Romans 1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul,1 a slave2 of Christ Jesus,3 called to be an apostle,4 set apart for the gospel of God.5 1:2 This gospel6 he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 1:3 concerning his Son who was a descendant7 of David with reference to the flesh,8 1:4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power9 according to the Holy Spirit10 by the resurrection11 from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1:5 Through him12 we have received grace and our apostleship13 to bring about the obedience14 of faith15 among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name. 1:6 You also are among them,16 called to belong to Jesus Christ.17 1:7 To all those loved by God in Rome,18 called to be saints:19 Grace and peace to you20 from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome

1:8 First of all,21 I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel22 of his Son, is my witness that23 I continually remember you 1:10 and I always ask24 in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God.25 1:11 For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift26 to strengthen you, 1:12 that is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith,27 both yours and mine. 1:13 I do not want you to be unaware,28 brothers and sisters,29 that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles.30 1:14 I am a debtor31 both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 1:15 Thus I am eager32 also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.33

The Power of the Gospel

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.34 1:17 For the righteousness35 of God is revealed in the gospel36 from faith to faith,37 just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”38

The Condemnation of the Unrighteous

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people39 who suppress the truth by their40 unrighteousness,41 1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them,42 because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people43 are without excuse. 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts44 were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed45 to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings46 or birds or four-footed animals47 or reptiles.

1:24 Therefore God gave them over48 in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor49 their bodies among themselves.50 1:25 They51 exchanged the truth of God for a lie52 and worshiped and served the creation53 rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,54 1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women55 and were inflamed in their passions56 for one another. Men57 committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God,58 God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.59 1:29 They are filled60 with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with61 envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers,62 heartless, ruthless. 1:32 Although they fully know63 God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die,64 they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.65

Next Chapter