Font Size
Romans 7:7-25
Evangelical Heritage Version
Romans 7:7-25
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Law Stirs Up My Sinful Nature
7 What will we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have recognized sin except through the law. For example, I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[a] 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity provided by this commandment, produced every kind of sinful desire in me.
For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive without the law. But when this commandment came, sin came to life, 10 and I died. This commandment that was intended to result in life actually resulted in death for me. 11 You see, sin, seizing the opportunity provided by this commandment, deceived me and put me to death through it.
12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. 13 Then did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it might be recognized as sin, brings about my death by this good thing, so that through this commandment sin might prove itself to be totally sinful.
My Constant Struggle With My Sinful Nature
14 Certainly we know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not keep doing what I want. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 But now it is no longer I who am doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 Indeed, I know that good does not live in me, that is, in my sinful flesh. The desire to do good is present with me, but I am not able to carry it out. 19 So I fail to do the good I want to do. Instead, the evil I do not want to do, that is what I keep doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who am doing it, but it is sin living in me.
21 So I find this law[b] at work: When I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 I certainly delight in God’s law according to my inner self, 23 but I see a different law at work in my members, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me captive to the law of sin, which is present in my members. 24 What a miserable wretch I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 I thank God[c] through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my sinful flesh I serve the law of sin.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21
- Romans 7:21 The word law is used in different senses in this chapter. Sometimes it is a moral code. Sometimes it is a fixed principle.
- Romans 7:25 A few witnesses to the text read Thanks be to God.
Romans 7:7-25
New International Version
Romans 7:7-25
New International Version
The Law and Sin
7 What shall we say, then?(A) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(B) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(C) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[a](D) 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(E) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(F) 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(G) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(H) deceived me,(I) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(J)
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(K) to bring about my death,(L) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(M) sold(N) as a slave to sin.(O) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(P) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(Q) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(R) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[b](S) 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.(T) 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.(U)
21 So I find this law at work:(V) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(W) I delight in God’s law;(X) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(Y) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(Z) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(AA) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AB)
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(AC) but in my sinful nature[c] a slave to the law of sin.(AD)
Footnotes
- Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
- Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
- Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.