Romans 2
The Message
God Is Kind, but Not Soft
2 1-2 Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done.
3-4 You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.
5-8 You’re not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it’s going to blaze hot and high, God’s fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what’s coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God’s side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire!
9-11 If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you’re from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won’t give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.
12-13 If you sin without knowing what you’re doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you’re doing, that’s a different story entirely. Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.
14-16 When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences.
Religion Can’t Save You
17-24 If you’re brought up Jewish, don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you’re an insider to God’s revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God’s revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I’m quite serious. While preaching “Don’t steal!” are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, “It’s because of you Jews that the outsiders frown on God,” shows it’s an old problem that isn’t going to go away.
25-29 Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God’s law. But if you don’t, it’s worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God’s ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God’s law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don’t you see: It’s not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It’s the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.
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Romans 2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 2
Judging Is Inexcusable. 1 Therefore, you have no excuse, whoever you may be, when you pass judgment on others. For in judging others you condemn yourself, since you are doing the same things. 2 We are all aware that God’s judgment on those who commit such deeds is just. 3 How can you then suppose that you will escape the judgment of God for doing such things when you are condemning those who perform the same things?
4 How can you despise the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience? How can you fail to realize that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 By your obstinate refusal to repent you are storing up retribution for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 For God will repay everyone in accordance with what his deeds deserve.[a] 7 To those who seek after glory and honor and immortality by persevering in good works, he will grant eternal life. 8 But for those who are slaves to selfish ambition and follow the path of wickedness and not of truth, wrath and fury will be their lot.
9 There will be affliction and distress for everyone who does evil—Jews first and then Gentiles. 10 However, glory, honor, and peace await everyone who does good—Jews first, and then Gentiles. 11 For God shows no partiality.[b]
12 The Law and Conscience.[c] All those who have sinned outside the Law will perish outside the Law, and all who sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 For it is not those who hear the Law who are justified by God; rather, it is those who observe the Law who will be justified. 14 Therefore, when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, act by nature in conformity with the Law, they are a law for themselves, even though they have no Law. 15 They show that the requirements of the Law are inscribed in their hearts; and their own conscience will also bear witness for them, since their conflicting thoughts will accuse or even defend them[d] 16 on the day when, according to the gospel, God will judge the thoughts of all through Jesus Christ.
17 [e]You call yourself a Jew and rely on the Law and are proud of your relationship to God, 18 and you know his will and are able to distinguish between right and wrong because you have been instructed in the Law, 19 and you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light for those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, and a teacher of the simple because in the Law you have the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
21 You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, are you yourself a thief? 22 You who forbid adultery, are you yourself an adulterer? You who abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? 23 You who boast of the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking it? 24 As it is written, “Because of you the name of God is reviled among the Gentiles.”
25 Circumcision and the Heart.[f] Circumcision has value if you obey the Law. However, if you break the Law, you have become as if you had never been circumcised. 26 In the same way, if one who is not circumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then the man who is not physically circumcised but nevertheless observes the Law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the Law.
28 A man is not a Jew who is only one outwardly, nor is true circumcision external and physical. 29 Rather, the Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart—spiritual, not literal. He receives his praise not from human beings but from God.
Footnotes
- Romans 2:6 Will repay everyone in accordance with what his deeds deserve: a combination of Ps 62:12 and Prov 24:12 from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament).
- Romans 2:11 God shows no partiality: a basic teaching of both the Old and the New Testament (see Deut 10:17).
- Romans 2:12 This passage is an important one for theology: God speaks to all human beings through the law of conscience; the authentic virtues and the interior resistances of the Gentiles bear witness to this fact.
- Romans 2:15 Paul takes up and develops the teaching of Jer 31:33 and Wis 17:11.
- Romans 2:17 In the original, the sentence is left incomplete; it has been translated in a way that makes it complete.
- Romans 2:25 For Israel, circumcision was the sign of its covenant with God; to receive it was to belong to the People of God, and the Jews were proud of it. But was the rite enough, when the person did not live the reality that the rite signified? The Prophets had long been criticizing formalism and calling for a religion of the heart (see Jer 4:4; 9:24-25; Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; 30:6; Sir 35:1-10; Dan 3:36-40; Phil 3:3-7).
Romans 2
Legacy Standard Bible
God’s Righteous Judgment
2 Therefore you are (A)without excuse, (B)O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which (C)you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God [a]rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, (D)O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of (E)the riches of His (F)kindness and (G)forbearance and (H)patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But [b]because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart (I)you are storing up wrath for yourself (J)in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 (K)who will repay to each according to his works: 7 to those who by (L)perseverance in doing good seek for (M)glory and honor and (N)immortality, (O)eternal life; 8 but to those who are (P)selfishly ambitious and (Q)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. 9 There will be (R)affliction and turmoil [c]for every soul of man who works out evil, of the Jew (S)first and also of the Greek, 10 but (T)glory and honor and peace to everyone who works good, to the Jew (U)first and also to the Greek. 11 For (V)there is no partiality with God.
12 For all who have sinned [d](W)without the Law will also perish [e]without the Law, and all who have sinned [f]under the Law will be judged [g]by the Law. 13 For it is (X)not the hearers [h]of the Law who are [i]just before God, but the doers [j]of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have [k]the Law (Y)naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having [l]the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they demonstrate (Z)the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, (AA)according to my gospel, (AB)God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
The Jew Is Judged by the Law
17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and (AC)rely [m]upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and [n](AD)approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a [o]corrector of the foolish, a teacher of [p]the immature, having in the Law (AE)the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, (AF)who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who [q]preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you (AG)rob temples? 23 You who (AH)boast [r]in the Law, through your transgression of the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For “(AI)the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles (AJ)because of you,” just as it is written.
25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you (AK)practice [s]the Law, but if you are a transgressor [t]of the Law, (AL)your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 (AM)So if (AN)the [u]uncircumcised man (AO)observes the righteous requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And (AP)he who is physically uncircumcised, if he [v]fulfills the Law, will he not (AQ)judge you who, through the letter of the Law and circumcision, are a transgressor [w]of the Law? 28 For (AR)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But (AS)he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and (AT)circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the (AU)Spirit, not by the letter; (AV)and his praise is not from men, but from God.
Footnotes
- Romans 2:2 Lit is according to truth against
- Romans 2:5 Or in accordance with
- Romans 2:9 Lit upon
- Romans 2:12 Or without law
- Romans 2:12 Or without law
- Romans 2:12 Or under law
- Romans 2:12 Or by law
- Romans 2:13 Or of law
- Romans 2:13 Or righteous
- Romans 2:13 Or of law
- Romans 2:14 Or law
- Romans 2:14 Or law
- Romans 2:17 Or upon law
- Romans 2:18 Or distinguish between the things which differ
- Romans 2:20 Or instructor
- Romans 2:20 Lit infants
- Romans 2:21 Or proclaim
- Romans 2:23 Or in law
- Romans 2:25 Or law
- Romans 2:25 Or of law
- Romans 2:26 Lit uncircumcision
- Romans 2:27 Or completes, cf. James 2:8
- Romans 2:27 Or of law
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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