Romans 7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
An Analogy from Marriage
7 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime? 2 Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband.(A) 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she belongs to another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she belongs to another man, she is not an adulteress.(B)
4 In the same way, my brothers and sisters, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.(C) 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.(D) 6 But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are enslaved in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the written code.(E)
The Law and Sin
7 What then are we to say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”(F) 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law sin lies dead.(G) 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived 10 and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.(H) 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.(I)
13 Did what is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin that was working death in me through what is good, in order that it might be shown to be sin, so that through the commandment sin might become sinful beyond measure.
The Inner Conflict
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin.[a] 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.(J) 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability.(K) 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,(L) 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.(M) 24 Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God[b] through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with my mind I am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh I am enslaved to the law of sin.
Romans 7
King James Version
7 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romanos 7
La Biblia de las Américas
Analogía tomada del matrimonio
7 ¿Acaso ignoráis, hermanos(A) (pues hablo a los que conocen la ley), que la ley tiene jurisdicción sobre una persona mientras vive? 2 Pues la mujer casada está ligada por la ley a su marido mientras él vive; pero si su marido muere, queda libre de la ley en cuanto al marido(B). 3 Así que, mientras vive su marido, será llamada adúltera si ella se une a otro hombre; pero si su marido muere, está libre de la ley, de modo que no es adúltera aunque se una a otro hombre. 4 Por tanto, hermanos míos, también a vosotros se os hizo morir a la ley(C) por medio del cuerpo de Cristo(D), para que seáis unidos a otro, a aquel que resucitó de entre los muertos, a fin de que llevemos fruto para Dios. 5 Porque mientras estábamos en la carne(E), las pasiones pecaminosas despertadas por la ley(F), actuaban en los miembros de nuestro cuerpo[a] a fin de llevar fruto para muerte(G). 6 Pero ahora hemos quedado libres de la ley, habiendo muerto a lo que nos ataba(H), de modo que sirvamos en la novedad(I) del Espíritu[b] y no en el arcaísmo de la letra(J).
7 ¿Qué diremos(K) entonces? ¿Es pecado la ley? ¡De ningún modo(L)! Al contrario, yo no hubiera llegado a conocer el pecado si no hubiera sido por medio de la ley(M); porque yo no hubiera sabido lo que es la codicia[c], si la ley no hubiera dicho: No codiciaras(N). 8 Pero el pecado, aprovechándose del[d] mandamiento(O), produjo en mí toda clase de codicia[e]; porque aparte de la ley el pecado está muerto(P). 9 Y en un tiempo yo vivía sin la ley, pero al venir el mandamiento, el pecado revivió, y yo morí; 10 y este mandamiento, que era para vida(Q), a mí me resultó para muerte; 11 porque el pecado, aprovechándose del[f] mandamiento(R), me engañó(S), y por medio de él me mató. 12 Así que la ley es santa, y el mandamiento es santo, justo y bueno(T). 13 ¿Entonces lo que es bueno vino a ser causa de muerte para mí? ¡De ningún modo(U)! Al contrario, fue el pecado, a fin de mostrarse que es pecado al producir mi muerte por medio de lo que es bueno, para que por medio del mandamiento el pecado llegue a ser en extremo pecaminoso. 14 Porque sabemos que la ley es espiritual(V), pero yo soy carnal[g](W), vendido a la esclavitud del pecado[h](X). 15 Porque lo que hago, no lo entiendo(Y); porque no practico lo que quiero hacer, sino que lo que aborrezco, eso hago(Z). 16 Y si lo que no quiero hacer, eso hago, estoy de acuerdo con la ley, reconociendo que es buena(AA). 17 Así que ya no soy yo el que lo hace, sino el pecado que habita en mí(AB). 18 Porque yo sé que en mí, es decir, en mi carne(AC), no habita nada bueno; porque el querer está presente en mí, pero el hacer el bien, no. 19 Pues no hago el bien que deseo, sino que el mal que no quiero, eso practico(AD). 20 Y si lo que no quiero hacer, eso hago, ya no soy yo el que lo hace, sino el pecado que habita en mí(AE). 21 Así que, queriendo yo hacer el bien, hallo la ley de que el mal está presente en mí(AF). 22 Porque en el[i] hombre interior(AG) me deleito con la ley de Dios, 23 pero veo otra ley en los miembros de mi cuerpo[j] que hace guerra(AH) contra la ley de mi mente, y me hace prisionero de[k] la ley del pecado que está en mis miembros(AI). 24 ¡Miserable de mí[l]! ¿Quién me libertará de este cuerpo de muerte[m](AJ)? 25 Gracias a Dios, por Jesucristo Señor nuestro(AK). Así que yo mismo, por un lado, con la mente sirvo a la ley de Dios, pero por el otro, con la carne, a la ley del pecado(AL).
Footnotes
- Romanos 7:5 Lit., en nuestros miembros
- Romanos 7:6 O, espíritu
- Romanos 7:7 O, lujuria
- Romanos 7:8 O, tomando ocasión mediante el
- Romanos 7:8 O, lujuria
- Romanos 7:11 O, tomando ocasión mediante el
- Romanos 7:14 O, de la carne
- Romanos 7:14 Lit., vendido bajo pecado
- Romanos 7:22 O, conforme al
- Romanos 7:23 Lit., en mis miembros
- Romanos 7:23 Lit., en
- Romanos 7:24 Lit., Hombre miserable yo soy
- Romanos 7:24 O, del cuerpo de esta muerte
Romans 7
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
An Analogy from Marriage
7 Do you not know, brethren—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during his life? 2 Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.
The Law and Sin
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I should not have known sin. I should not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; 10 the very commandment which promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.
The Inner Conflict
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me?[a] By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Footnotes
- 7.13-25 Man under the law of Moses and perhaps man under the natural law too.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 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.