Romans 1
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
1 Paul[a], a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle[b], having been separated[c] for the good-news of God 2 which He promised-beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 concerning His Son— the One having come from the seed of David according-to[d] the flesh, 4 the One having been designated[e] as the Son of God with power according to the Spirit[f] of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord— 5 through Whom we received grace and apostleship for the obedience of [g] faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of His name, 6 among whom you also are called ones of Jesus Christ, 7 to all the ones being in Rome, beloved ones of God, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I am giving-thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for you all because your faith is being proclaimed in the whole world. 9 For God is my witness— Whom I am serving in my spirit in[h] the good-news of His Son— how unceasingly I am making mention of you 10 always in my prayers, asking if somehow now at last I shall be prospered in the will of God to come to you.
11 For I am yearning to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift to you so that you may be established. 12 And this is that I may be encouraged-together-with you among you— through each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 And I do not want you to be-unaware, brothers, that often I planned to come to you— and was prevented until now— in order that I might have some fruit among you also, as indeed among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to wise and foolish. 15 So for my part, I am eager also to announce-the-good-news to you, the ones in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed-of the good-news, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone believing[i]— both to the Jew first and to the Greek. 17 For the righteousness of [j] God is revealed in it from faith to faith, just as it has been written [in Hab 2:4]: “But the righteous one shall live by faith”.
God’s Wrath Is Upon All Sin
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness[k] and unrighteousness[l] of people holding-down[m] the truth in[n] unrighteousness.
Because God Revealed Enough of Himself In Creation For The World To Be Without Excuse
19 Because the thing known of God is evident[o] in[p] them, for God made it evident to them. 20 For His invisible things— both His eternal power and divine-nature— are clearly-seen, being understood since the creation of the world in the things made, so that they are without-excuse.
And Having Known This Truth About God, The World Did Not Honor Him As God
21 Because having known God, they did not glorify Him as God or give-thanks, but became futile in their thoughts, and their senseless heart was darkened.
They Turned From The Glory of The Immortal God To Their Crafted Images of God
22 While claiming to be wise, they became-foolish 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for a likeness— an image of a mortal person and of birds and of four-footed-animals and of reptiles. 24 Therefore God handed them over[q] in the desires of their hearts to impurity so that [r] their bodies are dishonored among them.
They Turned From The Truth To Worship The Creation Rather Than The Creator
25 Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie[s], and worshiped and served the creation[t] rather than the One having created— Who is blessed forever, amen. 26 For this reason God handed them over to passions of [u] dishonor. For both their females exchanged the natural [sexual] function for the one contrary to nature, 27 and likewise also the males, having left the natural [sexual] function of the female, were inflamed by their craving for one another— males with males committing the indecent-act[v] and receiving-back in themselves the return[w] which was due their error[x].
They Disapproved of Keeping God In Mind
28 And as they did not approve to have[y] God in their knowledge, God handed them over to a disapproved mind, to do the things not being proper— 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, evilness, greed, badness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; whisperers[z], 30 slanderers, God-haters[aa], violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evils, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, unfaithful[ab], unaffectionate[ac], unmerciful; 32 who, having known the regulation of God that the ones practicing such things are worthy of death, not only are doing them, but are also giving-approval to the ones practicing them.
Footnotes
- Romans 1:1 On when this book was written, see Act 20:3. Paul was in Corinth, Rom 16:23.
- Romans 1:1 Or, called to be an apostle.
- Romans 1:1 That is, set apart, appointed.
- Romans 1:3 Or, with respect to.
- Romans 1:4 Or, declared to be.
- Romans 1:4 Or, His spirit.
- Romans 1:5 That is, consisting of; or, proceeding from.
- Romans 1:9 That is, in connection with.
- Romans 1:16 Or, exercising faith. Same root word as ‘faith’ in v 17.
- Romans 1:17 That is, from God; or, belonging to God; or, the God-kind of-righteousness.
- Romans 1:18 That is, lack of reverence toward God; profaneness.
- Romans 1:18 That is, wrongdoing; actions violating God’s standards.
- Romans 1:18 Or, suppressing, holding back, restraining.
- Romans 1:18 That is, in connection with; or, by means of.
- Romans 1:19 Or, clear, visible, plainly seen.
- Romans 1:19 Or, among.
- Romans 1:24 Or, gave them up.
- Romans 1:24 Or ‘impurity, the dishonoring as to their bodies among themselves’.
- Romans 1:25 That is, the lie of false religion. Or, falsehood.
- Romans 1:25 Or, creature.
- Romans 1:26 That is, characterized by; or, leading to; or, proceeding from.
- Romans 1:27 Or, the shameful-deed.
- Romans 1:27 This is a neutral rendering; negatively it means ‘penalty’.
- Romans 1:27 Or, deception, delusion.
- Romans 1:28 Or, hold, retain.
- Romans 1:29 That is, gossips.
- Romans 1:30 Or, God-hated. These may be combined as slandering whisperers, God-hated violent ones, proud boasters.
- Romans 1:31 Or, undutiful.
- Romans 1:31 Or, without good feelings for others.
Romans 1
GOD’S WORD Translation
Greeting
1 From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and appointed to spread the Good News of God.
2 (God had already promised this Good News through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. 3 This Good News is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.[a] In his human nature he was a descendant of David. 4 In his spiritual, holy nature he was declared the Son of God. This was shown in a powerful way when he came back to life. 5 Through him we have received God’s kindness [b] and the privilege of being apostles who bring people from every nation to the obedience that is associated with faith. This is for the honor of his name. 6 You are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.)
7 To everyone in Rome whom God loves and has called to be his holy people.
Good will [c] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are yours!
Paul’s Prayer and Desire to Visit Rome
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for every one of you because the news of your faith is spreading throughout the whole world. 9 I serve God by spreading the Good News about his Son. God is my witness that I always mention you 10 every time I pray. I ask that somehow God will now at last make it possible for me to visit you. 11 I long to see you to share a spiritual blessing with you so that you will be strengthened. 12 What I mean is that we may be encouraged by each other’s faith.
13 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to visit you. However, until now I have been kept from doing so. What I want is to enjoy some of the results of working among you as I have also enjoyed the results of working among the rest of the nations. 14 I have an obligation to those who are civilized and those who aren’t, to those who are wise and those who aren’t. 15 That’s why I’m eager to tell you who live in Rome the Good News also.
16 I’m not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes, Jews first and Greeks as well. 17 God’s approval is revealed in this Good News. This approval begins and ends with faith as Scripture says, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.”
God’s Anger against Sinful Humanity
18 God’s anger is revealed from heaven against every ungodly and immoral thing people do as they try to suppress the truth by their immoral living. 19 What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them. 20 From the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. 21 They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were pointless, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness. 22 While claiming to be wise, they became fools. 23 They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for statues that looked like mortal humans, birds, animals, and snakes.
24 For this reason God allowed their lusts to control them. As a result, they dishonor their bodies by sexual perversion with each other. 25 These people have exchanged God’s truth for a lie. So they have become ungodly and serve what is created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen!
26 For this reason God allowed their shameful passions to control them. Their women have exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 Likewise, their men have given up natural sexual relations with women and burn with lust for each other. Men commit indecent acts with men, so they experience among themselves the punishment they deserve for their perversion.
28 And because they thought it was worthless to acknowledge God, God allowed their own immoral minds to control them. So they do these indecent things. 29 Their lives are filled with all kinds of sexual sins, wickedness, and greed. They are mean. They are filled with envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, haughty, arrogant, and boastful. They think up new ways to be cruel. They don’t obey their parents, 31 don’t have any sense, don’t keep promises, and don’t show love to their own families or mercy to others. 32 Although they know God’s judgment that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do these things but also approve of others who do them.
Romans 1
King James Version
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.
14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing
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