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¹Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

²which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

³concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

⁴who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

⁵through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles in behalf of His name,

⁶among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

⁷to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world.

⁹For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,

¹⁰always in my prayers requesting if perhaps now, at last by the will of God, I will succeed in coming to you.

¹¹For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;

¹²that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

¹³I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also just as among the rest of the Gentiles.

¹⁴I am under obligation both to Greeks and to the uncultured, both to the wise and to the foolish.

¹⁵So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS one will live by faith.”

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

¹⁹because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

²¹For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

²³and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures.

²⁴Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

²⁵For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature,

²⁷and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper,

²⁹people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

³¹without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful;

³²and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

¹Therefore you have no excuse, you foolish person, everyone of you who passes judgment; for in that matter in which you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

²And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

³But do you suppose this, you foolish person who passes judgment on those who practice such things, and yet does them as well, that you will escape the judgment of God?

⁴Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

⁵But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

⁶who WILL REPAY EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:

⁷to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life;

⁸but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation.

⁹There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of mankind who does evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek,

¹⁰but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

¹¹For there is no partiality with God.

¹²For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;

¹³for it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law who will be justified.

¹⁴For when Gentiles who do not have the Law instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having the Law, are a law to themselves,

¹⁵in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,

¹⁶on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.

¹⁷But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the Law and boast in God,

¹⁸and know His will and distinguish the things that matter, being instructed from the Law,

¹⁹and are confident that you yourself are a guide to people who are blind, a light to those in darkness,

²⁰a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, possessing in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth—

²¹you, therefore, who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one is not to steal, do you steal?

²²You who say that one is not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you rob temples?

²³You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?

²⁴For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.

²⁵For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a violator of the Law, your circumcision has turned into uncircumcision.

²⁶So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will his uncircumcision not be regarded as circumcision?

²⁷And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a violator of the Law?

²⁸For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

²⁹But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from people, but from God.

¹Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

²Great in every respect. First, that they were entrusted with the actual words of God.

³What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

⁴Far from it! Rather, God must prove to be true, though every person be found a liar, as it is written: “SO THAT YOU ARE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking from a human viewpoint.)

⁶Far from it! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

⁷But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

⁸And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? Their condemnation is deserved.

⁹What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

¹⁰as it is written: “THERE IS NO RIGHTEOUS PERSON, NOT EVEN ONE;

¹¹THERE IS NO ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NO ONE WHO SEEKS OUT GOD;

¹²THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME CORRUPT; THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

¹³“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE VENOM OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

¹⁴“THEIR MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;

¹⁵“THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,

¹⁶DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,

¹⁷AND THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THE WAY OF PEACE.”

¹⁸“THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

²⁰because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

²¹But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

²²but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction,

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,

²⁵whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished;

²⁶for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

²⁸For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

³⁰since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

³¹Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the Law.