Font Size
Romans 7-9
21st Century King James Version
Romans 7-9
21st Century King James Version
7 Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), how the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2 For the woman who hath a 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 the 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 Therefore, my brethren, ye also have 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 passions of sins, which were by the law, worked 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 would not have known sin, but through the law; for I would not have known lust, except that the law had said, “Thou shalt not covet.”
8 But sin, taking occasion through the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence; for without the law sin was dead.
9 For I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died;
10 and the commandment, which was ordained to bring life, I found to be unto death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me and by it slew me.
12 Therefore 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 as sin, was 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 know not. For what I would do, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do.
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 do, I do not; but the evil which I would not do, that I do.
20 Now if I do that which I would not do, 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 according to 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.
8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,
7 because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so it be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh;
13 for if ye live according to the flesh ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God;
17 and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so it be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope, for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it?
25 But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover, whom He predestined, those He also called; and whom He called, those He also justified; and whom He justified, those He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say of these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay anything to the charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ who died, yea rather, who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: “For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
9 I speak the truth in Christ — I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost—
2 that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,
4 who are Israelites and to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 of whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 It is not as though the Word of God hath taken no effect. For they are not all Israel, who are of Israel;
7 neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children; but, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.”
8 That is, they who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; rather, the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.”
10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac
11 (for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not by works, but by Him that calleth),
12 it was said unto her, “The elder shall serve the younger.”
13 As it is written: “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid!
15 For He saith to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy.
17 For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, “Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth.”
18 Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, “Why doth He yet find fault, for who hath resisted His will?”
20 But nay, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, “Why hast thou made me thus?”
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?
22 What if God, choosing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction;
23 and this, that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, whom He had prepared before unto glory,
24 even us whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He saith also in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My people,’ who were not My people, and ‘her beloved’ who was not beloved.”
26 And, “It shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ‘Ye are not My people,’ there shall they be called the children of the living God.”
27 Isaiah also crieth concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.
28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.”
29 And as Isaiah said before: “Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have been as Sodom and been made like unto Gomorrah.”
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith;
31 but Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Why so? Because they sought it not by faith but, as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
33 As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whosoever believeth in Him shall not be ashamed.”
Romans 7-9
New International Version
Romans 7-9
New International Version
Released From the Law, Bound to Christ
7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(B) 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(D) through the body of Christ,(E) that you might belong to another,(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law(H) were at work in us,(I) so that we bore fruit for death.(J) 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(L)
The Law and Sin
7 What shall we say, then?(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b](P) 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(R) 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(S) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(T) deceived me,(U) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(V)
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(W) to bring about my death,(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(Y) sold(Z) as a slave to sin.(AA) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(AB) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(AC) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(AD) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c](AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(AF) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(AG)
21 So I find this law at work:(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(AI) I delight in God’s law;(AJ) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(AL) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(AM) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AN)
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(AO) but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.(AP)
Life Through the Spirit
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation(AQ) for those who are in Christ Jesus,(AR) 2 because through Christ Jesus(AS) the law of the Spirit who gives life(AT) has set you[e] free(AU) from the law of sin(AV) and death. 3 For what the law was powerless(AW) to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[f](AX) God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh(AY) to be a sin offering.[g](AZ) And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement(BA) of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.(BB)
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires;(BC) but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.(BD) 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death,(BE) but the mind governed by the Spirit is life(BF) and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God;(BG) it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh(BH) cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh(BI) but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.(BJ) And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,(BK) they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you,(BL) then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[h] because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead(BM) is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies(BN) because of[i] his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.(BO) 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die;(BP) but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,(BQ) you will live.(BR)
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God(BS) are the children of God.(BT) 15 The Spirit(BU) you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again;(BV) rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[j] And by him we cry, “Abba,[k] Father.”(BW) 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit(BX) that we are God’s children.(BY) 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs(BZ)—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings(CA) in order that we may also share in his glory.(CB)
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.(CC) 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God(CD) to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it,(CE) in hope 21 that[l] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay(CF) and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.(CG)
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning(CH) as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,(CI) groan(CJ) inwardly as we wait eagerly(CK) for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.(CL) 24 For in this hope we were saved.(CM) But hope that is seen is no hope at all.(CN) Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.(CO)
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit(CP) himself intercedes for us(CQ) through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts(CR) knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes(CS) for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good(CT) of those who love him, who[m] have been called(CU) according to his purpose.(CV) 29 For those God foreknew(CW) he also predestined(CX) to be conformed to the image of his Son,(CY) that he might be the firstborn(CZ) among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined,(DA) he also called;(DB) those he called, he also justified;(DC) those he justified, he also glorified.(DD)
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things?(DE) If God is for us,(DF) who can be against us?(DG) 32 He who did not spare his own Son,(DH) but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge(DI) against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns?(DJ) No one. Christ Jesus who died(DK)—more than that, who was raised to life(DL)—is at the right hand of God(DM) and is also interceding for us.(DN) 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?(DO) Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?(DP) 36 As it is written:
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors(DR) through him who loved us.(DS) 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[o] neither the present nor the future,(DT) nor any powers,(DU) 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God(DV) that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.(DW)
Paul’s Anguish Over Israel
9 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying,(DX) my conscience confirms(DY) it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself(DZ) were cursed(EA) and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people,(EB) those of my own race,(EC) 4 the people of Israel.(ED) Theirs is the adoption to sonship;(EE) theirs the divine glory,(EF) the covenants,(EG) the receiving of the law,(EH) the temple worship(EI) and the promises.(EJ) 5 Theirs are the patriarchs,(EK) and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,(EL) who is God over all,(EM) forever praised Amen.
God’s Sovereign Choice
6 It is not as though God’s word(EO) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.(EP) 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[q](EQ) 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,(ER) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.(ES) 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[r](ET)
10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac.(EU) 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad(EV)—in order that God’s purpose(EW) in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”[s](EX) 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[t](EY)
14 What then shall we say?(EZ) Is God unjust? Not at all!(FA) 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[u](FB)
16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.(FC) 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”[v](FD) 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.(FE)
19 One of you will say to me:(FF) “Then why does God still blame us?(FG) For who is able to resist his will?”(FH) 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(FI) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(FJ) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[w](FK) 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?(FL)
22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience(FM) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?(FN) 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory(FO) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory(FP)— 24 even us, whom he also called,(FQ) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(FR) 25 As he says in Hosea:
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”[x](FS)
26 and,
“In the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”[y](FT)
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,(FU)
only the remnant will be saved.(FV)
28 For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[z](FW)
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:
“Unless the Lord Almighty(FX)
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”[aa](FY)
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What then shall we say?(FZ) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;(GA) 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(GB) have not attained their goal.(GC) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(GD) 33 As it is written:
Footnotes
- Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
- Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
- Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
- Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh
- Romans 8:2 The Greek is singular; some manuscripts me
- Romans 8:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 4-13.
- Romans 8:3 Or flesh, for sin
- Romans 8:10 Or you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
- Romans 8:11 Some manuscripts bodies through
- Romans 8:15 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture; also in verse 23.
- Romans 8:15 Aramaic for father
- Romans 8:21 Or subjected it in hope. 21 For
- Romans 8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who
- Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:22
- Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers
- Romans 9:5 Or Messiah, who is over all. God be forever praised! Or Messiah. God who is over all be forever praised!
- Romans 9:7 Gen. 21:12
- Romans 9:9 Gen. 18:10,14
- Romans 9:12 Gen. 25:23
- Romans 9:13 Mal. 1:2,3
- Romans 9:15 Exodus 33:19
- Romans 9:17 Exodus 9:16
- Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9
- Romans 9:25 Hosea 2:23
- Romans 9:26 Hosea 1:10
- Romans 9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)
- Romans 9:29 Isaiah 1:9
- Romans 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16
Romans 7-9
King James Version
Romans 7-9
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.
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
9 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Romans 7-9
English Standard Version
Romans 7-9
English Standard Version
Released from the Law
7 Or do you not know, brothers[a]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For (A)a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.[b] 3 Accordingly, (B)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 brothers, (C)you also have died (D)to the law (E)through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, (F)in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work (G)in our members (H)to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the (I)new way of (J)the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.[c]
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, (K)I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if (L)the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, (M)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. (N)For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment (O)that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, (P)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, (Q)deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So (R)the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing 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 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, (S)sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For (T)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 with (U)the law, that it is good. 17 So now (V)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells (W)in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 (X)For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, (Y)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 right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For (Z)I delight in the law of God, (AA)in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members (AB)another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from (AC)this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Life in the Spirit
8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[d] 2 For the law of (AD)the Spirit of life (AE)has set you[e] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For (AF)God has done what the law, (AG)weakened by the flesh, (AH)could not do. (AI)By sending his own Son (AJ)in the likeness of sinful flesh and (AK)for sin,[f] he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that (AL)the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, (AM)who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For (AN)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on (AO)the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on (AP)the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set (AQ)the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is (AR)hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; (AS)indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact (AT)the Spirit of God dwells in you. (AU)Anyone who does not have (AV)the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of (AW)him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[g] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies (AX)through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Heirs with Christ
12 So then, brothers,[h] we are debtors, (AY)not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you (AZ)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are (BA)led by the Spirit of God are (BB)sons[i] of God. 15 For (BC)you did not receive (BD)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of (BE)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, (BF)“Abba! Father!” 16 (BG)The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then (BH)heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, (BI)provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Future Glory
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (BJ)are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for (BK)the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation (BL)was subjected to futility, not willingly, but (BM)because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that (BN)the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that (BO)the whole creation (BP)has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have (BQ)the firstfruits of the Spirit, (BR)groan inwardly as (BS)we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, (BT)the redemption of our bodies. 24 For (BU)in this hope we were saved. Now (BV)hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we (BW)wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For (BX)we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but (BY)the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And (BZ)he who searches hearts knows what is (CA)the mind of the Spirit, because[j] the Spirit (CB)intercedes for the saints (CC)according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together (CD)for good,[k] for (CE)those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he (CF)foreknew he also (CG)predestined (CH)to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be (CI)the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also (CJ)justified, and those whom he justified he also (CK)glorified.
God's Everlasting Love
31 What then shall we say to these things? (CL)If God is for us, who can be[l] against us? 32 (CM)He who did not spare his own Son but (CN)gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? (CO)It is God who justifies. 34 (CP)Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—(CQ)who is at the right hand of God, (CR)who indeed is interceding for us.[m] 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
(CS)“For your sake (CT)we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than (CU)conquerors through (CV)him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God's Sovereign Choice
9 (CW)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For (CX)I could wish that I myself were (CY)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,[n] my kinsmen (CZ)according to the flesh. 4 They are (DA)Israelites, and to them belong (DB)the adoption, (DC)the glory, (DD)the covenants, (DE)the giving of the law, (DF)the worship, and (DG)the promises. 5 To them belong (DH)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, (DI)who is God over all, (DJ)blessed forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham (DK)because they are his offspring, but (DL)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but (DM)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: (DN)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but (DO)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of (DP)him who calls— 12 she was told, (DQ)“The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, (DR)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What shall we say then? (DS)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, (DT)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion,[o] but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, (DU)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For (DV)who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, (DW)to answer back to God? (DX)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 (DY)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump (DZ)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience (EA)vessels of wrath (EB)prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known (EC)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he (ED)has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he (EE)has called, (EF)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,
(EG)“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 (EH)“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called (EI)‘sons of the living God.’”
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: (EJ)“Though the number of the sons of Israel[p] be as the sand of the sea, (EK)only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,
(EL)(EM)“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
(EN)we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”
Israel's Unbelief
30 What shall we say, then? (EO)That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, (EP)a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel (EQ)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness[q] (ER)did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the (ES)stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,
(ET)“Behold, I am laying in Zion (EU)a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
(EV)and whoever believes in him will not be (EW)put to shame.”
Footnotes
- Romans 7:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 4
- Romans 7:2 Greek law concerning the husband
- Romans 7:6 Greek of the letter
- Romans 8:1 Some manuscripts add who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit)
- Romans 8:2 Some manuscripts me
- Romans 8:3 Or and as a sin offering
- Romans 8:11 Some manuscripts lack Jesus
- Romans 8:12 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 29
- Romans 8:14 See discussion on “sons” in the Preface
- Romans 8:27 Or that
- Romans 8:28 Some manuscripts God works all things together for good, or God works in all things for the good
- Romans 8:31 Or who is
- Romans 8:34 Or Is it Christ Jesus who died… for us?
- Romans 9:3 Or brothers and sisters
- Romans 9:16 Greek not of him who wills or runs
- Romans 9:27 Or children of Israel
- Romans 9:31 Greek a law of righteousness
21st Century King James Version (KJ21)
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.