Romans 2:5-20

Living Bible

⁵ But no, you won’t listen; and so you are saving up terrible punishment for yourselves because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin; for there is going to come a day of wrath when God will be the just Judge of all the world. ⁶ He will give each one whatever his deeds deserve. ⁷ He will give eternal life to those who patiently do the will of God,^[a] seeking for the unseen glory and honor and eternal life that he offers. ⁸ But he will terribly punish those who fight against the truth of God and walk in evil ways—God’s anger will be poured out upon them. ⁹ There will be sorrow and suffering for Jews and Gentiles alike who keep on sinning. ¹⁰ But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who obey him,^[b] whether they are Jews or Gentiles. ¹¹ For God treats everyone the same.

^12-15 He will punish sin wherever it is found. He will punish the heathen when they sin, even though they never had God’s written laws, for down in their hearts they know right from wrong. God’s laws are written within them; their own conscience accuses them, or sometimes excuses them. And God will punish the Jews for sinning because they have his written laws but don’t obey them. They know what is right but don’t do it. After all, salvation is not given to those who know what to do, unless they do it. ¹⁶ The day will surely come when at God’s command Jesus Christ will judge the secret lives of everyone, their inmost thoughts and motives; this is all part of God’s great plan, which I proclaim.

¹⁷ You Jews think all is well between yourselves and God because he gave his laws to you;^[c] you brag that you are his special friends. ¹⁸ Yes, you know what he wants; you know right from wrong and favor the right because you have been taught his laws from earliest youth. ¹⁹ You are so sure of the way to God that you could point it out to a blind man. You think of yourselves as beacon lights, directing men who are lost in darkness to God. ²⁰ You think that you can guide the simple and teach even children the affairs of God, for you really know his laws, which are full of all knowledge and truth.