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Romans 1
New Living Translation

Greetings from Paul

1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be[a] the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.[b] He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through Christ, God has given us the privilege[c] and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

6 And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

God’s Good News

8 Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world. 9 God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart[d] by spreading the Good News about his Son.

10 One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. 11 For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. 12 When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

13 I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters,[e] that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles. 14 For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world,[f] to the educated and uneducated alike. 15 So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.[g] 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”[h]

God’s Anger at Sin

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.[i] 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

Footnotes

  1. 1:4a Or and was designated.
  2. 1:4b Or by the Spirit of holiness; or in the new realm of the Spirit.
  3. 1:5 Or the grace.
  4. 1:9 Or in my spirit.
  5. 1:13 Greek brothers.
  6. 1:14 Greek to Greeks and barbarians.
  7. 1:16 Greek also the Greek.
  8. 1:17 Or “The righteous will live by faith.” Hab 2:4.
  9. 1:18 Or who, by their wickedness, prevent the truth from being known.
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Romans 1
New American Standard Bible

The Gospel Exalted

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, [a](A)called as an apostle, (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 a [b]descendant of David (G)according to the flesh, 4 who was declared (H)the Son of God with power according to the [c]Spirit of holiness [d]by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and (I)apostleship [e]to bring about the (J)obedience of faith among (K)all the Gentiles in behalf 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 [f](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 [g]for you all, because (Q)your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world. 9 For (R)God, whom I (S)serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly (T)I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers requesting if perhaps now, at last by (U)the will of God, I will 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 [h]established; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 (W)I do not want you to be unaware, (X)brothers and sisters, that often I (Y)have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some (Z)fruit among you also just as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 (AA)I am [i]under obligation both to Greeks and to the [j](AB)uncultured, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to (AC)preach 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 [k]from faith to faith; as it is written: “[l](AI)But the righteous one will live by faith.”

Unbelief and Its Consequences

18 For (AJ)the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who (AK)suppress the truth [m]in unrighteousness, 19 because (AL)that which is known about God is evident [n]within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For (AM)since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, (AN)being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not [o]honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became (AO)futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 (AP)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and they (AQ)exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and [p]crawling creatures.

24 Therefore (AR)God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be (AS)dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for [q](AT)falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, (AU)who is blessed [r]forever. Amen.

26 For this reason (AV)God gave them over to (AW)degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, 27 and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations [s]with women and burned in their desire toward one another, (AX)males with males committing [t]shameful acts and receiving in [u]their own persons the due penalty of their error.

28 And just as they did not see fit [v]to acknowledge God, (AY)God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, 29 people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are (AZ)gossips, 30 slanderers, [w](BA)haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, (BB)disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, (BC)unfeeling, and unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of (BD)death, they not only do the same, but also (BE)approve of those who practice them.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 1:1 Lit a called apostle
  2. Romans 1:3 Lit seed
  3. Romans 1:4 Or spirit
  4. Romans 1:4 Or as a result of
  5. Romans 1:5 Lit for obedience
  6. Romans 1:7 Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
  7. Romans 1:8 Or concerning you all, that...
  8. Romans 1:11 Or strengthened
  9. Romans 1:14 Lit debtor
  10. Romans 1:14 I.e., non-Hellenes
  11. Romans 1:17 Or by
  12. Romans 1:17 Or But the one who is righteous by faith shall live
  13. Romans 1:18 Or by
  14. Romans 1:19 Or among
  15. Romans 1:21 Lit glorify
  16. Romans 1:23 Or reptiles
  17. Romans 1:25 Lit the lie
  18. Romans 1:25 Lit unto the ages
  19. Romans 1:27 Lit of the female
  20. Romans 1:27 Lit shamelessness
  21. Romans 1:27 Lit themselves
  22. Romans 1:28 Lit to have God in knowledge
  23. Romans 1:30 Or hateful to God
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


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