Romans 7
Wycliffe Bible
7 Brethren, whether ye know not; for I speak to men that know the law; for the law hath lordship in a man, as long time as he liveth?
2 For that woman that is under an husband, is bound to the law, while the husband liveth; but if her husband is dead, she is delivered from the law of the husband [soothly if her husband be dead, she is delivered, or unbound, from the law of the husband].
3 Therefore she shall be called adulteress, if she be with another man, while the husband liveth [Therefore living the man, she shall be called adulteress, if she be with another man]; but if her husband is dead [forsooth if her husband be dead], she is delivered from the law of the husband, that she be not adulteress, if she be with another man.
4 And so, my brethren, ye be made dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye be of another, that rose again from death, that ye bear fruit to God. Therefore, my brethren, and ye be made dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye be another's, that rose from dead, that we bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in flesh, passions of sins, that were by the law, wrought in our members, to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we be unbound from the law of death, in which we were held [in which we were holden], so that we serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter.
7 What therefore shall we say? The law is sin? God forbid [Far be it]. But I knew not sin, but by [the] law; for I knew not that coveting was sin, but for the law said, Thou shalt not covet.
8 And through occasion taken, sin by the commandment hath wrought in me all covetousness [sin by the commandment hath wrought in me all coveting, or covetousness]; for without the law, sin was dead.
9 And I lived [Forsooth I lived] without the law sometime; but when the commandment was come, sin lived again. But I was dead,
10 and this commandment [and the commandment] that was to life, was found to me, to be to death.
11 For sin, through occasion taken by the commandment, deceived me, and by that it slew me [and by it slew me].
12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good.
13 Is then that thing that is good, made death to me? God forbid [Far be it]. But sin, that it seem sin, through good thing wrought death to me, that me sin over manner through the commandment [But sin, that it appear sin, through good thing wrought death to me, that there be made sin sinning over manner, or measure, by commandment].
14 And we know, that the law is spiritual; but I am fleshly, sold under sin.
15 For I understand not that that I work; for I do not the good thing that I will, but I do that evil thing that I hate.
16 And if I do that thing that I will not, I consent to the law, that it is good.
17 But now I work not it now, but the sin that dwelleth in me.
18 But I know, that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good; for will lieth to me (for will lieth before me), but I find not to perform good thing [truly to perform good thing I find not].
19 For I do not that good thing that I will, but I do that evil thing that I will not.
20 And if I do that evil thing that I will not [Soothly if I do that thing that I will not], I work not it, but the sin that dwelleth in me.
21 Therefore I find the law to me willing to do good thing [Therefore I find a law to me willing to do good thing], for evil thing lieth to me (for evil thing lieth before me).
22 For I delight together to the law of God, after the inner man.
23 But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my soul, and making me captive in the law of sin, that is in my members.
24 I am an unhappy man [I am a woeful man]; who shall deliver me from the body of this sin?
25 [Forsooth] The grace of God, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore I myself by the soul serve to the law of God; but by the flesh to the law of sin.
Romans 7
New Matthew Bible
Christ has delivered us from the law and death. Paul shows what the flesh and natural man is, and calls it the law of the members.
7 Do you not consider, brethren (I speak to people who know the law), that the law has dominion over a person as long as it endures? 2 For the woman who is under a husband is bound by the law to the man as long as he lives. But if the husband is dead, she is released from the law of the husband. 3 So then, if while the husband is alive she couples herself with another man, she will be counted a wedlock breaker. But if the husband is dead, she is free from the law, so that she is no wedlock breaker if she couples herself with another man.
4 In a similar way, my brethren, you are dead concerning the law by the body of Christ, in order to be coupled to another (I mean, to him who is risen again from death), so that we will bring forth fruit unto God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the lusts of sin, which were stirred up by the law, reigned in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6 But now we are delivered from the law, and dead to that to which we were in bondage, in order to serve in a new life of the Spirit, and not in the old life of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. But I would not have known what sin meant, if not by the law. For I would not have known what coveting meant unless the law had said, You shall not covet. 8 But sin took occasion by the means of the commandment, and wrought in me all manner of inordinate desire. For without the law, sin was dead. 9 I once lived without law. But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I was dead. 10 And the very same commandment that was ordained for life, was found to be to me an occasion of death. 11 For sin took occasion by the means of the commandment, and thus deceived me, and by the same commandment slew me. 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good.
13 Was then that which is good, made death to me? God forbid. No, sin was death to me, so that it could appear how sin, by the means of that which is good, had wrought death in me; so that sin which is under the commandment might be out of measure sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual. But I am carnal, sold under sin, 15 inasmuch as I know not what I do. For what I would, I do not, but what I hate, that I do. 16 If I would rather not do that which I do, I grant to the law that it is good. 17 So then now it is not I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is to say, in my flesh) dwells no good thing. To will is present with me, but I find no means to perform that which is good. 19 For I do not that good thing which I would, but I do the evil that I would not. 20 Finally, if I do what I do not want, then it is not I who do it, but sin that dwells in me does it.
21 I find then by the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 I delight in the law of God as far as the inner man is concerned, 23 but I see another law in my members, rebelling against the law of my mind, and subduing me to the law of sin that is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, I myself in my mind serve the law of God, and in my flesh the law of sin.
Romans 7
1599 Geneva Bible
7 1 He declareth what it is, to be no more under the Law, 2 by an example taken of the Law of marriage, 7, 12 And lest the Law should seem faulty, 14 he proveth, that our sin is the cause, 2, 5 that the same is an occasion of death, 17 which was given us unto life. 21 He setteth out the battle between the flesh and the spirit.
1 Know [a]ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the Law) that the Law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2 (A)For the woman which is in subjection to a man, is bound by the Law to the man, while he liveth: but if the man be dead, she is delivered from the Law of the man.
3 So then, if while the man liveth, she taketh another man, she shall be [b]called an (B)adulteress: but if the man be dead, she is free from the Law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she take another man.
4 [c]So ye, my brethren, are dead also to the Law by the [d]body of Christ, that ye should be unto another, even unto him that is raised up from the dead, that we should bring forth [e]fruit unto [f]God.
5 [g]For when we [h]were in the flesh, the [i]affections of sins, which were by the [j]law, had [k]force in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death,
6 But now we are delivered from the Law, he [l]being dead [m]in whom we were [n]holden, that we should serve in [o]newness of Spirit, and not in the oldness of the [p]letter.
7 [q]What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? God forbid. Nay, I knew not sin, but by the Law: for I had not known [r]lust, except the Law had said, (C)Thou shalt not lust.
8 But sin took an occasion by the commandment, and wrought in me all manner of concupiscence: for without the Law sin is [s]dead.
9 [t]For I once was alive, without the [u]law: but when the commandment [v]came, sin revived,
10 But I [w]died: and the same commandment which was ordained unto life, was found to be unto me unto death.
11 For sin took occasion by the commandment, and deceived me, and thereby slew me.
12 [x]Wherefore the Law is (D)holy, and that [y]commandment is holy, and just, and good.
13 [z]Was that then which is good, [aa]made death unto me? God forbid: but sin, that it might [ab]appear sin, wrought death in me by that which is good, that sin might be [ac]out of measure sinful by the commandment.
14 [ad]For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 [ae]For I [af]allow not that which I do: for what I [ag]would, that do I not: but what I hate, that do I.
16 If I do then that which I would not, I consent to the Law, that it is good.
17 Now then, it is no more I, that do it, but [ah]sin that dwelleth in me.
18 [ai]For I know, that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me: but I find [aj]no means to perform that which is good,
19 For I do not the good thing, which I would, but the evil, which I would not, that do I.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth in me.
21 [ak]I find then that when I would do good, I am thus yoked, that evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the Law of God, concerning the [al]inner man.
23 But I see another Law in my members, rebelling against the law of my [am]mind, and leading me captive unto the law of sin, which is in my members.
24 [an]O [ao]wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!
25 I [ap]thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then I [aq]myself in my mind serve the Law of God, but in my flesh the law of sin.
Footnotes
- Romans 7:1 By propounding the similitude of a marriage, he compareth the state of man both before and after regeneration together. The law of matrimony, saith he, is this, that so long as the husband liveth, the marriage abideth in force, but if he be dead, the woman may marry again.
- Romans 7:3 That is, she shall be an adulteress, by the consent and judgment of all men.
- Romans 7:4 An application of the similitude thus. So, saith he, doth it fare with us: for now we are joined to the spirit as it were to the second husband, by whom we must bring forth new children: we are dead in respect of the first husband, but in respect of the latter we are as it were raised from the dead.
- Romans 7:4 That is, in the body of Christ, to give us to understand how straight and near that fellowship is betwixt Christ and his members.
- Romans 7:4 He calleth the children, which the wife hath by her husband, fruit.
- Romans 7:4 Which are acceptable to God.
- Romans 7:5 A declaration of the former saying: for the concupiscences (saith he) which the law stirred up in us, were in us as it were an husband, of whom we brought forth very deadly and cursed children. But now since that husband is dead, and so consequently being delivered from the force of that killing law, we have passed into the governance of the spirit, so that we bring forth now, not those rotten and dead, but lively children.
- Romans 7:5 When we were in the state of the first marriage, which he calleth in the next verse following the oldness of the letter.
- Romans 7:5 The motions that egged us to sin, which show their force even in our minds.
- Romans 7:5 He saith not, of the law, but by the law, because they spring of sin which dwelleth within us, and take occasion to work thus in us, by reason of the restraint that the law maketh, not that the fault is in the law, but in ourselves.
- Romans 7:5 Wrought their strength.
- Romans 7:6 As if he said, The bond which bound us, is dead, and vanished away, insomuch, that sin which held us, hath not now wherewith to hold us.
- Romans 7:6 For this husband is within us.
- Romans 7:6 Satan is an unjust possessor, for he brought us in bondage of sin and himself deceitfully: and yet notwithstanding so long as we are sinners, we sin willingly.
- Romans 7:6 As becometh them, which after the death of their old husband are joined to the spirit: as whom the spirit of God hath made new men.
- Romans 7:6 By the letter he meaneth the law, in respect of that old condition: for before that our will be framed by the holy Ghost, the law speaketh but to deaf men, and therefore it is dumb and dead to us, as touching the fulfilling of it.
- Romans 7:7 An objection: what then? are the law and sin all one, and do they agree together? nay, saith he: Sin is reproved and condemned by the law. But because sin cannot abide to be reproved, and was not in a manner felt until it was provoked and stirred up by the law, it taketh occasion thereby to be more outrageous, and yet by no fault of the law.
- Romans 7:7 By the word, Lust, in this place he meaneth not evil lusts themselves, but the fountain from whence they spring: for the very heathen philosophers themselves condemned wicked lusts, though somewhat darkly, but as for the fountain of them, they could not so much as suspect it, and yet it is the very seat of the natural and unclean spot and filth.
- Romans 7:8 Though sin be in us, yet it is not known for sin, neither doth it so rage, as it rageth after that the law is known.
- Romans 7:9 He setteth himself before us for an example, in whom all men may behold, first what they are of nature before they earnestly think upon the law of God: to wit, blockish, and ready to sin and wickedness, without all true sense and feeling of sin, then what manner of persons they become, when their conscience is reproved by the testimony of the law, to wit, stubborn, and more inflamed with the desire of sin, than ever they were before.
- Romans 7:9 When I knew not the law, then me thought I lived in deed: for my conscience never troubled me, because it knew not my disease.
- Romans 7:9 When I began to understand the commandment.
- Romans 7:10 In sin, or by sin.
- Romans 7:12 The conclusion: That the law of itself is holy, but all the fault is in us which abuse the law.
- Romans 7:12 Touching not coveting.
- Romans 7:13 The proposition: That the Law is not the cause of death, but our corrupt nature, being therewith not only discovered, but also stirred up, and took occasion thereby to rebel, as which, the more that things are forbidden it, the more it desireth them, and from hence cometh guiltiness, and occasion of death.
- Romans 7:13 Beareth it the blame of my death?
- Romans 7:13 That sin might show itself to be sin, and bewray itself to be that, which is in deed.
- Romans 7:13 As evil as it could, showing all the venom it could.
- Romans 7:14 The cause of this matter, is this: Because that the Law requireth a heavenly pureness, but men, such as they be born, are bondslaves of corruption, which they willingly serve.
- Romans 7:15 He setteth himself, being regenerate, before us, for an example, in whom may easily appear the strife of the Spirit and the flesh, and therefore of the Law of God, and our wickedness. For since that the Law in a man not regenerate bringeth forth death only, therefore in him it may easily be accused: but seeing that in a man which is regenerate, it bringeth forth good fruit, it doth better appear that evil actions proceed not from the Law, but from sin, that is, from our corrupt nature: And therefore the Apostle teacheth also, what the true use of the Law is, in reproving sin in the regenerate, unto the end of the chapter, as a little before (to wit, from the seventh verse unto this fifteenth) he declared the use of it in them which are not regenerate.
- Romans 7:15 The deeds of my life, saith he, answer not, nay they are contrary to my will: Therefore by the consent of my will with the Law, and repugnancy with the deeds of my life, it appeareth evidently, that the Law and a right ruled do persuade one thing, but corruption which hath her seat also in the regenerate, another thing.
- Romans 7:15 It is to be noted, that one selfsame man is said to will and not to will, in divers respects: to wit, he is said to will, in that, that he is regenerate by grace: and not to will, in that, that he is not regenerate, or in that, that he is such an one as he was born. But because the part which is regenerate, at length becometh conqueror, therefore Paul sustaining the part of the regenerate, speaketh in such sort as if the corruption which sinneth willingly, were something without a man: although afterward he granteth that this evil is in his flesh, or in his members.
- Romans 7:17 That natural corruption, which cleaveth fast even to them that are regenerate, and not clean conquered.
- Romans 7:18 This vice, or sin, or law of sin, doth wholly possess those men which are not regenerate, and hindereth them or holdeth them back that are regenerate.
- Romans 7:18 This doth indeed agree to that man, whom the grace of God hath made a new man: for where the Spirit is not, how can there be any strife there.
- Romans 7:21 The conclusion: As the Law of God exhorteth to goodness, so doth the Law of sin (that is, the corruption wherein we are born) force us to wickedness: but the Spirit, that is, our mind, in that that it is regenerate, consenteth with the Law of God: but the flesh, that is, the whole natural man, is bondslave to the Law of sin. Therefore to be short, wickedness and death are not of the Law, but of sin, which reigneth in them that are not regenerate: for they neither will, nor do good, but will, and do evil: But in them that are regenerate, it striveth against the Spirit or law of the mind, so that they cannot either live so well as they would, or be so void of sin as they would.
- Romans 7:22 The inner man, and the new man are all one, and are answerable and set as contrary to the old man: neither doth this word, Inner man, signify man’s mind and reason, and the old man, the powers that are under them, as the Philosophers imagine, but by the outward man is meant whatsoever is either without or within a man, from top to toe, so long as that man is not born anew by the grace of God.
- Romans 7:23 The law of the mind in this place, is not to be understood of the mind as it is naturally, and as our mind is from our birth, but of the mind which is renewed by the Spirit of God.
- Romans 7:24 It is a miserable thing to be yet in part subject to sin, which of its own nature maketh us guilty of death: but we must cry to the Lord, who will by death itself at length make us conquerors as we are already conquerors in Christ.
- Romans 7:24 Wearied with miserable and continual conflict.
- Romans 7:25 He recovereth himself, and showeth us that he resteth only in Christ.
- Romans 7:25 This is the true perfection of them that are born anew, to confess that they are imperfect.
Romans 7
Authorized (King James) Version
7 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
2001 by Terence P. Noble
Copyright © 2016 by Ruth Magnusson (Davis). Includes emendations to February 2022. All rights reserved.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.