Beginning

Paul declares his love for the Romans, shows what the gospel is with the fruit of it, and reproves the base nature of the flesh.

1 Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle, put apart to preach the gospel of God – ² the gospel that he promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures ³ that speak of his Son, who was begotten of the seed of David as to the flesh, ⁴ and was with power identified as the Son of God by the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies since the time that Jesus Christ our Lord rose up from death. ⁵ By him we have received grace and apostleship to bring all manner of heathen peoples to the obedience of faith, which is in his name. ⁶ Of such peoples you are a part also, who are Jesus Christ’s by calling.

⁷ To all you of Rome, beloved of God and saints by calling. Grace be with you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸ First, truly I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is spoken of throughout all the world. ⁹ For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, ¹⁰ asking that at one time or another a successful journey (by the will of God) might enable me to go to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, so that I may bestow among you some spiritual gift to strengthen you with; ¹² that is, so I may have consolation together with you through the common faith, which both you and I have.

¹³ I want you to know, brethren, that I have often hoped to go to you (but have been prevented so far) to have some fruit among you, as I have among other of the Gentiles. ¹⁴ For I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to those who are not Greek, to the learned and also to the unlearned. ¹⁵ So then, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you of Rome also. ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, namely to the Jew and also to the Gentile. ¹⁷ For by it the righteousness which comes from God is unveiled, from faith to faith. As it is written: The just shall live by faith.

¹⁸ For the wrath of God appears from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ seeing that what may be known of God is manifest among them. For God did show it unto them. ²⁰ For his invisible things – that is to say, his eternal power and Godhead – are understood and seen from the works of the creation of the world. So they are without excuse, ²¹ inasmuch as when they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, neither were thankful, but increased full of vain imaginations, and their foolish hearts were blinded. ²² When they counted themselves wise, they became fools, ²³ and turned the glory of the immortal God into the similitude of the image of mortal man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and serpents.

²⁴ For this God likewise gave them up to their heart’s lusts, unto uncleanness, to defile their own bodies between themselves – ²⁵ those who turned his truth to a lie, and venerated and served created things more than the Maker, who is blessed forever. Amen. ²⁶ For this cause God gave them up to shameful lusts. For even their women turned from the natural way to the unnatural. ²⁷ And likewise also the men left the natural way with a woman, and burned in their lusts for one another. And man with man wrought uncleanness, and received in themselves the reward of their error accordingly.

²⁸ And as it did not seem good to them to acknowledge God, so God delivered them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which were not right, ²⁹ being full of all unrighteous doing: of fornication, wickedness, covetousness, vice; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit; evil-natured, whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, doers of wrong, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to father and mother, ³¹ without understanding, covenant breakers, unloving, truce breakers, and merciless. ³² Which people, though they knew the righteousness of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death, yet not only do the same, but also have pleasure in those who do them.

Paul rebukes the Jews, who as concerning sin are like the heathen; yea, worse than they.

2 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in the same thing that you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge do even the same things. ² But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who commit such things.

³ Do you think, O man, you who judge others who do such things, and yet do even the very same, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think nothing of the riches of his goodness, patience, and longsuffering? And remember not how it is that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

⁵ But you, after your hard heart that cannot repent, heap together against yourself the treasure of wrath for the day of vengeance, when the righteous judgment of God will be revealed. ⁶ He will reward every person according to his deeds; ⁷ that is to say, praise, honour, and immortality to those who continue in doing good and seek eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are rebellious, and reject the truth, and follow iniquity, will come indignation and wrath – ⁹ tribulation and anguish upon the soul of every person who does evil: of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile. ¹⁰ To everyone who does good will come praise, honour, and peace: to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. ¹¹ For there is no partiality with God. ¹² But whoever has sinned without law will perish without law, and as many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

¹³ For before God they are not righteous who hear the law, but the doers of the law will be justified. ¹⁴ For if the Gentiles who have no law do by nature the things contained in the law, then they, having no law, are a law unto themselves. ¹⁵ They show the deeds of the law written in their hearts, while their conscience bears witness to them, and also their thoughts, accusing one another or defending, ¹⁶ on the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

¹⁷ Behold, you are called a Jew, and trust in the law, and put confidence in God, ¹⁸ and know his will, and have confirmation of good and bad in that you are instructed by the law. ¹⁹ And you believe that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness – ²⁰ an instructor of those who lack wisdom and a teacher of the unlearned, who has the example of that which ought to be known, and of the truth, in the law. ²¹ But you who teach another, do not teach yourself. You preach that a person should not steal, and yet you steal. ²² You say a person should not commit adultery, and you break wedlock. You abhor images, and rob God of his honour. ²³ You boast in the law, and through breaking the law dishonour God. ²⁴ For the name of God is ill spoken of among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written.

²⁵ Circumcision indeed avails, if you keep the law. But if you break the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision. ²⁶ Therefore if the uncircumcised man keeps the righteous things contained in the law, shall his uncircumcision not be counted for circumcision? ²⁷ And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it keeps the law, condemn you who, being under the letter and circumcision, do transgress the law? ²⁸ For he is not a Jew who is a Jew outwardly. Neither is that thing circumcision which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But he is a Jew who is hid within, and the circumcision of the heart is the true circumcision, which is in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.

Paul shows what preferment the Jews have, and that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin, and are justified only by the grace of God in Christ.

3 What preferment, then, has the Jew? Or what advantage from circumcision? ² Surely very much. The word of God was committed first to them. ³ What, then, if some of them did not believe? Does their unbelief make the promise of God without effect? ⁴ God forbid. Let God be true and all men liars, as it is written: That you may be justified in your words, and should overcome when you are judged.

⁵ If our unrighteousness makes the righteousness of God more excellent, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous, who takes vengeance? I speak after the manner of men. ⁶ God forbid, for how then will God judge the world? ⁷ If the truth of God appears more excellent through my lie, to his glory, why am I still judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say rather (as some ill report of us, and as some allege we say), let us do evil, so that good may come of it? Their condemnation is just.

⁹ What are we saying then? Are we better than they? No, not in any way. For we have already established that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin, ¹⁰ as it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one. ¹¹ There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. ¹² They are all gone out of the way. They are all unprofitable. There is no one who does good: no, not one. ¹³ Their throat is an open sepulchre. With their tongues they have deceived. The poison of asps is under their lips. ¹⁴ Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. ¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood. ¹⁶ Destruction and wretchedness are in their ways, ¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known. ¹⁸ There is no fear of God before their eyes.

¹⁹ Yea and we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that all mouths may be stopped, and all the world be subdued to God, ²⁰ because no flesh can be justified in the sight of God by the deeds of the law. For by the law comes the knowledge of sin.

²¹ But now is declared the righteousness that comes of God without the fulfilling of the law, yet having the witness of the law and of the prophets. ²² Without doubt, the righteousness which is good before God comes by the faith of Jesus Christ, to all and upon all who believe.

There is no difference. ²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ but are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ Him God has made a seat of mercy, through faith in his blood, to show the righteousness that is of value before him, in that he forgives the sins that are past. ²⁶ These God suffered in order to show at this time the righteousness that is granted by him, so that he may be counted just, and a justifier of the person who believes on Jesus.

²⁷ Where then is self-righteousness? It is excluded. By what law? By the law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

²⁸ Therefore we hold that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. ²⁹ Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, even of the Gentiles also. ³⁰ For there is one God, who justifies circumcision which is of faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

³¹ Do we then destroy the law through faith? God forbid. But we rather maintain the law.