ²⁰ a ^[aj]corrector of the foolish, a teacher of ^[ak]the immature, possessing in the Law ^(BG)the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth— ²¹ you, therefore, ^(BH)who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who ^[al]preach that one is not to steal, do you steal? ²² You who say that one is not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you ^(BI)rob temples? ²³ You who ^(BJ)boast ^[am]in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? ²⁴ For “^(BK)the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles ^(BL)because of you,” just as it is written.

²⁵ For indeed circumcision is of value if you ^(BM)practice ^[an]the Law; but if you are a violator ^[ao]of the Law, ^(BN)your circumcision has turned into uncircumcision. ^26 (BO)So if ^(BP)the ^[ap]uncircumcised man ^(BQ)keeps the requirements of the Law, will his uncircumcision not be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ And ^(BR)he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not ^(BS)judge you who ^[aq]though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a violator ^[ar]of the Law? ²⁸ For ^(BT)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But ^(BU)he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and ^(BV)circumcision is of the heart, by the ^(BW)Spirit, not by the letter; ^(BX)and his praise is not from people, but from God.

All the World Guilty

3 Then what ^[as]advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? ² Great in every respect. First, that ^(BY)they were entrusted with the ^(BZ)actual words of God. ³ What then? If ^(CA)some ^[at]did not believe, their ^[au]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? ^4 [av](CB)Far from it! Rather, God must prove to be true, though every person be found ^(CC)a liar, as it is written:

⁵ But if our unrighteousness ^[ax](CE)demonstrates the righteousness of God, ^(CF)what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (^(CG)I am speaking from a human viewpoint.) ^6 (CH)Far from it! For otherwise, how will ^(CI)God judge the world? ⁷ But if through my lie ^(CJ)the truth of God abounded to His glory, ^(CK)why am I also still being judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “^(CL)Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? ^[ay]Their condemnation is deserved.

⁹ What then? ^[az](CM)Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both ^(CN)Jews and ^(CO)Greeks are ^(CP)all under sin; ¹⁰ as it is written:

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the ^(CW)Law says, it speaks to ^(CX)those who are ^[bc]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and ^(CY)all the world may become accountable to God; ²⁰ because ^(CZ)by the works ^[bd]of the Law ^[be]none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for ^[bf](DA)through the Law comes ^[bg]knowledge of sin.

Justification by Faith

²¹ But now apart ^[bh]from the Law ^(DB)the righteousness of God has been revealed, being ^(DC)witnessed by the ^[bi]Law and the Prophets, ²² but it is the ^(DD)righteousness of God through ^(DE)faith ^(DF)in Jesus Christ for ^(DG)all those ^[bj]who believe; for ^(DH)there is no distinction, ²³ for all ^[bk](DI)have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift ^(DJ)by His grace through ^(DK)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as ^(DL)a ^[bl]propitiation ^[bm](DM)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, ^[bn]because in God’s merciful ^(DN)restraint He ^(DO)let the sins previously committed go unpunished; ²⁶ for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who ^[bo]has faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Where then is ^(DP)boasting? It has been excluded. By ^(DQ)what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. ^28 [bp]For ^(DR)we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works ^[bq]of the Law. ²⁹ Or ^(DS)is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since indeed ^(DT)God ^(DU)who will justify the ^[br]circumcised ^[bs]by faith and the ^[bt]uncircumcised through faith ^(DV)is one.

³¹ Do we then nullify ^[bu]the Law through faith? ^(DW)Far from it! On the contrary, we ^(DX)establish the Law.