15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(A) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(B) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(C) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a](D) 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.(E) 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.(F)

21 So I find this law at work:(G) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(H) I delight in God’s law;(I) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(J) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(K) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(L)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:18 Or my flesh

15 What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.(A) 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. 20 Now if [I] do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. 22 For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, 23 (B)but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.[a] 24 Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body?

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 7:23 As in Rom 3:27, Paul plays on the term law, which in Greek can connote custom, system, or principle.

15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[b] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 7:18 Greek my flesh; also in 7:25.
  2. 7:23 Greek law; also in 7:23b.