Romans 12
New King James Version
Living Sacrifices to God
12 I (A)beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies (B)a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your [b]reasonable service. 2 And (C)do not be conformed to this world, but (D)be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may (E)prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Serve God with Spiritual Gifts
3 For I say, (F)through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, (G)not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt (H)to each one a measure of faith. 4 For (I)as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so (J)we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is (K)given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us (L)prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; (M)he who teaches, in teaching; 8 (N)he who exhorts, in exhortation; (O)he who gives, with liberality; (P)he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, (Q)with cheerfulness.
Behave Like a Christian
9 (R)Let love be without hypocrisy. (S)Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 (T)Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, (U)in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 (V)rejoicing in hope, (W)patient[c] in tribulation, (X)continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 (Y)distributing to the needs of the saints, (Z)given[d] to hospitality.
14 (AA)Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 (AB)Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 (AC)Be of the same mind toward one another. (AD)Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 (AE)Repay no one evil for evil. (AF)Have[e] regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, (AG)live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, (AH)do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, (AI)“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore
(AJ)“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but (AK)overcome evil with good.
Footnotes
- Romans 12:1 urge
- Romans 12:1 rational
- Romans 12:12 persevering
- Romans 12:13 Lit. pursuing
- Romans 12:17 Or Provide good
Romans 12
English Standard Version
A Living Sacrifice
12 (A)I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, (B)to present your bodies (C)as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 (D)Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by (E)the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may (F)discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[d]
Gifts of Grace
3 For (G)by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you (H)not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, (I)each according to (J)the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For (K)as in one body we have many members,[e] and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, (L)though many, (M)are one body in Christ, and individually (N)members one of another. 6 (O)Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if (P)prophecy, (Q)in proportion to our faith; 7 if (R)service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; (S)the one who leads,[f] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with (T)cheerfulness.
Marks of the True Christian
9 (U)Let love be genuine. (V)Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 (W)Love one another with brotherly affection. (X)Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, (Y)be fervent in spirit,[g] (Z)serve the Lord. 12 (AA)Rejoice in hope, (AB)be patient in tribulation, (AC)be constant in prayer. 13 (AD)Contribute to the needs of the saints and (AE)seek to show hospitality.
14 (AF)Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 (AG)Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 (AH)Live in harmony with one another. (AI)Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.[h] (AJ)Never be wise in your own sight. 17 (AK)Repay no one evil for evil, but (AL)give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, (AM)live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, (AN)never avenge yourselves, but leave it[i] to the wrath of God, for it is written, (AO)“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, (AP)“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Footnotes
- Romans 12:1 Or brothers and sisters
- Romans 12:1 Or your rational service
- Romans 12:2 Greek age
- Romans 12:2 Or what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God
- Romans 12:4 Greek parts; also verse 5
- Romans 12:8 Or gives aid
- Romans 12:11 Or fervent in the Spirit
- Romans 12:16 Or give yourselves to humble tasks
- Romans 12:19 Greek give place
Romans 12
Good News Translation
Life in God's Service
12 So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.
3 And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. 4 (A)We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. 5 In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. 6 (B)So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it according to the faith that we have; 7 if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach; 8 if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully.
9 Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. 10 Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. 11 Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. 12 Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. 13 Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.
14 (C)Ask God to bless those who persecute you—yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. 15 (D)Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. 16 (E)Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties.[a] Do not think of yourselves as wise.
17 If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. 18 Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. 19 (F)Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.” 20 (G)Instead, as the scripture says: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame.” 21 Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.
Footnotes
- Romans 12:16 accept humble duties; or make friends with humble people.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
