Romans 1
Legacy Standard Bible
The Gospel Exalted
1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, [a](A)called as an apostle, having been (B)set apart for (C)the gospel of God, 2 which He (D)promised beforehand through His (E)prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born (F)of the seed of David (G)according to the flesh, 4 who was designated as (H)the Son of God in power, according to the [b]Spirit of holiness, [c]by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we received grace and (I)apostleship for the (J)obedience of faith among (K)all the Gentiles for the sake of His name, 6 among whom you also are the (L)called of Jesus Christ;
7 to all who are (M)beloved of God in Rome, called as [d](N)saints: (O)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, (P)I thank my God through Jesus Christ [e]for you all, because (Q)your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For (R)God, whom I (S)serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how without ceasing (T)I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers earnestly asking, if perhaps now at last by (U)the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For (V)I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be strengthened; 12 that is, to be mutually encouraged, while among you, by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 (W)I do not want you to be unaware, (X)brothers, that often I (Y)have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may have some (Z)fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 (AA)I am [f]under obligation both to Greeks and to (AB)barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 In this way, for my part, I am eager to (AC)proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not (AD)ashamed of the gospel, for (AE)it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the (AF)Jew first and also to (AG)the Greek. 17 For in it (AH)the righteousness of God is revealed [g]from faith to faith; as it is written, “[h](AI)But the righteous will live by faith.”
God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness
18 For (AJ)the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who (AK)suppress the truth [i]in unrighteousness, 19 because (AL)that which is known about God is evident [j]within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For (AM)since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, (AN)being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became (AO)futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 (AP)Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and (AQ)exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore (AR)God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be (AS)dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for [k]a (AT)lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, (AU)who is blessed [l]forever. Amen.
26 For this reason (AV)God gave them over to (AW)dishonorable passions; for their (AX)females exchanged the natural function for that which is [m]unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the (AY)males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, (AZ)males with males committing [n]indecent acts and receiving in [o]their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit [p]to acknowledge God, (BA)God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are (BB)gossips, 30 slanderers, [q](BC)haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, (BD)disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, (BE)unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of (BF)death, they not only do the same, but also (BG)give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Footnotes
- Romans 1:1 Lit a called apostle
- Romans 1:4 Or spirit
- Romans 1:4 Or as a result of
- Romans 1:7 Or holy ones
- Romans 1:8 Or concerning you all, that...
- Romans 1:14 Lit debtor
- Romans 1:17 Or by
- Romans 1:17 Or But he who is righteous by faith shall live
- Romans 1:18 Or by
- Romans 1:19 Or among
- Romans 1:25 Lit the lie
- Romans 1:25 Lit to the ages
- Romans 1:26 Lit against nature
- Romans 1:27 Lit the shameless deed
- Romans 1:27 Lit themselves
- Romans 1:28 Lit to have God in knowledge
- Romans 1:30 Or hateful to God
Romans 1
Revised Standard Version
Salutation
1 Paul, a servant[a] of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;
7 To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, 10 asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brethren, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish: 15 so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
The Power of the Gospel
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”[b]
The Guilt of Mankind
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; 21 for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. 29 They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.
Footnotes
- Romans 1:1 Or slave
- Romans 1:17 Or The righteous shall live by faith
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.